Fifteen photos featured over the past year in Newsweek have been honored in the American Photography competition, among 342 winners from 8,100 submissions. From a striking portrait of Angelina Jolie to gripping photos from war-torn Afghanistan and Libya, check out these award-winning images.
Japan Earthquake
The village of Otsuchi, Iwate, blanketed in snow, displays the destruction caused by the 2011 earthquake in Japan.
Disaster in Japan, One Year Later: Photos by Q. Sakamaki
Photograph by Q. Sakamaki/Redux for Newsweek
Horses and their owners take a dip in the Mediterranean Sea off Gaza City. The sea is a much needed distraction from the struggles of daily life in Gaza.
Photograph by Andrew McConnell/Panos for Newsweek
Mahmoud Alyrashi, 21, rides a wave. "We want to show the world that we are not terrorists but are peaceful people. When I surf I feel free, like a bird feels when it flies."
Photo by Andrew McConnell/Panos for Newsweek
Photograph by Sofia Sanchez & Mauro Mongiello for Newsweek
Photograph by Sofia Sanchez & Mauro Mongiello for Newsweek
A road devastated by the 2011 earthquake in Iwaki, Japan. Iwaki, considered by many to be a "nuclear town," is the closest large city to the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear reactor.
Photograph by Mastodon/VII Photo for Newsweek
An undiscovered body lies in mud in the tsunami ravaged area inside the Exclusion Zone surrounding the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant.
Photograph by Donald Weber/VII Photo for Newsweek
Egyptians desperate to get a place in the buses after days of traveling to escape violence in Libya. Refugees of different nationalities who were residing in Libya carried their belongings into Tunisia.
Photograph by Alex Majoli/Magnum Photos for Newsweek
Protesters in Tahrir square react after listening to the speech in which President Hosni Mubarak said he would not give up power.
Photograph by Alex Majoli/Magnum Photos for Newsweek
An Afghan soldier wears a plastic bag on his head during a dust storm.
Photograph by Balazs Gardi for Newsweek
Photograph by Chris Buck for Newsweek
Ramin Setoodeh & Tony Dokoupil: Can Celine Dion Save Vegas?
Photograph by Andrew Hetherington for Newsweek
From the last series of photos taken by Tim Hetherington before his death: destruction from fighting between Qaddafi and anti-Qaddafi forces in eastern Libya.
More Photos: Witness to War in Libya
Photograph by Tim Hetherington/Magnum Photos for Newsweek
And also from Hetherington's final series: destroyed streets in eastern Libya during fighting between Qaddafi forces and opposition forces.
More Photos: Witness to War in Libya
Photograph by Tim Hetherington/Magnum Photos for Newsweek
Jean-Jacques Bechio, special adviser of Laurent Gbagbo, is beaten by the crowd as he arrives at the Golf Hotel, Ivory Coast, April 11, 2011.
Photograph by Michael Zumstein/Agence Vu for Newsweek
