World Press Photo 2016

Overview

It's the yearly exhibition that leaves us with jaws on the floor; the 59th annual World Press Photo exhibition is coming to Australia for another year. Back for its 59th edition, the yearly photographic collection regularly leaves us gaping at the mouth — and this year is no exception. Right at the top with 2015 Photo of the Year is Australia's own Warren Richardson, with his poignant picture of a man passing his baby through a fence at the Hungarian-Serbian border. He beat 82,951 submissions by 5775 photographers from 128 countries for the top prize, while also taking out first prize in the Spot News category.

The World Press Photo exhibition can be seen at Sydney's State Library of NSW from May 21 to June 19. Before the exhibition makes its way to Australia, take a look through some of the landmark images that caught the eye of the WPP judges; from a Tibetan Bhuddist ceremony in rural China to a 16-year-old Islamic State fighter being treated for burns in Syria, to one of those epics #sydneystorms rolling over Bondi. With many of the photographs documenting the more saddening news headlines, they're often not easy images to look at, but it's the work of these photojournalists that wakes up an otherwise ignorant world.

Image: Bliss Dharma Assembly, Kevin Frayer (Sichuan, China).