Another year, another World Press Photo Yearbook with its usual variety of images that shock, amaze, warm the heart - but mainly shock. The theatres of conflict, social unrest and poverty throughout the world do not result in pretty pictures. There is, for example, Shafiqul Alam Kiron's double-page photograph of a 17-year-old Bangladeshi victim of an acid attack nursing her baby. Contrast this with Thomasz Gudzowaty's picture of young cheetahs before killing a buck. But for an image that will haunt you, look at Tom Stoddart's picture of a Sudanese woman giving birth, as a man dies in the same hut. It's not all horror. There are some interesting picture-stories, including Stefano de Luigi's below-the-surface look at fashionable Italians, and Thys Dullaart's pictures of the 24-hour Thari cinema in Johannesburg, a haven for homeless people - one of the regulars sleeps in his favourite spot on the floor directly in front of the screen.
Photographers always find this book interesting, but it's not published just for them. The general public throughout the world who have little interest in using a camera will be stimulated by the international language of photographs as spoken on these pages .