All About Photo Awards 2017

Somalia has an emblematic role to play in any attempt to understand the refugee crisis today, because this country on the Horn of Africa - together with Syria - is the state from which a large proportion of the population are fleeing in search of asylum throughout the world. The internally displaced number over a million, and another million that have found refuge in neighbouring countries or in Europe; however, by virtue of a historical and geo-political paradox, this country - the emblem of war on earth - has also become a place of welcome: over 30,000 Yemenites have already landed on the Somali coasts, in flight from the Arabian peninsula (where the Houthi rebels are at war with the Saudi-guided coalition) and have found refuge in a nation that for 25 years now has been under the anarchic rule of hordes of undisciplined soldiers.

The help these Yemenites are receiving from the Somali people is indicative of the desire for change afoot in the former Italian colony. From Bosaso to Dolow, this desire for change is palpable everywhere: girls from Mogadishu go to the beach; beauty parlours and games arcades are opening up; people want to start living again, and to do so they are prepared to stand up to the dictates and threats of Al Shabaab. The jihadist group, although in difficulty and rocked by an internal crisis, has not however ceased to carry out terrorist attacks and take carefully targeted action against journalists, government figures and international troops. The climate of terror, the corrupt state administration, the formation of armed clan groups are all contributing factors to the disease that has been devouring Somalia for decades, but rising up against it today is the collective sentiment of a people that does not wish to feel alone and has decided to take its destiny into its own hands in order to conquer fear and look to the future.

Lone activist Ieshia Evans stands her ground while offering her hands for arrest as she is charged by riot police during a protest against police brutality outside the Baton Rouge Police Department in Louisiana, U.S.A. on July 9, 2016. Evans, a 27-year-old Pennsylvania nurse and mother to a young boy, traveled to Baton Rouge to protest the shooting of Alton Sterling, a 37-year-black man and father of five, who was held down by two white police officers and shot at close range by one of the officers. The shooting, captured on cell phone videos, aggravated the unrest that has coursed through the United States for two years over the use of excessive force by police, especially against black men.

After crossing the Macedonian-Serbian border, refugees walk the unofficial refugee route in subfreezing snowy weather. Near Miratovac, Serbia, January 17, 2016. Produced for Mercy Corps.

According to UNHCR, 67,415 refugees landed in Greece in January 2016, most of who traveled the route through Serbia on their way to Western Europe. The number of refugees arriving in Greece has dropped significantly since the Balkan border closures in March 2016.

A violent tornado touches down near Dodge City, Kansas on May 24, 2016 as the photographer Chad Cowan approaches it in his Line-X coated SUV. This EF-3 tornado was on the ground for 15 miles and produced a quarter-mile wide damage swath, narrowly missing densely populated Dodge City. In a farmstead outside of the city, two vehicles were mangled and thrown 150 yards and a person taking shelter in a reinforced concrete bunker was injured when this tornado drove a metal pipe through the concrete.

In the beginning, photography was my passport to meeting people, learning, and experiencing new cultures. Now it is more than just a passport. It's a tool for creating awareness and understanding across cultures, communities, and countries; a tool to make sense of our commonalities in the world we share.

Nikon Ambassador and National Geographic magazine photographer Ami Vitale has traveled to more than 90 countries, bearing witness not only to violence and conflict, but also to surreal beauty and the enduring power of the human spirit. Throughout the years, Ami has lived in mud huts and war zones, contracted malaria, and donned a panda suit- keeping true to her belief in the importance of ''living the story.'' In 2009, after shooting a powerful story on the transport and release of one the world's last white rhinos, Ami shifted her focus to today's most compelling wildlife and environmental stories.