The World Press Photo Contest winners for 2012 were announced Friday in Amsterdam and a touching picture of a woman holding a wounded relative during protests in Yemen by photographer Samuel Aranda took top honors.

Jurors said the photo of the veiled woman and bare-chested man captured multiple facets of the "Arab Spring" uprisings across the Middle East last year. It was shot at a field hospital inside a mosque in Sanaa on October 15.

Aranda's photo was selected from 101,254 images submitted by 5,247 photographers from 124 nations.

"It is a photo that speaks for the entire region. It stands for Yemen, Egypt, Tunisia, Libya, Syria, for all that happened in the Arab Spring," jury member Koyo Kouoh said. "But it shows a private, intimate side of what went on. And it shows the role that women played, not only as care-givers, but as active people in the movement."

"In the Western media, we seldom see veiled women in this way, at such an intimate moment," jury member Nina Berman noted. "It is as if all of the events of the Arab Spring resulted in this single moment - in moments like this."

The World Press Photo jury was made up of 19 internationally recognized professionals in the field of photojournalism and documentary photography.

A freelance photographer from Spain, Aranda traveled to Yemen on assignment for The New York Times.

He received news of the win Thursday night at around 7 p.m. and told the British Journal of Photography "at that exact moment, I was checking my bank account because I didn't know how I was going to pay my rent this month.

"I think it's really important when you receive such an award to remember that all of this work is for the people we're documenting," he said. "What I would really like is for this photo to help the people of Yemen. I think it's a country that is often forgotten."

Aranda spent nearly three months in Yemen from October 2011, and is planning to go back for the elections in the next few weeks, again for The New York Times. He was the only Western photographer in the country at one point, but was aided by local wire photographers.

Aranda's photo also took first place in the "People in the News Singles" category. He will receive a cash prize of 10,000 euros ($12,366) at a ceremony later this year.

Institute photographer Jodi Bieber won the award last year for her controversial photo of a mutilated Afghan woman. Her image made the cover of TIME magazine on Aug. 9, 2010, and quickly found itself at the center of a heated debate.

In all, 57 photographers of 24 nationalities won awards in a field of more than 5000 professional photographers.

Press "Start" to view a selection of the World Press Photo winners.

The 2012 World Press Photo of the year by Samuel Aranda, Spain, for The New York Times, shows a woman holding a wounded relative during protests against president Saleh in Sanaa, Yemen, Oct. 15, 2011.

Ton Koene, The Netherlands - 2nd prize Portraits Stories
Recruit at a police training center, Kunduz, Afghanistan, 28 September. New Afghan police recruits at the German police training center in Kunduz, Afghanistan are all illiterate; they are farmer sons from rural areas who never had any education and are joining the police for economic reasons. Their loyalty to the government is thin. A police officer earns around $170 per month and due to harsh living and working conditions along with the high risk for being killed by the Taliban, many decide to leave the police force before their contract ends.

Tomasz Lazar, Poland - 2nd prize People in the News Singles
This photo depicts the arrest of protesters in Harlem, New York City, during a demonstration against police tactics and income inequality. New York, USA, 25 October

Brent Stirton, South Africa - 1st prize Nature Stories
This photo depicts a female rhino in Natal, South Africa, that four months earlier survived a brutal dehorning by poachers who used a chainsaw to remove her horns and a large section of bone in this area of her skull. The female rhino survived the dehorning and has joined up with a male bull who now accompanies her. Rhino horn is now worth more than gold on the international market. South Africa alone has lost more than 400 rhino to illegal poaching incidents in 2011. The demand for Rhino horn is fueled by a wealthy Asian middle and upper class and used overwhelmingly as medication.
Reportage by Getty Images for National Geographic magazine “Rhino Wars”, Tugela Private Game Reserve, Colenso, Natal, South Africa, 9 November 2010

Laerke Posselt, Denmark - 1st Prize Portraits Singles
Iranian-born Danish actress Mellica Mehraban, Copenhage, 4 May
The 27-year-old Iranian-born actress Mellica Mehraban grew up in Denmark, but debuted as an actor in Iran in 2011. Taking the leading role as a villain in the spy drama "Fox Hunting," she learned firsthand about the culture of her native country: following a regime-approved script, she was required to wear a head scarf in all scenes, forbidden from swearing, and learned to show that she was in love with a man without telling him or touching him.

Jenny E. Ross, USA - 1st prize Nature Singles
Novaya Zemlya, Russia, 30 June
A male polar bear climbs precariously on the face of a cliff above the ocean at Ostrova Oranskie in northern Novaya Zemlya, attempting to feed on seabird eggs. This bear was marooned on land and unable to feed on seals--its normal prey--because sea ice had melted throughout the region and receded far to the north as a result of climate change.

Alex Majoli, Italy - 1st prize General News Singles
Protesters cry, chant and scream in Cairo’s Tahrir Square, after listening to the speech in which Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak said he would not give up power. Cairo, Egypt, 10 February.

Alejandro Kirchuk, Argentina - 1st prize Daily Life Stories
“Never Let You Go”
Marcos leads Monica from their room to the living room. Although at times he grumbles about the time devoted to her care, Marcos did not see any other possibility. “Tell me where she is going to be better than here. I treat her like a princess, here she has everything.” Marcos, 89, and Monica, 87, have been married and living in their apartment in Buenos Aires, Argentina, for 65 years. In 2007, Monica was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. Since that moment, her husband devoted all his time to take care of her. The disease is considered a future epidemic because it mainly affects older people, and as life expectancy is annually increasing in global population, the disease is becoming increasingly common.

Stephanie Sinclair, USA - 1st prize Contemporary Issues Stories
Hajjah, Yemen, 10 June 2010
Tahani (in pink), who married her husband Majed when she was 6 and he was 25, poses for this portrait with former classmate Ghada, also a child bride, outside their mountain home in Hajjah. Nearly half of all women in Yemen were married as children. Child marriage is outlawed in many countries and international agreements forbid the practice, yet this tradition still spans continents, language, religion and caste.

Damir Sagolj, Bosnia and Herzegovina - 1st prize Daily Life Singles
Pyongyang, North Korea, 5 October
A picture of North Korea's founder, Kim Il-sung, decorates a building in the capital Pyongyang.

Rob Hornstra, The Netherlands - 1st prize Arts and Entertainment Stories
The Sochi Project: Sochi Singers
Marika Bajur sings "Kuriu" in the restaurant Eurasia. The southern Russian city of Sochi lies on the Black Sea and attracts predominantly Russian holidaymakers who come for a mix of sun, sea, sand and nightlife. Restaurants are plentiful and competition is fierce, with every restaurant employing a regular live musician blasting Russian chansons and popsa.

Brent Stirton, South Africa - 1st prize Contemporary Issues Singles
Kryvyi Rig, Ukraine, 31 August
Maria, a drug addict and sex worker, in between clients in a room she rents in Kryvyi Rig, Ukraine. Maria injects drugs on a daily basis and sees many men every week but claims she remains HIV negative. She says she need the money to support herself, her drug habit and her nine-year-old daughter.

Vincent Boisot, France - 2nd prize Arts and Entertainment Singles
A model poses in front of tailor stalls in the center of Dakar, Senegal. She wears the creation of a designer, Yolande Mancini, participating in the 9th edition of Dakar Fashion Week.

Adam Pretty, Australia - 2nd prize Sports Stories
Divers practice during the 14th FINA World Championships at the Oriental Sports Center in Shanghai, China, 17 July

Ray McManus, Ireland - 2nd prize Sports Singles
Scrum half, Old Belvedere vs. Blackrock, Dublin, Ireland, 5 February
This photo shows action from a rugby match between Old Belvedere and Blackrock played in heavy rain in Dublin, Ireland.

Yuri Kozyrev, Russia - 1st prize Spot News Singles
Rebels in Ras Lanuf, Libya, 11 March. For weeks, rebels held out against Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi with the hope that the world would come to their aid. Defiance faded as the dictator's planes and tanks began to retake what had been dubbed Free Libya.

Yasuyoshi Chiba, Japan - 1st prize People in the News Stories
Aftermath of the tsunami, Japan, 3 April
Chieko Matsukawa shows her daughter’s graduation certificate as she finds it in the debris in Higashimatsushima city, Miyagi prefecture, Japan.

Paolo Pellegrin, Italy - 2nd prize General News Stories
Tsunami aftermath, Japan, 14 April
The devastating 9.0-magnitude earthquake that hit the northeast coast of Japan triggered hugely destructive tsunami waves of up to 38 meters that struck Japan traveling up to ten kilometers inland. More than 28,000 people are dead or missing and more than 125,000 buildings destroyed or severely damaged.

Niclas Hammarström, Sweden - 2nd prize Spot News Stories
Utøya, Norway, 22 July
Trying to avoid the killer’s bullets, many people jumped into the cold water. Anders Behring Breivik killed 69 people on 22 July on the small island of Utøya outside Oslo in Norway.