The international World Press Photo jury has selected a photo by US photographer Anthony Suau as photo of the year 2008. It shows an armed police officer searching a deserted home in the state of Ohio.
Pistol drawn, the officer was searching the house to make sure the residents had moved out, after they had been evicted having failed to keep up with their mortgage payments.
The black and white photograph was part of TIME magazine's Tough Times in Cleveland report on the effects of the credit crunch.
"We felt it was incumbent upon the jury to select a photograph that not only was a strong and powerful image, but an image also that has great relevance in the year 2008. The jury-members were particularly moved by this picture. Because when you first look at the picture you think that your looking at a war-image. A war-image that refers to either a criminal war of a drug-war. What you realize is that this is actually an economic war and that the people who are the victims are guilty of nothing more than not being able to pay their bills."
Dutchman Roger Cremers clinched the first prize in the Art and Entertainment category. His winning entry in colour features two visitors to the Auschwitz Nazi death camp. Dressed in the same track suits, the two men are seen from the back taking photographs of a monument on the site.
Tags: Anthony Suau, Auschwitz, Roger Cremers, World Press Photo