Stephen Ferry won for his project Violentology: A Manual of the Colombian Conflict, which was chosen from among 222 applications by photographers of 56 nationalities.

The grant was launched earlier this year after multi-award-winning photojournalist and filmmaker Tim Hetherington was killed in a mortar attack in Libya. The award, organised by World Press Photo and Human Rights Watch, celebrates "work that operates on multiple platforms and in a variety of formats; that crosses boundaries between breaking news and long-term investigation; and that demonstrates a consistent moral commitment to the lives and stories of the photographic subjects."

In a statement, the judging panel says: "As Tim Hetherington immersed himself in West Africa, spending many years working and living in Liberia, so Stephen Ferry has dedicated himself to covering conflict in Colombia. Ferry is not only committed to creating an important historical record, he is also generating innovative approaches for disseminating that record within the community he documents, as well as to a worldwide audience."

Among the judges were Magnum photographer Christopher Anderson, journalist James Brabazon, Human Rights Watch director of photography Veronica Matushaj, ; World Press Photo managing director Michiel Munneke, and Jamie Wellford, Newsweek's senior photo editor.

Violentology: A Manual of the Colombian Conflict focuses on the history and current dynamics of the war in Colombia, "while exposing the role of the distinct parties in the conflict," says World Press Photo. "Colombia suffers one of the longest-running guerilla wars in the world with over 3.5 million people forced to flee the violence. The photographer saw that no comprehensive photographic work existed on the war and decided to move to Colombia. Now, after a decade of photographic fieldwork, the project will be widely distributed across three platforms: an exhibition; a book; and selected chapters in the form of booklets free of charge available as a PDF.

For more information, visit violentology.com.