The 2016 World Press Photo winners — in pictures

An Australian freelance photographer took the top prize in this year's World Press Photo competition

Warren Richardson's photo — of a man handing a baby under barbed wire on the Serbian-Hungarian border — is lit only by moonlight, as he didn't want to alert police to the location of the refugees he was following.

"I camped with the refugees for five days on the border. A group of about 200 people arrived, and they moved under the trees along the fence line. They sent women and children, then fathers and elderly men first. I must have been with this crew for about five hours and we played cat and mouse with the police the whole night. I was exhausted by the time I took the picture," he told the World Press Photo Foundation.

A man passes a baby through the fence at the Serbia/Hungary border in Röszke, Hungary, 28 August 2015.

Credit:

Warren Richardson, Australia, 2015, Hope for a New Life 

Richardson's photo was only one of many winners who were documenting the refugee crisis. But the photos covered a wide range of topics, including the Paris attacks, the earthquake in Nepal and protests in the US over police violence.

Note: Some images in this story may not be suitable for all audiences.

Reporting Europe's Refugee Crisis

Credit:

Sergey Ponomarev, Russia, 2015, for The New York Times 

Refugees arrive by boat near the village of Skala on Lesbos, Greece, November 16, 2015.

Life in the Cult of Kim

Credit:

David Guttenfelder, USA, 2015 

At dusk, the skyline of central Pyongyang, North Korea, April 12, 2011.

March Against Terrorism in Paris

Credit:

Corentin Fohlen, France, 2015, March Against Terrorism in Paris 

Demonstration against terrorism in Paris, after a series of five attacks occurred across the Île-de-France region, beginning at the headquarters for satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo. Paris, France, January 11, 2015.

Whale Whisperers

Credit:

Anuar Patjane Floriuk, Mexico, 2015, Whale Whisperers 

Divers observe and surround a humpback whale and her newborn calf whilst they swim around Roca Partida in the Revillagigedo Islands, Mexico, January 28, 2015.

Ivory Wars

Credit:

Brent Stirton, South Africa, 2015, Getty Images for National Geographic 

A Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) fighter holds two ivory tusks. Ivory is a means of financing the LRA and is used for both food and weapon supplies. Near, Sudan, November 17, 2014.

An Antarctic Advantage

Credit:

Daniel Berehulak, Australia, 2015, for The New York Times

The winter expedition crew of a Russian research team and a Chilean scientist drink Samagon, a homemade vodka, in a bedroom of the Bellingshausen Antarctica base; Fildes Bay, Antartica, November 28, 2015.

March Against Police Violence

Credit:

John J. Kim, USA, 2015, Chicago Tribune, March Against Police Violence 

Lamon Reccord stares down a police sergeant during a protest following the fatal shooting of Laquan McDonald by police in Chicago, Illinois, November 25, 2015.

Bliss Dharma Assembly

Credit:

Kevin Frayer, Canada, 2015, Getty Images 

Tibetan prayer flags, known as Lung-ta, on a hillside in the Larung Valley of Sertar County, Garze Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan province, China, October 30, 2015.

Everest Base Camp, Nepal

Credit:

Roberto Schmidt, Germany, 2015, Agence France-Presse 

Rescuers carry an injured person to a medical tent after the avalanche hit the Everest Base Camp. Nepal, April 25, 2015.

Tough Times for Orangutans

Credit:

Tim Laman, USA, 2015

A veterinarian from International Animal Rescue carries a Bornean orangutan baby from a house where it was kept illegally as a pet in the village of Sungai Besar, West Kalimantan Province, Indonesia, July 27, 2015.

ISIS Fighter Treated at Kurdish Hospital

Credit:

Mauricio Lima, Brazil, 2015 for The New York Times, IS Fighter Treated at Kurdish Hospital

A doctor rubs ointment on the burns of a 16-year-old ISIS fighter named Jacob in front of a poster of Abdullah Ocalan, the jailed leader of the Kurdistan Workers' Party, at a YPG hospital compound on the outskirts of Hasaka, Syria.

Haze in China

Credit:

Zhang Lei, China, 2015, Tianjin Daily, Haze in China 

A city in northern China shrouded in haze, Tianjin, China, December 10, 2015.

Gang-related Violence

Credit:

Niclas Hammarström, Sweden, 2015, Gang-related Violence 

The body of a victim killed in gang-related violence. This is the fourth gang-related killing on the same street in one night. Police have no witnesses. San Pedro Sula, Honduras. March 4, 2015.

See the full gallery here.