photooftheyear

The World Press Photo Foundation has revealed the finalists of one of the most coveted awards in photojournalism. Picking from 73,996 photos submitted by over 4,200 photographers from 125 countries, the judges have identified six images that will go toe to toe for the title of World Press Photo of the Year, 2020.

For the first time in its history, the most prestigious photojournalist prize in the world has unveiled the finalists of its Photo of the Year contest before selecting a winner. The 6 nominees were unveiled today by the World Press Photo.

A year has passed since the controversial World Press Photo contest in which 20% of the finalists were disqualified the prestigious award was stripped from the winner, and today World Press Photo just announced the best news photos of 2015.

The Photo of the Year, shown above, is titled "Hope for a New Life" and was captured by Australian photographer Warren Richardson. It shows a baby being passed through a fence at the Hungarian-Serbian border in Röszke, Hungary, on August 28th, 2015.

This remarkable photograph shows two Julia Butterflies in Ecuador quenching their thirst by drinking tears from the eyes of two turtles. The turtles calmly allow the butterflies to get refreshment from their eyes ask they bask in the sun on a log. The phenomenon of "tear-feeding" is something known as "lachryphagy."

After last year's controversy over the winner of the World Press Photo of the Year, all eyes were on the organization as they announced the winner of this year's contest.

But while general consensus from the photo community seems to be that John Stanmeyer deserved this year's award, talk of conflicts of interest and the high percentage of disqualifications due to photo manipulation are plaguing the contest.

Last year's World Press Photo of the Year award went to a controversial image of a funeral procession in Gaza, City. This year's winning photo doesn't strike the same tragic nerve as last year's, and yet it makes such a powerful statement about technology and our global community that we immediately understood why it took home the top prize.

In light of the heated debate over post-processing sparked by the winner of World Press Photo of the Year 2012 award, the Amsterdam-based organization has chosen to implement some rule changes before it asks for this year's entries in a couple of months time.