British photographer Tim Hetherington has won the prestigious World Press Photo of the Year award for 2007. He bested more than 5,000 photographers from 125 countries for his photograph of a US soldier in Afghanistan.

The jury said that the winning photograph “showed the exhaustion of a man, and the exhaustion of a nation”. The photograph was taken in the Korengal Valley in September, while Tim Hetherington was on assignment for the US magazine Vanity Fair.

A total of 59 photographers from 23 countries won this year in various categories.

To view the winners gallery, click here.