The winner of the World Press Photo contest 'Spot News - Stories' category is 'Port Explosion in Beirut' by Lorenzo Tugnoli. An injured man stands inside the wrecked site of the port of Beirut while firefighters work to put out the fires that engulfed the warehouses after the explosion. Lorenzo Tugnoli/Contrasto for The Washington Post
The winner of the World Press Photo contest 'Spot News - Stories' category is 'Port Explosion in Beirut' by Lorenzo Tugnoli. An injured man stands inside the wrecked site of the port of Beirut while firefighters work to put out the fires that engulfed the warehouses after the explosion. Lorenzo Tugnoli/Contrasto for The Washington Post
Abdullah walks in the ruins of his former house. Since the day of the explosion he is squatting in the damaged building were he once lived with his family, with no water or electricity. An estimated 300,000 people lost their homes in after the blast. Lorenzo Tugnoli/Contrasto for The Washington Post
Abdullah walks in the ruins of his former house. Since the day of the explosion he is squatting in the damaged building were he once lived with his family, with no water or electricity. An estimated 300,000 people lost their homes in after the blast. Lorenzo Tugnoli/Contrasto for The Washington Post
Firefighters work to put out the fires that engulfed the warehouses in the port of Beirut after the explosion. Lorenzo Tugnoli/Contrasto for The Washington Post
Firefighters work to put out the fires that engulfed the warehouses in the port of Beirut after the explosion. Lorenzo Tugnoli/Contrasto for The Washington Post
An old woman is carried to safety in the destroyed neighbourhood of Jemmayzeh. The blast wrecked several densely populated neighbourhoods. Lorenzo Tugnoli/Contrasto for The Washington Post
An old woman is carried to safety in the destroyed neighbourhood of Jemmayzeh. The blast wrecked several densely populated neighbourhoods. Lorenzo Tugnoli/Contrasto for The Washington Post

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World Press Photo contest: 'Port Explosion in Beirut' among winners

Spot News category award winner pictures desolate man in blast's apocalyptic aftermath

Jake Badger
Tim Kiek

April 15, 2021

  • English
  • Arabic

The World Press Photo Contest on Thursday announced the awards winners and runners up, and a haunting picture taken in the aftermath of the Beirut blast has finished top in the Spot News category.

Read More

Beirut blast: judge frees six people detained in investigation

The annual competition rewards the best visual journalism of the past year in eight categories: Contemporary Issues, Environment, General News, Long-Term Projects, Nature, Portraits, Sports and Spot News.

In total, 45 photographers from 28 countries won in 2021.

Scroll through the gallery above to see Italian Lorenzo Tugnoli's winning efforts in the Spot News category.

A bio on the World Press Photo site describes Mr Tugnoli is a "self-taught" photographer based in Lebanon covering the Middle East and Central Asia for The Washington Post.

Beirut isn't the only place in the Middle East to be recognised in the contest.

The gallery below contains a selection of category winners and runners up in the contest whose photos have a Middle East theme.

This image shot by Luis Tato for The Washington Post is nominated for the World Press Photo Of The Year. Herny Lenayasa tries to scare away a massive swarm of locust ravaging an area next to Archers Post, Kenya. Swarms of locusts from the Arabian Peninsula had migrated into Ethiopia and Somalia in the summer of 2019. The locusts multiplied and invaded new areas in search of food, arriving in Kenya and spreading through other countries in eastern Africa. Luis Tato for The Washington Post
This image shot by Luis Tato for The Washington Post is nominated for the World Press Photo Of The Year. Herny Lenayasa tries to scare away a massive swarm of locust ravaging an area next to Archers Post, Kenya. Swarms of locusts from the Arabian Peninsula had migrated into Ethiopia and Somalia in the summer of 2019. The locusts multiplied and invaded new areas in search of food, arriving in Kenya and spreading through other countries in eastern Africa. Luis Tato for The Washington Post
Maya Alleruzzo has won 2nd prize in the 'Contemporary Issues - Stories' category for a series titled 'Islamic State’s Yazidi Survivors'. Yazidi Layla Taloo poses for a portrait in the full-face veil and abaya she wore while enslaved by Islamic State militants, at her home in Sharia, Iraq. Maya Alleruzzo/AP Photo
Maya Alleruzzo has won 2nd prize in the 'Contemporary Issues - Stories' category for a series titled 'Islamic State’s Yazidi Survivors'. Yazidi Layla Taloo poses for a portrait in the full-face veil and abaya she wore while enslaved by Islamic State militants, at her home in Sharia, Iraq. Maya Alleruzzo/AP Photo
Pictures of Yazidis slain in 2014 by Islamic State militants are found in a small room at the Lalish shrine in northern Iraq. Maya Alleruzzo/AP Photo
Pictures of Yazidis slain in 2014 by Islamic State militants are found in a small room at the Lalish shrine in northern Iraq. Maya Alleruzzo/AP Photo
Yazidi youth, dressed in traditional clothes, take part in a program to reacquaint them with their religion and culture at Khanke IDP Camp, northern Iraq. Maya Alleruzzo/AP Photo
Yazidi youth, dressed in traditional clothes, take part in a program to reacquaint them with their religion and culture at Khanke IDP Camp, northern Iraq. Maya Alleruzzo/AP Photo
Layla Taloo visits the Ninewa Palace Hotel, where she was once brought by her Islamic State militant captor in Mosul, Iraq. Maya Alleruzzo/AP Photo
Layla Taloo visits the Ninewa Palace Hotel, where she was once brought by her Islamic State militant captor in Mosul, Iraq. Maya Alleruzzo/AP Photo
Pablo Tosco has won 1st prize in the 'Contemporary Issues - Singles' category for this image. Fatima and her son prepare a fishing net on a boat in Khor Omeira bay, Yemen. Pablo Tosco
Pablo Tosco has won 1st prize in the 'Contemporary Issues - Singles' category for this image. Fatima and her son prepare a fishing net on a boat in Khor Omeira bay, Yemen. Pablo Tosco
Fereshteh Eslahi has won 3rd prize in the 'Sports - Stories' category for a series titled 'Thoughts of Flight'. It features Saeed Ramin, a professional traceur (practitioner of parkour) living in Gachsaran, Iran. Seven years ago, Saeed fell in a parkour competition, injuring the spinal cord in his neck. Saeed and his wife Maedeh listen to music, surrounded by photographs of Saeed’s past feats, Gachsaran. Fereshteh Eslahi, Iran, Podium Photos
Fereshteh Eslahi has won 3rd prize in the 'Sports - Stories' category for a series titled 'Thoughts of Flight'. It features Saeed Ramin, a professional traceur (practitioner of parkour) living in Gachsaran, Iran. Seven years ago, Saeed fell in a parkour competition, injuring the spinal cord in his neck. Saeed and his wife Maedeh listen to music, surrounded by photographs of Saeed’s past feats, Gachsaran. Fereshteh Eslahi, Iran, Podium Photos
Saeed couldn’t afford extended hospital treatment, so he improvised rehabilitation equipment in his yard, and despite the doctors' predictions, was able to regain the mobility of his hands. Saeed enjoys being hoisted high by a crane, while sitting in a wheelchair, at the Gachsaran Motorcycle Track, Gachsaran. Fereshteh Eslahi, Iran, Podium Photos
Saeed couldn’t afford extended hospital treatment, so he improvised rehabilitation equipment in his yard, and despite the doctors' predictions, was able to regain the mobility of his hands. Saeed enjoys being hoisted high by a crane, while sitting in a wheelchair, at the Gachsaran Motorcycle Track, Gachsaran. Fereshteh Eslahi, Iran, Podium Photos
Saeed enjoys time with friends at Kosar Dam Lake, near Gachsaran. Fereshteh Eslahi, Iran, Podium Photos. Fereshteh Eslahi, Iran, Podium Photos
Saeed enjoys time with friends at Kosar Dam Lake, near Gachsaran. Fereshteh Eslahi, Iran, Podium Photos. Fereshteh Eslahi, Iran, Podium Photos
Saeed and his wife Maedeh return home after watching motocross training at the Gachsaran Motorcycle track. Fereshteh Eslahi, Iran, Podium Photos
Saeed and his wife Maedeh return home after watching motocross training at the Gachsaran Motorcycle track. Fereshteh Eslahi, Iran, Podium Photos
Newsha Tavakolian has won 3rd prize in the 'General News - Singles' category for this image. Women mourn the death of Major General Qasem Soleimani, in a mosque in Tehran. Newsha Tavakolian, Magnum Photos, for Time
Newsha Tavakolian has won 3rd prize in the 'General News - Singles' category for this image. Women mourn the death of Major General Qasem Soleimani, in a mosque in Tehran. Newsha Tavakolian, Magnum Photos, for Time

More on the Beirut blast

Why Nadine Labaki believes blast marks the ‘birth’ of a new world

Sursock Palace owner wants Beirut landmark to be turned into a museum

Beyond The Headlines podcast: Piecing together the Beirut disaster

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