An image of stylish Lebanese youths driving through a Beirut neighborhood devastated by Israeli bombing, taken by U.S. photographer Spencer Platt, won the World Press Photo of the Year award, the jury announced Friday.
The image contrasts a group of friends against a background of the wreckage of a collapsed building. Tellingly, one woman grimaces as she uses her mobile phone to send a text message to a friend, while another, wearing sunglasses, covers her nose with a handkerchief.
The award, which Platt took while working for photo agency Getty Images, is considered one of the most prestigious for photojournalists.
The photo was taken on Aug. 15, the first day of a cease-fire between Israel and Hezbollah, as thousands of Lebanese began returning to their homes. It also won in the category of “Daily Life Singles.”
The chairman of the jury, Michele McNally of the New York Times, described the shot as “a picture you can keep looking at.”
“It has the complexity and contradiction of real life, amidst chaos. This photograph makes you look beyond the obvious,” she said in a statement announcing the winners.
Technorati Tags: Middle East, Lebanon, Beirut, Photo, Spencer Platt
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