Every year since 1955 an international jury has met in Holland under the auspices of the World Press Photo Foundation to choose the world's finest press photographs. Universally recognised as the definitive competition for photographic reporting, it has been described by Michael Rand as 'the international photographic contest'. Publishing the results of the 48th annual World Press Photo Contest, this exceptional book contains the very best press photographs from the year 2004 - pictures submitted by photojournalists, picture agencies, newspapers and magazines throughout the world. Selected from thousands of images, these prizewinning photos capture the most powerful, moving and sometimes disturbing images of the year.