AP monthly staff photo contest
Each month The Associated Press honors photographers for outstanding coverage while on assignment.
The winners for the March 2021 AP Photo Contest are Luca Bruno for News Photography Single Image, for his photo of Palmiro Tami, 82, holding hands with his wife Franca Persico in the garden of the Fondazione Martino Zanchi nursing home, after receiving the second shot of Moderna COVID-19 Vaccine, in Alzano Lombardo, northern Italy.
Dario Lopez-Mills for News Photography Story, for his series of images documenting immigration at the border in Texas.
Carolyn Kaster for Feature Photography Single Image, for her image of a photographer reflected in a puddle under blooming Yoshino cherry trees on the edge of the Tidal Basin in Washington, D.C.
Anupam Nath for Feature Photography Story, for his series on several Myanmar police officers who fled to India after defying army orders to shoot opponents of last month's continuing anti-government protests.
Michael Sohn for Sports Photography Single Image, for his photo of Leipzig’s Yussuf Poulsen reacting after he failed to score during the German Bundesliga soccer match against Eintracht Frankfurt in Leipzig, Germany.
Ashley Landis for Sports Photography Story, for her series on spring training baseball in Arizona.
Congratulations to all the photographers for their outstanding work. This month’s winning images, judged by Eric Risberg and Jeff Chiu, are featured below.
News Photography Single Image | Luca Bruno
Palmiro Tami, 82, holds hand with his wife Franca Persico in the garden of the Fondazione Martino Zanchi nursing home, after receiving the second shot of Moderna COVID-19 Vaccine, in Alzano Lombardo, northern Italy, Monday, March 22, 2021. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)
News Photography Story | Dario Lopez-Mills
A smuggler paddles a small inflatable raft across the Rio Grande river from Mexico into the U.S. carrying migrant families in Roma, Texas, Wednesday, March 24, 2021. As soon as the sun set, at least 100 migrants crossed through the river by smugglers into the United States. (AP Photo/Dario Lopez-Mills)
Migrant families, mostly from Central American countries, wade through shallow waters after being delivered by smugglers on small inflatable rafts on U.S. soil in Roma, Texas, Wednesday, March 24, 2021. As soon as the sun set, at least 100 migrants were crossed through the Rio Grande river by smugglers into the United States. (AP Photo/Dario Lopez-Mills)
A young child walks alone through the brush after being smuggled across the Rio Grande river in Roma, Texas, Wednesday, March 24, 2021. A surge of migrants on the Southwest border has the Biden administration on the defensive. The head of Homeland Security acknowledged the severity of the problem but insisted it's under control and said he won't revive a Trump-era practice of immediately expelling teens and children. (AP Photo/Dario Lopez-Mills)
A smuggler takes migrants, mostly from Central American countries, on a small inflatable raft toward U.S. soil in Roma, Texas Tuesday, March 30, 2021. Roma, a town of 10,000 people with historic buildings and boarded-up storefronts in Texas’ Rio Grande Valley, is the latest epicenter of illegal crossings, where growing numbers of families and children are entering the United States to seek asylum. (AP Photo/Dario Lopez-Mills)
In this 12 photo composite photographed on Saturday, March 27, 2021, used bracelets lie on the ground after they were cast off by migrants once they arrived on U.S. soil in Roma, Texas, near the banks of the Rio Grande river. All of the arriving migrants wear numbered plastic wristbands that look like they could be used to get into a concert or amusement park, and everyone rips them off and tosses them on the ground after setting foot in the U.S. Large black letters on the wristbands read, “Entregas,” or “Deliveries,” apparently a mechanism for smugglers to keep track of migrants they are ferrying across the river that separates Texas and Mexico. (AP Photo/Dario Lopez-Mills)
A child is helped off an inflatable raft by a church volunteer after being smuggled across the Rio Grande river in Roma, Texas Tuesday, March 30, 2021. Roma, a town of 10,000 people with historic buildings and boarded-up storefronts in Texas’ Rio Grande Valley, is the latest epicenter of illegal crossings, where growing numbers of families and children are entering the United States to seek asylum. (AP Photo/Dario Lopez-Mills)
A woman from Guatemala weeps as she carries her child after being smuggled across the Rio Grande river in Roma, Texas Tuesday, March 30, 2021. Roma, a town of 10,000 people with historic buildings and boarded-up storefronts in Texas’ Rio Grande Valley, is the latest epicenter of illegal crossings, where growing numbers of families and children are entering the United States to seek asylum. (AP Photo/Dario Lopez-Mills)
Unaccompanied minor Kaylee Samantha, 7, who said she came alone from Mexico, pauses as she waits to be taken to a border patrol intake area after she got off of a small inflatable raft into U.S. soil by a smuggler in Roma, Texas, Wednesday, March 24, 2021. She claims she is trying to reach relatives in the U.S. A surge of migrants on the Southwest border has the Biden administration on the defensive. The head of Homeland Security acknowledged the severity of the problem but insisted it's under control and said he won't revive a Trump-era practice of immediately expelling teens and children.(AP Photo/Dario Lopez-Mills)
Migrants from Central American countries wait to be taken to a Border Patrol intake station after being smuggled across the Rio Grande river in Roma, Texas Tuesday, March 30, 2021. Roma, a town of 10,000 people with historic buildings and boarded-up storefronts in Texas’ Rio Grande Valley, is the latest epicenter of illegal crossings, where growing numbers of families and children are entering the United States to seek asylum. (AP Photo/Dario Lopez-Mills)
Davidson Jair Clavel, 7, answers questions from a U.S.Border Patrol agent at an intake site after he was smuggled on an inflatable raft across the Rio Grande river in Roma, Texas, Wednesday, March 24, 2021. Davidson traveled from El Salvador in the hope of reaching relatives living in the U.S. The Biden administration says that it’s working to address the increase in migrants coming to the border. On Wednesday, President Joe Biden tapped Vice President Kamala Harris to lead the White House efforts at the U.S. southern border and work with Central American nations to address root causes of the migration. (AP Photo/Dario Lopez-Mills)
Young minors lie inside a pod at the Donna Department of Homeland Security holding facility, the main detention center for unaccompanied children in the Rio Grande Valley run by the US Customs and Border Protection, ( CBP), in Donna, Texas Tuesday, March 30, 2021. The minors are housed by the hundreds in eight pods that are about 3,200 square feet in size. Many of the pods had more than 500 children in them. The Biden administration on Tuesday for the first time allowed journalists inside its main detention facility at the border for migrant children, revealing a severely overcrowded tent structure where more than 4,000 kids and families were crammed into pods and the youngest kept in a large play pen with mats on the floor for sleeping.(AP Photo/Dario Lopez-Mills,Pool)
A young female minor walks over others as they lie inside a pod for females at the Donna Department of Homeland Security holding facility, the main detention center for unaccompanied children in the Rio Grande Valley run by the US Customs and Border Protection, ( CBP), in Donna, Texas Tuesday, March 30, 2021. The minors are housed by the hundreds in eight pods that are about 3,200 square feet in size. Many of the pods had more than 500 children in them. The Biden administration on Tuesday for the first time allowed journalists inside its main detention facility at the border for migrant children, revealing a severely overcrowded tent structure where more than 4,000 kids and families were crammed into pods and the youngest kept in a large play pen with mats on the floor for sleeping.(AP Photo/Dario Lopez-Mills,Pool)
Feature Photography Single Image | Carolyn Kaster
A photographer is reflected in a puddle under blooming Yoshino cherry trees on the edge of the Tidal Basin, Monday, March 29, 2021, in Washington. The 2021 National Cherry Blossom Festival celebrates the original gift of 3,000 cherry trees from the city of Tokyo to the people of Washington in 1912. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
Feature Photography Story | Anupam Nath
Unidentified people cross Tiau river which bifurcates India and Myanmar border, in Champhai village in Mizoram, India, Saturday, March 20, 2021. Several Myanmar police officers who fled to India after defying army orders to shoot opponents of last month’s coup are urging Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government to not repatriate them and provide them political asylum on humanitarian grounds. (AP Photo/Anupam Nath)
Wife of police officer who fled Myanmar following a military coup hands over her infant to her husband as they prepare food at an undisclosed place in Mizoram, a state bordering Myanmar, India, Friday, March 19, 2021. (AP Photo/Anupam Nath)
Police officers who fled Myanmar following a military coup rest at an undisclosed location bordering Myanmar, in the northeastern Indian state of Mizoram, Thursday, March 18, 2021. Villagers in Mizoram have given shelter to 34 Myanmar police personnel and a firefighter, who crossed over to the state over the last two weeks. After the army coup, the police were ordered to shoot people and not just the people, “we were told to shoot our own family if they are not on the side of the army,” one of the officers said. (AP Photo/Anupam Nath)
A police officer who fled Myanmar following a military coup cooks a meal at an undisclosed location bordering Myanmar, in the northeastern Indian state of Mizoram, Thursday, March 18, 2021. Villagers in Mizoram have given shelter to 34 Myanmar police personnel and 1 fire fighter, who crossed over to the state over the last two weeks. Those who escaped spend their time watching local television and doing daily chores. Some of them have carried mobile phones and are trying to connect to families they were forced to leave behind. At night, all of them go to sleep on mattresses laid on the floor of a single room. (AP Photo/Anupam Nath)
A police officer and his wife who fled Myanmar following a military coup attend to their infant at an undisclosed place in Mizoram, a state bordering Myanmar, India, Friday, March 19, 2021. (AP Photo/Anupam Nath)
A police officer who fled from Myanmar following a military coup looks out to the mountains from an undisclosed location bordering Myanmar, in the northeastern Indian state of Mizoram, Thursday, March 18, 2021. Villagers in Mizoram have given shelter to 34 Myanmar police personnel and 1 fire fighter, who crossed over to the state over the last two weeks. They refused to give their names to an Associated Press photographer who met them this week in an undisclosed location in Mizoram state. (AP Photo/Anupam Nath)
A police officer who fled Myanmar following a military coup takes a wash at an undisclosed location bordering Myanmar, in the northeastern Indian state of Mizoram, Thursday, March 18, 2021. Villagers in Mizoram have given shelter to 34 Myanmar police personnel and 1 fire fighter, who crossed over to the state over the last two weeks. Those who escaped spend their time watching local television and doing daily chores. Some of them have carried mobile phones and are trying to connect to families they were forced to leave behind. At night, all of them go to sleep on mattresses laid on the floor of a single room. (AP Photo/Anupam Nath)
A Myanmarese man looks towards the Indian side at the India-Myanmar border in Mizoram, India, Saturday, March 20, 2021. (AP Photo/Anupam Nath)
Police officers who fled Myanmar following a military coup display the three-finger salute at an undisclosed location bordering Myanmar, in the northeastern Indian state of Mizoram, Thursday, March 18, 2021. A group of Myanmar policemen raised athree-finger salute, a symbol of resistance, as they recounted their escape to India, after defying the Myanmar army orders to shoot people who opposed the Feb. 1 army coup in southeast Asian country. “We cannot hurt our people, that???s why we came to Mizoram,” said one of them, who hailed from the northwestern town of Tedim in Myanmar. (AP Photo/Anupam Nath)
Mobile phones of police officers, who fled Myanmar following a military coup, lie on charge at an undisclosed location bordering Myanmar, in the northeastern Indian state of Mizoram, Thursday, March 18, 2021. Villagers in Mizoram have given shelter to 34 Myanmar police personnel and 1 fire fighter, who crossed over to the state over the last two weeks. Those who escaped spend their time watching local television and doing daily chores. Some of them have carried mobile phones and are trying to connect to families they were forced to leave behind. At night, all of them go to sleep on mattresses laid on the floor of a single room. (AP Photo/Anupam Nath)
A police officer who fled Myanmar following a military coup looks at her phone at an undisclosed location bordering Myanmar, in the northeastern Indian state of Mizoram, Thursday, March 18, 2021. Villagers in Mizoram have given shelter to 34 Myanmar police personnel and 1 fire fighter, who crossed over to the state over the last two weeks. Those who escaped spend their time watching local television and doing daily chores. Some of them have carried mobile phones and are trying to connect to families they were forced to leave behind. At night, all of them go to sleep on mattresses laid on the floor of a single room. (AP Photo/Anupam Nath)
An Indian looks at the Myanmar side across Tiau river which bifurcated India and Myanmar, in Champhai village in Mizoram, India, Saturday, March 20, 2021. (AP Photo/Anupam Nath)
Sports Photography Single Image | Michael Sohn
Leipzig’s Yussuf Poulsen reacts after he failed to score during the German Bundesliga soccer match between RB Leipzig and Eintracht Frankfurt in Leipzig, Germany, Sunday, March 14, 2021. (AP Photo/Michael Sohn)
Sports Photography Story | Ashley Landis
Los Angeles Dodgers center fielder Cody Bellinger (35) walks back to the dugout after the third inning of a spring training baseball game against the Chicago Cubs Thursday, March 25, 2021, in Mesa, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)
A ball bounce in to the glove of Chicago Cubs catcher P.J. Higgins, left, during the fifth inning of a spring training baseball game Monday, March 8, 2021, in Mesa, Ariz. Texas Rangers' Charlie Culberson, right, was at bat and Chicago Cubs relief pitcher Rex Brothers was on the mound. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)
Chicago Cubs relief pitcher Adbert Alzolay (73) warms up before a spring training baseball game against the Arizona Diamondbacks Sunday, March 7, 2021, in Scottsdale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)
Arizona Diamondbacks outfielder Trayce Thompson catches a fly ball hit by San Francisco Giants' Curt Casali for an out during the fourth inning of a spring training baseball game Sunday, March 14, 2021, in Scottdale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)
Oakland Athletics relief pitcher Burch Smith is seen through the back of a stadium seat as he throws during the sixth inning of a spring training baseball game against the Arizona Diamondbacks Tuesday, March 16, 2021, in Scottdale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)
Colorado Rockies starting pitcher Jon Gray (55) throws during the second inning of a spring training baseball game against the Milwaukee Brewers Wednesday, March 24, 2021, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)
A fan practices his pitch from the concourse during the eighth inning of a spring training baseball game between the Texas Rangers and the Colorado Rockies Monday, March 22, 2021, in Scottsdale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)
A small baseball and bat are shown hanging from a chain worn by Los Angeles Dodgers' Mookie Betts as he slides safely back to first base during the second inning of a spring training baseball game against the Colorado Rockies Monday, March 15, 2021, in Scottdale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)
Children reach for a baseball thrown to the lawn from Colorado Rockies outfielder Garrett Hampson between the fourth and fifth innings of a spring training baseball game against the Los Angeles Dodgers Monday, March 15, 2021, in Scottdale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)
A ballpark employee tries to tell a goose to leave center field between the second and third innings of a spring training baseball game between the Chicago Cubs and the Arizona Diamondbacks Sunday, March 7, 2021, in Scottsdale, Ariz. The goose, who stayed in the outfield for most of the game, was joined by a second goose in the fifth inning. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)
Chicago Cubs' Willson Contreras (40) is hit by a pitch thrown by Los Angeles Dodgers starting pitcher Dustin May (85) during the first inning of a spring training baseball game Thursday, March 25, 2021, in Mesa. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)
A young fan watches as a foul ball enters the stands during the fifth inning of a spring training baseball game between the Colorado Rockies and the Chicago Cubs Saturday, March 20, 2021, in Mesa, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)