MUST SEE: 19 award-winning photographs

For years, World Press Photo has been nurturing the talent and passion of photojournalists who tell remarkable stories -- stories that can open our eyes and inspire a greater understanding of the world around us.

An expression of that is the World Press Photo Contest.

While the results were announced earlier this year, the prize-winning photographs are being showcased in a year-long exhibition that travels to more than 100 cities in over 45 countries.

The contest winner this year is American photographer John Stanmeyer of the VII Photo Agency.

The picture (above) shows African migrants on the shore of Djibouti city at night, raising their phones in an attempt to capture an inexpensive signal from neighboring Somalia -- a tenuous link to relatives abroad.

Djibouti is a common stop-off point for migrants in transit from such countries as Somalia, Ethiopia and Eritrea, seeking a better life in Europe and the Middle East. The picture also won 1st Prize in the Contemporary Issues category, and was shot for National Geographic.

PHOTOS...

Sara Naomi Lewkowicz, USA, for Time

1st Prize Contemporary Issues Stories

Caption: November 17, 2012, USA

As the fight continued to rage, Shane told Maggie that she could choose between getting beaten in the kitchen, or going with him to the basement so they could talk privately. Lancaster, US.

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Goran Tomasevic, Serbia, Reuters

1st Prize Spot News Stories

Caption: January 30, 2013, Damascus, Syria

Syrian rebel fighters take cover amid flying debris and shrapnel after being hit by a tank shell fired towards them by the Syrian Army in the Ain Tarma neighborhood of Damascus. On 30 January 2013, a Syrian rebel group planning an attack on government forces is hit by sniper fire in Damascus, Syria.

After evacuating their comrade, who was shot in the chest and would later die from injuries, the rebels return to attack the checkpoint with rocket fire. Subsequently, government forces fired tank shells at the rebels. The rebels eventually retreated for the day to mourn the death of their comrade.

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Taslima Akhter, Bangladesh

3rd Prize Spot News Singles

Caption: April 25, 2013

Two victims amid the rubble of the garment factory collapse at Rana Plaza, Savar, Dhaka, Bangladesh.

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Carla Kogelman, the Netherlands

1st Prize People -- Observed Portraits Stories

Caption: July 19, 2012, Merkenbrechts, Austria

Hannah and Alena, two sisters living in the rural village of Merkenbrechts, Austria.

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Emiliano Lasalvia, Argentina for La Nacion

1st Prize Sports Action Singles

Caption: December 1, 2013

Pablo Mac Donough of Dolfina falls from his horse during the Argentine Polo Open in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

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Andrzej Grygiel, Poland, for PAP-Polska Agencja Prasowa

2nd Prize Sports Action Single

Caption: March 24, 2013, Szczyrk, Poland

Competitor at a slalom contest in Szczyrk, Poland.

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Peter Holgersson, Sweden

1st Prize Sports Feature Stories

Caption: December 19, 2013, Lidingo, Sweden

Nadja feeling better just before her last treatment. Lidingö, Sweden. 

Swedish athlete Nadja Casadei has participated in the World and European Championships in heptathlon. In autumn 2013, she was diagnosed with cancer and by January 2014 she completed her chemotherapy. She has continued to train throughout her illness, hoping to be healthy and ready by the summer for the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.

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Markus Schreiber, Germany, The Associated Press

1st Prize People – Observed Portraits Single

Caption: December 13, 2013, Pretoria, South Africa

A woman reacts in disappointment after access to see former South Africa President Nelson Mandela was closed on the third and final day of his casket lying in state, outside Union Buildings in Pretoria, South Africa.

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Philippe Lopez, France, Agence France-Presse

1st Prize Spot News Single

Caption: November 18, 2013, Tolosa, the Philippines

Survivors of typhoon Haiyan march during a religious procession in Tolosa, on the eastern island of Leyte. One of the strongest cyclones ever recorded, Haiyan left 8,000 people dead and missing and more than four million homeless after it hit the central Philippines.

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Tyler Hicks, USA, The New York Times

2nd Prize Spot News Stories

Caption: September 21, 2013, Nairobi, Kenya

A woman and children hiding in the Westgate mall. They escaped unharmed after gunmen had opened fire at the upscale Nairobi mall on 21 September 2013. At least 39 people were killed in one of the worst terrorist attacks in Kenya’s history.

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Steve Winter, USA, for National Geographic

1st Prize Nature Stories

Caption: March 2, 2013, Los Angeles, USA

A cougar walking a trail in Los Angeles’ Griffith Park is captured by a camera trap. To reach the park, which has been the cougar’s home for the last two years it had to cross two of the busiest highways in the US.

Cougars are among the most adaptable and widespread terrestrial mammals in the Western Hemisphere, with a range that extends from the tip of Chile to the Canadian Yukon. They are increasingly being seen in and around towns and cities, including Los Angeles and in the Hollywood Hills.

Fear of these secretive cats, combined with a lack of adequate public knowledge, tends to justify the thousands of cougars killed every year. Scientists in Wyoming’s Teton National Forest are outfitting them with GPS collars and camera trapping to learn more about basic behaviors and to lift the veil of mystery surrounding them.

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Julius Schrank, Germany, De Volkskrant

1st Prize Daily Life Single

Caption: March 15, 2013, Burma

Kachin Independence Army fighters are drinking and celebrating at a funeral of one of their commanders who died the day before. The city is under siege by the Burmese army.

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Denis Dailleux, France, Agence Vu

2nd Prize People -- Staged Portraits Stories

Caption: June 10, 2013 Cairo, Egypt.

Young Egyptian bodybuilder Aid poses with his mother.

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Christopher Vanegas, Mexico, La Vanguardia / El Guardian

3rd Prize Contemporary Issues Single

Caption: March 8, 2013, Saltillo, Coahuila, Mexico

Police arrive at a crime scene where two bodies hang from a bridge; another three are on the floor. They had been killed by organised crime in Saltillo, Coahuila, in retaliation against other criminal groups. 

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Brent Stirton, South Africa, Reportage by Getty Images

1st Prize People -- Staged Portraits Single

Caption: September 25, 2013, West Bengal India

A group of blind albino boys photographed in their boarding room at the Vivekananda mission school for the blind in West Bengal, India. This is one of the very few schools for the blind in India today.

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Markus Varesvuo, Finland

2nd Prize Nature Singles

Caption: March 9, 2013

A flock of Guillemots (Uria aalgae) in a snowstorm in Vardo, Norway.

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Alessandro Penso, Italy, OnOff Picture

1st Prize General News Single

Caption: November 21, 2013, Sofia, Bulgaria

Military Ramp, an emergency refugee centre, was opened in September 2013 in an abandoned school in Sofia, Bulgaria. The centre provides housing for about 800 Syrian refugees, including 390 children.

Bulgaria, already hard hit by the economic crisis and heightened political instability, is confronting a refugee crisis that appears to coincide with increased efforts by Greece to close off its border with Turkey. Bulgaria, however, is totally unprepared to face a refugee crisis.

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Fred Ramos, El Salvador, El Faro

1st Prize Daily Life Stories

Caption: August 10 2013, San Salvador, El Salvador

Date found: 1 February 2013. Time 3:45 PM Location: a sugar plantation in Apopa, San Salvador, El Salvador. Sex: Female. Age: Between 17 and 18 years old. Time of disappearance: not available.

The North Central American Triangle (Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador) is one of the most violent regions in the world. In many cases, clothes that are found become the only means to identify victims.

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