The catapult kid of Bangkok, the Time cover girl mutilated by the Taliban and the world's other best press photographs of 2010
At the height of the anti-government protests in Bangkok, with buildings on fire all around and armed with a medieval weapon, a young man bravely fights for what he believes in.
What's more the catapult kid was taking on armed soldiers in a 'live fire zone' declared by the military, which anybody be they protester, resident, tourist or journalist would be shot on sight.
Taking that risk, besides the subject of the photograph, was its taker, Corentin Fohlen, a Frenchman working for Fedephoto, whose skill and bravery won him second prize in the Stories Spot News section of the World Press Photo awards, announced today.
Catapult kid: An anti-government protester uses very basic materials against the authorities in May 2010. Taken by Corentin Fohlen of France, for Fedephoto, it won 2nd Prize Stories Spot News in the 54th annual World Press Photo Contes in Amsterdam
The top prize World Press Photo Of The Year was won by Jodi Bieber, of South Africa, Institute for Artist Management for Time magazine, for the portrait of Bibi Aisha, the 18-year-old Afghan woman whose nose was cut off
The 'Red shirt' protest was organised by the National United Front of Democracy Against Dictatorship (UDD) from March to May against the Democrat Party-led government of r Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva.
More than 80 civilians and six soldiers were killed in the violence before the military successfully cracked down on the protesters on 19 May.
There are stories behind all the pictures, the best - and most shocking - of which are showcased here.
Perhaps the most touching is that behind a South African photographer's portrait of an Afghan woman whose husband sliced off her nose and ears.
Jodi Bieber's picture of Bibi Aisha, 18, who was rescued by the U.S. military and now lives in America awaiting reconstructive surgery won the overall top prized World Press Photo award for 2010.
The posed picture, which contrasts the woman's arresting beauty against the results of the violence done to her after she fled an abusive marriage, was published on the cover of Time magazine on August 1.
Bieber, 44, a winner of eight previous World Press Photo awards since 1998, is a freelance photojournalist affiliated with the Institute for Artist Management/Goodman Gallery. She has published two books on her native South Africa.
Jury members said the photo, though shocking, was chosen because it addresses violence against women with a dignified image.
A man carrying his catch through the streets of Mogadishu, Somalia. This picture, taken by Omar Feisal, Somalia, for Reuters, won 1st Prize Singles Daily Life
Atlantic Sailfish attack Spanish sardines, off Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico, in a picture by photographer Reinhard Dirscherl, Germany, which won 2nd Prize Singles Nature
'This could become one of those pictures - and we have maybe just 10 in our lifetime - where if somebody says 'you know, that picture of a girl' - you know exactly which one they're talking about,' said jury chairman David Burnett of Contact Press.
The picture also gains part of its resonance from its similarity with the iconic 1984 National Geographic photograph of a beautiful young Afghan woman with a piercing gaze.
Time's publication of the picture provoked international debate over the ethics of publishing - or not publishing - such a disturbing image.
The Eritrean national cycling team passes a camel caravan on the road from Barentu to Keren, by Chris Keulen, of the Netherlands, Panos, pictures for Geo, who won 3rd Prize Stories Sports
Whooper Swans at dawn, in Hokkaido, Japan, in a picture taken by Stefano Unterthiner, Italy, for National Geographic magazine, winner of 2nd Prize Stories Nature
Hindu devotees walking towards the ash-shooting Mount Bromo volcano, in Cemoro Lawang, Java, to make offerings in a picture taken by AFP photographer Christophe Archambault
Four Somali refugees en route to Yemen sleep in the desert after traveling all night on muddy roads and in pouring rain, Somaliland, in a picture by Ed Ou, Canada, Reportage by Getty Images, who won 1st Prize Stories Contemporary Issues
'It's a terrific picture, a different picture, a frightening picture,' said Juror Vince Aletti, an American freelance critic. 'It's so much about not just this particular woman, but the state of women in the world.'
In a video commentary on Time's website, Bieber said, 'It was more about capturing something about her - and that was the difficult part.' She said she did not want to portray Aisha as a victim. 'I thought, no, this woman is beautiful.'
Aisha posed for the Time cover photo because she wanted readers to see the potential consequences of a Taliban resurgence, the magazine said when it was published.
Andrew Biraj, a Reuters photographer based in Bangladesh, has won the 3rd Prize Daily Life Single category with this picture of an overcrowded train approaching a station in Dhaka
Taxis waiting at a railway crossing in Calcutta were taken by Martin Roemers, a Panos Pictures photographer based in the Netherlands, winning him 1st Prize Daily Life Stories category
A sister of Feroz Ahmad, alias Showkat, who was killed by forces, wails as she clings to the bed carrying the body of her brother during his funeral in Pattan, north of Srinagar, India. Altaf Qadri was awarded the 1st prize in the the People in the News singles
In all, 56 photographers of 23 nationalities won prizes. They competed among a record pool of 108,059 photos by 5,847 photographers participating from 125 countries.
Bieber, the overall winner, also won first place in the portraits category for the same photo. She will receive a cash prize of €10,000 in a ceremony later this year.
Two of the more shocking, of a suicide leap in Hugary and of dead bodies in Haiti, are printed further below, so those of a sensitive disposition should perhaps scroll down no further.
Wolfram Hahn, Germany, won 2nd Prize Stories Portraits for the subject of self-portraits for social networks
Nguyen Thi Ly, 9, who suffers from Agent Orange disabilities in Da Nang, Vietnam, was captured by Ed Kashi, USA, VII Photo Agency, won 2nd Prize Singles Contemporary Issues
WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT
Olivier Laban-Mattei, France, Agence France-Presse, won 1st Prize Stories General News for this horrific picture of dead bodies at a morgue after the Haiti earthquake
Peter Lakatos, from Hungary, MTI, won 1st Prize Singles Spot News for this picture of a suicide jumper on fire in Budapest
