An image of a gay couple locked in a tender embrace won the prestigious World Press Photo award today, highlighting the plight of sexual minorities in Russia.
But organisers said at least a quarter of all pictures reaching the penultimate round of the 58th edition of the contest were rejected because they were digitally enhanced, the organisers said.
AFP's Istanbul-based photographer Bulent Kilic won first and third prizes in the Spot News category, Singles, for two haunting images taken in Turkey and Syria.
Danish photographer Mads Nissen shot his evocative winning picture of "Jon and Alex" in a bare room in Saint Petersburg, with only a brown curtain as a backdrop.
One of the men is lying down with his eyes closed as the other looks down at him tenderly, their hands locked together.
Russia's gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community has come under increasing attacks in Russia, with the government earlier this year passing a controversial law banning transvestites and transsexuals from driving.
In 2013, President Vladimir Putin signed a law banning the so-called "propaganda" of gay relationships to minors, despite an outcry from rights groups, Western governments and celebrities including Madonna.
