World Press Photo Exhibition 2012

This annual exhibition, held since 1955, showcases examples of the best photojournalism of the past year, on world events as well as sports and nature shots. More than a hundred thousand images were submitted to the 2012 contest by 5,247 photographers from 124 different countries. The exhibition contains 167 photographs and is comprised of the year's winning photo, together with award-winning images from each of the nine contest categories. Subjects include the Arab Spring, the aftermath of the Japanese earthquake and tsunami, and the Norwegian massacre on Utoya island. The winning photograph by Samuel Aranda is an image of a Yemeni woman, Fatima al-Qaws, cradling her son Zayed, who was suffering from the effects of tear gas after being fired at as he approached a government checkpoint during protests against President Ali Abdullah Saleh. Prizes were also awarded to photographers from the UK. Simon Norfolk won third prize in the 'Portrait Stories' category with his series 'Burke + Norfolk', which depicts various groups of people in Afghanistan. Paul Hilton was awarded third prize in the 'Nature Stories' category for his series 'Shark Fin', which documents how hunting sharks for their fins has become a highly lucrative business across the globe.