Photo by Tim Hetherington, UK for Vanity Fair
The international jury of the annual World Press Photo contest selected an image of the UK photographer Tim Hetherington as the photo of 2007.
The picture shows a US soldier resting exhausted in a muddy bunker in Afghanistan and was taken in September by the photographer on assignment for Vanity Fair.
"This image shows the exhaustion of a man - and the exhaustion of a nation," jury chair Gary Knight commented, as cited by worldpressphoto.org.
"We are all connected to this. It's a picture of a man at the end of a line," Knight added.
A record number of 5,019 participants from 125 countries took part in the 51st edition of the prestigious contest, officials announced.
The author of the World Press Photo will receive his award, carrying a cash prize of EUR 10,000, during a ceremony in Amsterdam on April 27.