By Daryl Lang

Click on the photo gallery above for a selection of winning World Press Photo images.

The 52nd Annual World Press Photo of the Year has been awarded to Anthony Suau for a photograph shot for Time magazine related to the economic crisis in the U.S. taken in Cleveland, Ohio.

The black-and-white image shows an officer of the Cuyahoga County Sheriff's Department moving through a home, weapon drawn, following an eviction as a result of mortgage foreclosure. The story as a whole won Second Prize in the Daily Life category of the contest.

Jury chair MaryAnne Golon said: "The strength of the picture is in its opposites. It's a double entendre. It looks like a classic conflict photograph, but it is simply the eviction of people from a house following foreclosure. Now war in its classic sense is coming into people's houses because they can't pay their mortgages."

Golon was also the director of photography for Time who oversaw Suau's project; she left the magazine last year. World Press World Press Photo judging is done anonymously, and judges are expected to inform other judges if they know the work being judged, according to a World Press Photo spokesperson.

(Related story: World Press Photo Winner Struggling to Find Work.)

This is Suau's second World Press Photo of the Year award. He also won the 1987 prize for a shot of a political demonstration in Kuro, South Korea.

World Press Photo's 2008 winners were announced February 13 in Amsterdam.

World Press Photo is one of the most widely followed photojournalism competitions. It is unique in selecting one photograph as the year's top work of photojournalism. It also recognizes dozens of other images in twenty other categories.

World Press Photo said 96,268 photographs were submitted to be judged, 19.5% more than last year. The number of entering photographers was 5,508, another record, and an increase of 9.7% over to 2008. World Press Photo noted that entries came from 124 nationalities. World Press reported an increase in entries from China, India and some European countries including Italy and Poland.

Other first-place winners include:

- Spot News, Singles: Chen Qinggan of China, Hangzhou Daily, for a photo of an earthquake survivor in Beichuan County, China, on May 14.

- Spot News, Stories: Walter Astrada of Argentina, Agence France-Presse, for a story on post-election violence in Kenya, January.

- General News, Singles: Luiz Vasconcelos of Brazil, Jornal A Crítica/Zuma Press, for a woman trying to stop a forced eviction in Manaus, Brazil, March 10.

- General News, Stories: Davide Monteleon of Italy, Contrasto, for a project in Abkhazia, September-October.

- People in the News, Singles: Chiba Yasuyoshi of Japan, Agence France-Presse, covering inter-tribal conflict in Western Kenya, March 1.

- People in the News, Stories: Callie Shell, Aurora Photos for Time, for her coverage of Barack Obama presidential campaign, January-October.

- Sports Action, Singles: Paul Mohan of Ireland, Sportsfile.
Ireland scores against Greece during under-17 European Championship qualifier,
Athlone, Ireland, 15 March

- Sports Action, Stories: Vincent Laforet for Newsweek, for a series on divers at the Beijing Olympic Games, August 23.

- Sports Features, Singles: Xiaoling Wu of China, Xinhua News Agency, for a photo showing Judoka Ange Mercie Jean-Baptiste at Beijing Olympic Games, August 11.

- Sports Features, Stories: Zhao Qing of China, China Youth Daily, for a series showing TVs in Beijing tuned to the Olympics.

- Contemporary Issues, Singles: Mashid Mohadjerin of Belgium, Reporters, for a shot of a boat of refugees off Lampedusa, Italy, July 30.

- Contemporary Issues, Stories: Carlos Cazalis of Mexico, Corbis. Homelessness in São Paulo, Brazil.

- Daily Life, Singles: Lissette Lemus of El Salvador, El Diario de Hoy, for an image showing a victim of gang violence in El Salvador, October 15.

- Daily Life, Stories: Brenda Ann Kenneally for The New York Times Magazine, for her series in Troy, New York.

- Portraits, Singles: Yuri Kozyrev of Russia, Noor, for an image of a woman and her son in Baghdad, Iraq.

- Portraits, Stories: Carlo Gianferro of Italy, for Postcart, for a project from Romania.

- Arts and Entertainment, Singles: Giulio Di Sturco of Italy, Agenzia Grazia Neri, for an image backstage at Indian Fashion Week in Delhi.

- Arts and Entertainment, Stories: Roger Cremers of the Netherlands for "Preserving Memory: Visitors at the Memorial and Museum Auschwitz-Birkenau,
Poland"

- Nature, Singles: Carlos F. Gutiérrez of Chile, Patagonia Press for Diario La Tercera, showing a volcano eruption in Chile, May 2.

- Nature, Stories: Steve Winter, National Geographic Magazine, for "Snow Leopards: Out of the Shadows."

Each year World Press Photo produces a book and a traveling exhibition of award-winning images. The year's exhibition will open at the Oude Kerk, Oudekerksplein in Amsterdam on Monday, May 4 and will eventually travel to 100 cities in 50 countries.

Related links
World Press Photo
"Tough Times in Cleveland" on Time.com

Related stories
Feb. 8, 2008: Tim Hetherington Wins World Press Photo Of The Year
June 3, 2008: MaryAnne Golon Out As Time DOP
June 27, 2008: Video: World Press Photo Exhibition