CaptionA woman mourns a relative killed in the tsunami. On December 26, a 9.3 magnitude earthquake off the coast of Sumatra, Indonesia, triggered a series of deadly waves that traveled across the Indian Ocean, wreaking havoc in nine Asian countries, and causing fatalities as far away as Somalia and Tanzania. The quake was so strong that it altered the tilt of the planet by 2.5cm. More than 200,000 people died or were reported missing, and millions were left destitute in the worst natural disaster in living memory. In India, the fishing communities in Tamil Nadu were among the worst hit, with homes, lives and livelihoods being wiped away.
CaptionA woman mourns a relative killed in the tsunami. On December 26, a 9.3 magnitude earthquake off the coast of Sumatra, Indonesia, triggered a series of deadly waves that traveled across the Indian Ocean, wreaking havoc in nine Asian countries, and causing fatalities as far away as Somalia and Tanzania. The quake was so strong that it altered the tilt of the planet by 2.5cm. More than 200,000 people died or were reported missing, and millions were left destitute in the worst natural disaster in living memory. In India, the fishing communities in Tamil Nadu were among the worst hit, with homes, lives and livelihoods being wiped away.
CaptionA child loots a piece of meat at the main commercial seaport. In the last week of February looters raided aid-agency warehouses, making off with hundreds of tons of food and commodities. News of oncoming rebel armies had thrown the streets into chaos. Looting, hijacking and rioting were widespread. For some months, opposition to President Jean-Bertrand Aristide had been growing in both violence and intensity. Originally heralded as a savior of the poor, Aristide was increasingly seen as corrupt and inefficient. Matters reached a head on 5 February 2004 when rebel forces seized Gonaïves, Haiti's fourth-largest city, and went on to take other towns around the country. On 29 February, President Aristide resigned and left the country.
CaptionWould-be immigrants from Africa are rescued from the sea, after their makeshift boat had capsized. The boat, carrying 36 people, overturned during an operation by Spanish civil guards in November. Seven of the immigrants were lost, but the remainder were saved. Authorities in the Canary Islands had already detained over 5,500 illegal immigrants that year. The majority were deported almost immediately.
CaptionAn Haitian suspected of being a multiple assassin for President Aristide's Lavalas party, is held captive by a vigilante, three days after the president's departure. He was arrested by armed citizens of Petit Goave, who proceeded to stone him and then burn him alive. Aristide's heavily armed militants, known as chimères, had terrorized people while the president was still in office, taking the place of a corrupt and ineffectual police force.
CaptionFive days after the tsunami, international aid agencies had still not reached Meulaboh. The Indonesian province of Aceh, on the western tip of Sumatra, was closest to the epicenter of the December 26 earthquake that unleashed massive tidal waves in the region, and bore the full brunt of the destruction. Over 70 percent of the inhabitants of some coastal villages in Aceh lost their lives as a result of the tsunami. In Indonesia as a whole more than 130,000 people were killed, and over 500,000 made homeless. International aid organizations had long been denied access to Aceh because of ongoing conflict between Indonesian security forces and separatist rebels, but once the scale of the disaster became clear, the government relaxed restrictions.
CaptionA man carries a wounded child from School Number One. On September 1 a group of Chechen separatists occupied School Number One. They herded more than 1,000 teachers, parents and pupils into the school gymnasium, and set up bombs and booby traps to prevent any surprise attack, issuing a series of demands that included withdrawal of Russian troops from Chechnya and the release of prisoners. After two days of negotiations, bombs inside the school were detonated, in circumstances that were unclear, killing many hostages instantly. Russian special forces stormed the building. School Number One was liberated, but more than 330 people were dead, more than half of them children.
Organization / PublicationJornal O Estado de São Paulo
CategoryGeneral News
Prize1st prize
Date30-08-2004
CountryBrazil
PlaceSão Paulo
CaptionFire rages through the favela (slum ghetto) known as Buraco Quente (Hot Hole) in the south of São Paulo. The fire destroyed over 200 shacks within minutes, but there were no fatalities.
Organization / PublicationThe Philadelphia Inquirer
CategoryGeneral News
Prize2nd prize
Date06-04-2004
CountryIraq
PlaceAr Ramadi
CaptionPrivate Eric Ayon of Echo Company of the Second Battalion, Fourth Regiment of the US Marines, stares through the bullet-riddled windshield of an ambushed Humvee. Eight out of the nine marines on board were killed, and Ayon himself died in an ambush at the same intersection three days later. During its tour of Iraq, Echo Company suffered the worst casualties of any US company since Vietnam.
CaptionA detainee in an outdoor solitary confinement cell talks with a military policeman at the Abu Ghraib Prison, west of Baghdad. The prisoner was confined for fighting with other inmates. Under Saddam Hussein's presidency, Abu Ghraib had been the scene of the execution and torture of thousands of political prisoners. Its notoriety reemerged in 2004 with reports of US guards' violence against prisoners, and the release of photographs taken by soldiers depicting physical and sexual abuse of inmates.
CaptionTwo boys stand in an empty corridor at School Number Si, just a few hundred meters from School Number One. When the school re-opened on 15 September, two weeks after the crisis, most pupils stayed away. Schools were shut down for two weeks following the violent ending of a three-day siege, in which separatists demanding independence for Chechnya held over 1,000 pupils, parents and teachers of School Number One hostage. More than 330 people lost their lives. School Number One became a shrine to the victims of the siege. Officials decided not to re-open it, but to build two new schools for the pupils who had studied there.
Organization / PublicationMagnum Photos for Vanity Fair
CategoryGeneral News stories
Prize2nd prize
Date13-11-2004
PlaceRamallah, West Bank
CaptionTens of thousands of Palestinians converge on the Muqata compound in Ramallah for the burial of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat (75), who died in a military hospital in Paris on 11 November, even though the Israeli army has closed off other towns in the West Bank and prevents people traveling from the Gaza Strip. Mourners climbed on to the few high structures in the compound to get first glimpse of the helicopter that arrived bearing his body, and crowds swarmed the landing pad. Arafat's coffin was placed in a concrete and marble tomb, into which officials poured soil from Jerusalem. The Palestinian leader had said that he wished to be laid to rest in the ancient city, but permission had been refused. After the burial, mourners chanted and fired guns in the air in tribute.
Organization / PublicationAnzenberger Agency for Le Seuil / Newsweek
CategoryGeneral News stories
Prize3rd prize
Date00-03-2004
CountryIraq
PlaceBaghdad
CaptionA jogger stands in front of the monument to victory over Iran. Conflict between insurgents and coalition forces in Iraq continued throughout the year. Opposition ranged from anti-American demonstrations, to guerilla activity and open confrontation. The military responded with raids on homes thought to harbor insurgents, and full-scale attacks on dissident strongholds.
www.anzenberger.com
CaptionMohammed Jaber Daffallah (22), was killed with one shot to the forehead by an Israeli army sniper, as he looked out of his bedroom window. Israeli forces entered the area and surrounded the town after Palestinian militants had fired two rockets into the nearby Israeli settlement of Sderot, killing two people. The Israelis said that local farms and orchards were being used to provide cover for militants.
CaptionIranian asylum-seeker Mehdy Kavousi sewed up his lips and eyelids and went on hunger strike to protest against his threatened deportation from the Netherlands. That month, in a move to tighten immigration procedures, the Dutch government had proposed legislation to expel some 26,000 unsuccessful asylum-seekers. Kavousi ended his protest after 44 days, with the authorities refusing to budge. Officials had said that in order to stay with his Dutch partner, he needed to have filled out a form in Iran. The immigration department turned down his request that an exception be made to this rule. A month after ending his protest, after new information had come to light, Kavousi's case was re-opened and he was given leave to remain in the Netherlands.
CaptionA mother stands beside her dead baby in a makeshift morgue at the hospital. The hospital had been closed since rebels revolting against President Jean-Bertrand Aristide had taken control of the city early in the year. The baby had been born shortly before fighting began, and had not received necessary care. Unrest in Haiti had been growing ever since disputed election results in 2000, with Gonaïves as a particular flash point, and both sides blaming each other for the violence. Law and order broke down in many places, with looters ransacking stores, businesses, government buildings and hospitals.
CaptionPresident George W. Bush addresses delegates on the final night of the Republican National Convention. He won a second term as US leader in November after a closely fought campaign against the Democrat candidate John Kerry. The president polled some 3.5 million more votes than his rival nationwide.
CaptionCrowds mourn the death of a family of five following a grenade attack in a village near Srinagar. The dispute between India and Pakistan over claims to the mountainous northern region of Kashmir has continued for more than 50 years, and has at least twice led to war between the two nuclear powers. The area is controlled by India, but has a 60 per cent Muslim majority. Since 1989, in addition to the demands of Delhi and Islamabad, several other separatist groups have pursued rival claims to the territory, and Muslim insurgency has been on the increase. Cross-border firing and separatist militancy have left a death toll running into tens of thousands. Towards the end of 2004, India and Pakistan appeared to reach some rapprochement over Pakistan, and tensions eased.
CaptionAvi Torres (Spain) sets off at the start of the 200m freestyle heats at the Paralympic Games. Torres, whose limbs have been amputated, went on to come sixth in the 200m finals, but picked up a silver medal in the 150m individual medley and a bronze in the 450m relay medley. Swimming has been one of the main sports in the Paralympics since the first games were held in 1960. Standard international rules are followed with just a few exceptions, such as optional platform or in-water starts, but no prostheses or assistive devices are permitted.
CaptionRhythmic gymnast Elisabeth Paisieva (Bulgaria) performs her routine for the Individual All-Around qualification rotation at the Olympic Games. She was placed 12th in the rotation.
CaptionTriatheletes emerge from the water during the US Olympic Triathlon Team Trials. The race was the final qualifier for the 2004 Summer Games in Athens, and comprised a 1.5km swim, a 40km bike course and a 10km run.
Organization / PublicationContact Press Images for ESPN Magazine
CategorySports Action stories
Prize1st prize
Date00-08-2004
CountryGreece
PlaceAthens
CaptionThe Olympic Games: Australian and New Zealand women's field hockey teams compete in a match to determine fifth and sixth places overall, which Australia won 3-0.
CaptionIan Thorpe (Australia) starts from lane four and Pieter van den Hoogenband (The Netherlands) from lane five, during the heats of the men's 200m freestyle at the Olympic Games. Both were tipped to win the event. Thorpe beat the Dutch swimmer by 0.10 seconds in the heat, and went on to beat him again in the final, breaking an Olympic record in the process.
CaptionIraqi footballers play a game on an improvised field. The sport is extremely popular in Iraq, and the national team reached the semifinals during the Olympic Games in Athens.
CaptionAndrea Puma Estrada, captain of the football team poses at the entrance to the village. Churubamba is a farming community 3,850m above sea level in the Andahuaylillas district, in the Cusco region of Peru. Around 60 families farm and graze sheep and llamas. The women of Churubamba combine housework and farming activities with afternoons playing football in the village square. They are the Andahuaylillas district champions.
CaptionUp to 20 women boxers meet at the beach at 6 o'clock every morning for the first of two daily training sessions. India has around 500 amateur women boxers. The women at the Madras Friends Boxing Academy are from Christian, Muslim and Hindu backgrounds, and often from poor families. The state government reserves ten per cent of jobs in the uniformed services for promising sportsmen and sportswomen from disadvantaged backgrounds, so boxing can be a passport to a better life. The girls' families usually support their decision to take up boxing, but often there is wider social pressure for them to settle down and get married.
CaptionChildren practice on the parallel bars. Some 140 children, from four to ten years old and coming from all over China, study at the Li Xiaoshuang Gymnastics School. Chinese Olympic gold medalists Li XXiaoshuang, Yang Wei and Zheng Liwei all studied at this academy. Training is arduous, but China's success in Olympics-level gymnastics has encouraged greater numbers of parents to send their offspring to this and similar sports schools.
CaptionA mother cares for her son, sick with Hepatitis E, in a hospital in West Darfur. They have been displaced by the conflict in Darfur. The region saw one of the worst humanitarian crises of the year following attacks by Arab militias, allegedly backed by the government, on the local black African populace. Over 150,000 people were estimated to have died, and some 2 million displaced in what was regarded as a form of ethnic cleansing. The militias were accused of war crimes, although the United Nations stopped short of declaring their actions genocide. After strong international pressure, the Sudanese government agreed to disarm the leading Arab militias, but despite the threat of UN sanctions little appeared to be done on the ground.
CaptionA young man is restrained using a 'kunda' at the Zoara Ayurvedic Mental Hospital. The hospital comprises 24 similar rooms. In addition to undergoing long periods of restraint, patients are given ayurvedic medicines. The proprietor of the Zoara hospital says thousands have been cured there since it was founded in 1880.
CaptionA young man poses in the ruins of his former home. A migrant worker, he was living in the building that it was his job to demolish. As the manufacturing sector burgeons, the plan over the next 25 years is to move as many as 400 million people from rural areas to the cities. In Shanghai, traditional shikumen houses from the 19th century, as well as a variety of early 20th-century colonial-period buildings, are being flattened to make way for new high-rises as the city expands.
Organization / PublicationLaif Photos & Reportagen for Stern
CategoryContemporary Issues stories
Prize1st prize
Date2004
CountryChina
PlaceChangsha
CaptionWorkers assemble for a morning pep talk and to sing the company song in a factory that repairs air-conditioners. In recent years China has grown to become the world's fifth largest exporter of merchandise, and has one of the world's fastest growing economies. A huge influx of migrant workers is required to meet demand in city factories.
Organization / PublicationNB Pictures for Amnesty International / MSF
CategoryContemporary Issues stories
Prize2nd prize
Date2004
CountrySouth Africa
PlaceAlexandra Township, Johannesburg
CaptionAugust - October. Survivors of domestic violence: In South Africa one in four women is beaten regularly by her intimate partner, and one woman is killed by her partner every six days. A woman is raped every 26 seconds.
CaptionMia (25), lives in the Nordvest district. She is a drug addict and works as a prostitute. Despite her addiction, she likes to keep her apartment neat and presentable and says she tries to lead as decent a life as possible.
CaptionAlzheimer's patients living in a small group home. Alzheimer's disease is on the increase in Western countries. Approximately 7.5 per cent of elderly people suffer from Alzheimer's, and the disease is likely to become more prevalent as the population ages. Although the illness was identified by Alois Alzheimer as long ago as 1907, little is known about its causes. Early signs of the disease include memory loss, disorientation and problems with language. In the final stages, individuals may lose all capacity for speech and mobility. Alzheimer's is fatal.
CaptionWomen line up to cast their votes at a small Shiite mosque in western Kabul. After decades of war, and a US-led ousting of the Taliban in 2001, Afghans voted in the country's first ever direct presidential election on October 9. The woman in the center lifts her veil so that election officials can check her identification card. Afghan society has traditionally held very conservative views on women, even before the Taliban rule, and many argue that little has changed. Most candidates running for election avoided taking a stand on women's rights. The election was won by Hamid Karzai, who had been leader of Afghanistan's interim government, with 55 per cent of the vote.
Organization / Publicationfor U.S. News & World Report
CategoryDaily Life
Prize2nd prize
Date00-02-2004
CountryUSA
PlaceOhio
CaptionA young woman of the Old Order German Baptist Brethren plays basketball after dinner at her parents' farm. Originating in a religious group that came from Schwarzenau in Germany in the early 18th century, the Brethren do not use electricity or cars. Sports play a large role in giving young people a chance to meet each other and socialize.
CaptionA street scene in the Australian outback. Wiluna is situated nearly 1,000 km northeast of Perth, and has a population of 300, most of whom are Aboriginal. As with many outback towns, Wiluna's isolation means that its social problems are not on mainstream political agendas. Many families live in poverty; alcohol consumption is high and substance abuse and children's health issues have become major concerns.
CaptionFarm workers harvest rice stalks from a paddy. The stalks are used for animal bedding and feed. In March, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) appealed for US $60 million to boost agriculture in Afghanistan, and help deter opium production. Some 85 per cent of Afghanistan's population rely on farming for their survival, and the country is the world's largest opium producer. The FAO said that rehabilitating the agricultural sector was essential to curbing the cultivation of opium poppies.
Organization / PublicationPolitiken / Rapho for Geo
CategoryDaily Life stories
Prize1st prize
Date00-05-2004
CountrySlovakia
CaptionHundreds of Roma live in dilapidated housing complexes and makeshift settlements in the towns of Trebišov and Košice in eastern Slovakia. The Roma form the second largest minority group in Slovakia, yet as a group tend to suffer disproportionately high rates of unemployment, poverty and disease. Most live in extremely deprived conditions, often in camps in marginal or devastated zones, with few facilities. Improved social welfare and human rights legislation, passed by the Slovak government on the eve of the country's joining the European Union in May 2004, does not appear to have reached the ground. Slovak prejudice against the Roma is deep-rooted.
Organization / PublicationMagnum Photos for Geo / Vanity Fair
CategoryDaily Life stories
Prize2nd prize
Date00-01-2004
PlaceTrans-Dniester
CaptionIn the unrecognized country of Trans-Dniester, which broke away from Moldova in the early 1990s, Lenin and his compatriots are still in high regard. The fall of the Soviet Union officially gave rise to 15 new countries, but political and ethnic disparities as well as arbitrary border delineation have lead to a group of unrecognized states. Some of these ghost republics have physical borders, others are the products of separatist dreams - but they remain cut off from the rest of the world, deprived of the certainties of the old Soviet order.
CaptionNightwatchmen usually take the work to supplement their income from a day job. Unemployment is high in the city, and the average wage is a little over 40 Euro a month. Watchmen can earn an additional 20 Euro to 30 Euro monthly. By day they may be anything from a student to a mechanic. People with more money like to employ domestic staff, and guards to protect their homes. Owners of shops and businesses do likewise. Being a nightwatchman is not popular employment, though there is a tacit understanding that many sleep on the job. Ouagadougou has very little street lighting, and the sun sets around 6pm, so often the nightwatchman's presence and light are alone enough to deter thieves.
CaptionLilian (23), was kidnapped from her village in Uganda by rebel fighters of the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) when she was 12 years old. After a week-long march across the border into Sudan, Lilian was given as a bush-wife to a rebel commander, who raped her that night. She bore her first child two years later, a son she named Oryema. Lilian stayed with the rebels for 11 years, and participated in fighting against the Sudan Liberation Army, which allegedly has the backing of the Ugandan government. Lilian eventually escaped with her son during an attack by the Ugandan army, and fled back across the border to a shelter for former girl soldiers. The Ugandan government has been unable to end insurgency by the LRA in the region, and rebels have killed or kidnapped many thousands of people.
Organization / PublicationArt + Commerce for The New York Times Magazine
CategoryPortraits
Prize2nd prize
Date27-01-2004
CountryUSA
PlaceLos Angeles, California
CaptionActress Charlize Theron was born into a small South African farming community. After working first as a model and then as a ballet dancer, she left her native country for Los Angeles in 1994 at the age of 19. She was spotted by an agent on Hollywood Boulevard, and landed her first film role - a non-speaking part - within a few months. Larger roles quickly followed. In 2004 she was awarded an Oscar for Best Actress for her portrayal of the serial killer Aileen Wuornos in the film 'Monster'.
