image of contrast

Spencer Platt of Getty Images
has won the 50th annual "World Press Photo of the Year".

The color shot by Platt, a U.S. photographer,
shows a group of affluent young Lebanese
driving through a South Beirut neighborhood
devastated by Israeli bombs.

The photo was taken on Aug. 15,
the first day of the Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire
when thousands of Lebanese
began returning to their homes.

"It's a picture you can keep looking at,"
said a jury. "It has the complexity
and contradiction of real life, amidst chaos."

Platt will receive his award
and a cash prize of 10,000 euros.