Germany's Lead Awards honor exceptional works published in the German media. Discover the blurry photo of refugees in a boat which was voted Photo of the Year, as well as 10 other thought-provoking pictures.
Image: Oliver Jobard
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11 outstanding photos nominated for the Lead Awards
Germany's Lead Awards honor outstanding media work, including photography. The photos are truly breathtaking. Here's the winning photo, and the best of the nominees.
Image: Roberto Schmidt
Liberty or death
This picture, "Liberty or Death," by Olivier Jobard obtained the Lead Award "Photo of the Year." The French documentary photographer accompanied a group of Afghan refugees on their dangerous journey to Europe. Jobard captured the moment as the boat draws close to the Greek coast, lights beckoning in the distance.
Image: Oliver Jobard
Damage assessment
Among the other nominated photos for the award, this one shows Muhammed and Adel's devastated flat in northern Gaza. AFP photographer Roberto Schmidt followed them around the clock, documenting how they would spend nights watching over the little they still owned in the ruined house.
Image: Roberto Schmidt
On the brink of the abyss
This photo of a woman mourning her sister who just died of Ebola is part of John Moore's 2014 photo series entitled "The Ebola Crisis Overwhelms the Liberian Capital." At the time, the epidemic had already claimed more than 1,000 lives. Moore's photos are testament to the people's helplessness and their desperate attempts to eliminate the disease.
Image: John Moore
Exhausted hooligans
It took Russian photographer Andrew Lubimov four months to gain the trust of these Ukrainian hooligans before they let their guard down. He documented the young men's total lack of prospects, how they would get into fights in soccer stadiums and brawls - and fall asleep in the bus afterwards.
Image: Andrew Lubimov
Bryan Adams portrays Helmut Berger
Canadian rock star and photographer Bryan Adams has a knack for portraying people in a dignified manner long after they've lost all dignity. Helmut Berger, an Austrian actor and once a world star, is an old man ravaged by drugs and alcohol, but Adams managed to reveal a glimpse of the former jet set icon.
Image: Bryan Adams
The magic of solitude
On the very edges of Siberia, an old meteorologist observes the weather, the ocean and the sheets of floating ice. In a haunting, impressive photo reportage, Evgenia Arbugaeva documents a lonely life in one of the most remote places in the world.
Image: Evgenia Arbugaeva
Lost in Los Angeles
Star photographer Thomas Struth captured the power of memories at Villa Aurora in Los Angeles, where many German artists found refuge during World War II. The pictures on the wall show prominent guests.
Image: Thomas Struth
Remembering a star
Udo Jürgens' 80th birthday celebration was widely broadcast by the media. Despite the excitement of the day, photographer Adrian Crispin captured the hugely popular singer in an almost intimate moment. The Austrian-Swiss singer died in December 2014.
Image: Adrian Crispin
Private function
Photographer Jose Palazon shows how well the "fortress Europe" works in Melilla, a Spanish enclave in Morocco protected by border police and a fence six meters high. Europe is so close but out of reach to the Africans perched on top of the fence. The ladies playing golf in the foreground can't be bothered.
Image: Jose Palazon
Bizarre landscape
Worldwide, Google has taken more photographs than any one photographer. New York architect and designer Clement Valla collected images of streets and bridges on Google Earth, and combined them to create a bizarre dream world.
Created by Lagerfeld
The fashion designer is no newcomer to the Lead Awards. This year, Karl Lagerfeld shows a model who practically disappears among the folds of her voluminous dusty pink dress and under her wide-brimmed hat.
Image: Karl Lagerfeld
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For more than 20 years, the Lead Awards has been selecting the best works published in German newspapers, magazines and online throughout the year - and that includes choosing the most stunning photographs.
Every one of the 56 photos submitted this year deserves to win an award. The categories Reportage Photography, Mood and Fashion Photography, Portrait Photography, Architectural Photography and the Photo of the Year collect the year's most impressive photos found in the German media.
The jury said this year's photographs offered a previously unseen spectrum of emotions, ranging from enthusiasm over the Soccer Cup to grief and desperation in troubled regions around the world.
The public was also involved in selecting the Photo of the Year. For weeks, users had the opportunity to vote online for the photograph they liked best. The winner was French documentary photographer Olivier Jobard, with a diffuse shot of Afghan refugees in a boat heading to the Greek coast.
All of the works are on display in an exhibition at Hamburg's Deichtorhallen until November 9, 2015.
