Stanmeyer's Djibouti migrants snap wins prestigious World Press Photo award

A photo of African migrants near Djibouti city, captured by US photojournalist John Stanmeyer, has won first prize in the 2014 World Press Photo awards.

The moonlit image shows men trying to get a phone signal from nearby Somalia, the BBC reported.

According to panel member Jillian Edelstein, the photo raised issues of technology, globalisation, migration, poverty, desperation, alienation and humanity.

Stanmeyer, who has been the recipient of several other honours including the Magazine Photographer of the Year and Picture of the Year awards, as well as the 2008 National Magazine Award for Photojournalism, shot the winning image while on assignment for the US-based National Geographic magazine.

 

The prestigious World Press Photo awards have been running since 1955.