AMSTERDAM, THE NETHERLANDS.- The international jury of the 48th annual World Press Photo contest selected a color image of the Indian photographer Arko Datta of Reuters as World Press Photo of the Year 2004. The picture shows an Indian woman mourning the death of a relative who was killed in the Asian tsunami catastrophe. The picture was taken in Cuddalore, Tamil Nadu, on 28 December 2004.

World Press Photo jury chairman Diego Goldberg described the winning image as “a true spot news picture with a strong photographer’s point of view.” According to jury member Kathy Ryan, Datta’s photograph is a “graphic, historical and starkly emotional picture.”

This year the World Press Photo contest broke two records: the number of photographers and the number of photographs entered. 4,266 professional photographers from 123 countries entered 69,190 images in the most prestigious annual international competition in press photography. It was also the first time that the judging was completely digital. The judging sessions took place in Amsterdam from 30 January to 10 February. The jury gave prizes in 10 theme categories to 63 photographers of 24 nationalities from: Argentina, Australia, Austria, Bangladesh, Brazil, People’s Republic of China, Denmark, France, Germany, India, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Mexico, Norway, Peru, Puerto Rico, Russia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, the Netherlands, United Kingdom and the U.S.