Migrants crossing the border from Serbia into Hungary.

The 2015 World Press Photo of the Year: Warren Richardson, “Hope for a New Life,” Australia, 2015. A man passes a baby through the fence at the Serbia/Hungary border in Röszke, Hungary, 28 August 2015. (all images courtesy World Press Photo)

The World Press Photo Foundation has announced the winners of its annual contest. A picture by Australian photographer Warren Richardson was crowned the World Press Photo of the Year 2015; it shows a man passing a baby through a barbed-wire fence at the Hungarian–Serbian border. The haunting image was chosen for the prestigious photojournalism prize from 82,951 photos made by 5,775 photographers from 128 different countries.

Richardson’s photograph, for which he will receive €10,000, is one of many award-winning images in different categories that starkly document the refugee crisis in Europe and the Middle East. Sergey Ponomarev shot an overcrowded boat of refugees arriving on the thinly patrolled shores of Lesbos, Greece; Matic Zorman took a photograph of a child refugee clutching bars, her face covered with a clear raincoat as she waits in line at Serbia’s Presevo refugee registration camp; Bulent Kilic captured the chaos of Syrian refugees rushing through broken-down border fences to enter Turkish territory.

Viewed together, the photographs create a portrait of a world mired in violence. But they’re punctuated by moments of beauty: Mauricio Lima made a surreal image of children mid-leap over the Tapajos river in the tribal area of Sawre Muybu, Itaituba, Brazil; Daniel Ochoa de Olza photographed a girl in a garland at a decorated altar, celebrating “Las Mayas,” a Pagan-derived festival in honor of spring, in the town of Colmenar Viejo, Spain; Tim Laman captured an orangutan climbing high in the treetops of Gunung Palung National Park, Indonesia. 

Herewith, a selection of winners in various categories. The entire collection of winning photographs is viewable online at the World Press Photo site.

1 - Migrants and refugees arrived by boat in November near the village of Skala on the Greek island of Lesbos. Under Europe’s system of open internal borders, the island’s thinly patrolled, easily accessible coastline, within sight of the Turkish coast, might as well be the frontier of France or Germany or Sweden.

General news stories, first place: Sergey Ponomarev’s photograph of refugees arriving by boat near the village of Skala on Lesbos, Greece.

3. Hasaka, Syria - August 1, 2015 A doctor rubs ointment on the burns of Jacob, 16, in front of a poster of Abdullah Ocalan, center, the jailed leader of the Kurdistan Workers' Party, at a YPG hospital compound on the outskirts of Hasaka. According to YPG fighters at the scene, Jacob is an ISIS fighter from Deir al-Zour and the only survivior from an ambush made by YPG fighters over a truck alleged to carry ISIS fighters on the outskirts of Hasaka. Six ISIS fighters died in the attack, 5 of them completely disfigured by the explosion.

General news single image, first place: Mauricio Lima’s photograph of a doctor rubbing ointment on the burns of a 16-year-old Islamic State fighter named Jacob in front of a poster of Abdullah Ocalan, the jailed leader of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, at a Y.P.G. hospital compound on the outskirts of Hasaka, Syria.

Long term projects, second prize: Nancy Borowick’s “A Life in Death,” USA, 2015. Howie sits beside his wife Laurel as they get their weekly chemotherapy treatments. Greenwich, Connecticut, US, 30 January 2013.

People single image, first place: Matic Zorman’s photograph of a child covered with a raincoat while she waits in line to register at a refugee camp in Preševo, Serbia.

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Daily life single image, first place: Kevin Frayer’s photograph of Chinese men pulling a tricycle in a neighborhood next to a coal-fired power plant in Shanxi, China. (courtesy Kevin Frayer/Getty Images, World Press Photo)

Abdoulaye, 15, imprisoned in one room of a daara in the Diamaguene area, city of Thies, Senegal, May 18, 2015. The rooms have windows with security bars to keep the talibes from running away.

Contemporary Issues, First Prize: Mário Cruz’s photograph of Abdoulaye, 15, a talibe imprisoned in a room with security bars to keep him from running away. Thies, Senegal, 18 May 2015.

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Contemporary issues single image, first place: Zhang Lei’s photograph of Tianjin, a city in northern China, shrouded in haze.

3—Gumda, Nepal. Saturday, May 09, 2015: Nepalese villagers look on as they watch a helicopter picking up a medical team, dropping aid at the edge of a makeshift landing zone on May 9, 2015 in the village of Gumda, Nepal. On the 25th of April, just before noon local time, as farmers were out in fields and people at home or work, a devastating earthquake struck Nepal, killing over 8,000 people and injuring more than 21,000 according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Homes, buildings and temples in Kathmandu were destroyed in the 7.8 magnitude quake, which left over 2.8 million people homeless, but it was the mountainous districts away from the capital that were the hardest hit. Villagers pulled the bodies of their loved ones from the rubble by hand and the wails of grieving families echoed through the mountains, as mothers were left to bury their own children. Over the following weeks and months, villagers picked through ruins desperate to recover whatever personal possessions they could find and salvage any building materials that could be reused. Despite relief teams arriving from all over the world in the days after the quake hit, thousands of residents living in remote hillside villages were left to fend for themselves, as rescuers struggled to reach all those affected. Multiple aftershocks, widespread damage and fear kept tourists away from the country known for its searing Himalayan peaks, damaging a vital climbing and trekking industry and compounding the recovery effort in the face of a disaster from which the people of Nepal continue to battle to recover.

General news stories, third place: Daniel Berehulak’s photograph of Nepalese villagess watching a helicopter picking up a medical team and dropping aid at the edge of a makeshift landing zone in Gumda, Nepal.

A 'Maya' girl sits in an altar during the traditional celebration of 'Las Mayas' on the streets of the small village of Colmenar Viejo, near Madrid, Spain on Saturday, May 2, 2015. The festivity of 'Las Mayas' comes from pagan rites and dates from at least the medieval age, appearing in ancient documents. It takes place every year in the beginning of May and celebrates the arrival of the spring. A girl between 7 and 11years is chosen as 'Maya' and should sit still, serious, and quiet for a couple of hours in an altar on the street decorated with flowers and plants, afterwards they walk to the church with their family where they attend a ceremony. Not more than four, or five girls are chosen as a Maya each year.

People stories, second place: Daniel Ochoa de Olza’s photograph from “Las Mayas,” a festival derived from pagan rites celebrating the arrival of spring, in the town of Colmenar Viejo, Spain. Young girls between the ages of 7 and 11 are chosen every year as “Maya” for the festival. The girls are required to sit still for a couple of hours at a decorated altar.

1. Tapajós River, Itaituba, Pará State, Brazil, on February 10, 2015. Indigenous children jump into the water as they play around the Tapajós river, in the Munduruku tribal area called Sawré Muybu.

Daily life single image, second place: Mauricio Lima’s photograph of indigenous Munduruku children playing in the Tapajos river in the tribal area of Sawre Muybu, Itaituba, Brazil.

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Nature stories, first place: Tim Laman’s photograph of a Bornean orangutan climbing over 30 meters up a tree in the rain forest of Gunung Palung National Park, West Kalimantan, Indonesia.

Carey Dunne is a Brooklyn-based writer covering arts and culture. Her work has appeared in The Guardian, The Baffler, The Village Voice, and elsewhere.