While documenting his native Romania, photojournalist Mugur Varzariu met a witch of Roma origin. At first he thought he would only witness sorcery, but she exposed more than just her magic. Through her, he saw the pulse of the community.

While living for five years in Istanbul, photographer George Georgiou says he witnessed Turkey struggle to find its identity amid a rapidly changing cultural and physical landscape. “The speed of modernization really is breathtaking,” he said. “It was fascinating to watch.”

When photographer Peter Hoffman heard of the February 2011 earthquake that devastated the town of Christchurch, New Zealand, he knew he had to return to the town where he had lived briefly in 2004. What he found was a different world from the near-utopia he remembered.

On Friday, February 15, World Press Photo announced the winners of the 56th annual contest. The jury gave prizes in nine themed categories for what is considered one of the most prestigious photojournalism honors. CNN caught up with a few of the first place winners via e-mail to talk about their reactions and photographs.

On the other side of the mountains from the Russian town of Sochi, where the Olympic flame will be lighted next year, a war is being waged. From the Caucasus' impenetrable forests and mountains, Islamist rebels are engaged in a struggle for independence from Russia.

For more than a decade, images of war and death have filled most Americans’ minds when they think of Afghanistan. What is easily forgotten in times of war is the people. Daniel Berehulak gives a glimpse into daily life in the country’s capital of Kabul, as well the shifting security forces.

As a child in Japan, Hiroko Tanaka saw a television report on Vietnamese twins who were attached at the head at birth. The deformity was blamed on their parents’ exposure to the herbicide known as Agent Orange. As an adult she sought to explore the lasting effects of Agent Orange through photojournalism.

After realizing he was part of the last generation who could talk to Holocaust survivors, Maciek Nabrdalik embarked on a project to document their stories. His subjects, forgetting their pictures were being taken, would recall their time in Nazi concentration camps during World War II.