Anadolu Agency's international competition comes to UN headquarters ahead of expanded 2017 contest

Anadolu Agency and the Turkish mission on Monday launched the Istanbul Photo Awards (IPA) exhibition at the UN headquarters in New York City.

Monday’s exhibition presents an award-winning selection of nearly two dozen photographs from the news and sports categories from last year's IPA contest, chosen from a total of 13,000 entries.

The contest, which features a jury of world-renowned figures, attracted admissions from almost 3,900 photographers living in 84 countries, cementing its international status in its second year.

In both years, the winning image went on to be awarded a Pulitzer Prize shortly after.

Anadolu Agency Visual News Editor-in-Chief Ahmet Sel inaugurated the exhibition with a speech, in which he stressed the news agency's attention to photography as "the most influential medium of communication".

"And we seek to give substance to this perspective by supporting photojournalists, whose work, often performed under threats to their lives, empowers us to be a witness to humanitarian tragedies around the world," Sel said.

"This is the raison d’etre for Istanbul Photo Awards," he added.

Sel announced the contest would grow in 2017, with new categories for portraiture and wildlife photography added to the mix "to create more venues for honoring success".

There will also be a new prize in 2017 to support young talent in photojournalism, he added.

The exhibition will be displayed next to the Vienna Cafe at the UN premises.

Monday’s launch was attended by Turkey's permanent representative to the U.N., Feridun Sinirlioglu, and a member of Anadolu Agency’s Board of Directors, Muhammet Salih Demirkan.

For more photographs from the exhibition please visit;

http://istanbulphotoawards.com/Exhibitions.aspx#

Anadolu Agency's third photo contest will accept applications between Nov. 1, 2016, and Jan. 31, 2017

Anadolu Agency's third "Istanbul Photo Awards" contest will start accepting applications from early next month.

Applications will be accepted between Nov. 1, 2016 and Jan. 31, 2017, via "http://istanbulphotoawards.com".

Anadolu Agency Visual News Editor-in-Chief Ahmet Sel said the categories had been increased to eight from four.

Earlier, the contest consisted of news single and news story, sports single and sports story categories but in 2017, four new categories would be added, including nature-environment single, nature-environment story, portrait single and portrait multiple.

In the contest, the $3,000 "Young Photographer" award will be given for the first time to a winner under the age of 28; a separate $10,000 award will be given to the winner of the "Photo of the Year" award; winners in each other categories will be given $8,000 for first prize, $5,000 for the second and $3,000 for the third.

Anadolu Agency's Corporate Communication Director Esra Kirecci said the jury for the contest will be announced soon.

Turkish Airlines (THY) has sponsored the contest, which will also be supported by the Prime Ministry’s Promotion Fund and the Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency.

The results of the contest will be announced by the end of March next year.

Last year, the photographer, Abd Doumany, whose photograph of an injured Syrian boy was chosen as “Photo of the Year” by an international jury and Sergey Ponomarev, who caught images of refugees arriving at the Greek island of Lesbos for The New York Times, won in the single news category and later a Pulitzer Prize.

Shanghai Center of Photography Director Liu Heung Shing, Getty Images executive Georges De Keerle, AFP Photo Business Development Director Michel Scotto as well as Guillaume Herbaut, a World Press Photo prizewinner, were among last year's jury members.

Famous photos by distinguished photojournalists to be displayed through Oct. 2

Turkey’s leading news agency, Anadolu Agency, launched its first global photo exhibition in the Austrian capital of Vienna on Tuesday, displaying around 40 pictures covering key global events in 2015.

Speaking at the opening ceremony of the exhibition held at Museum Quartier, Saban Kizildag -- the deputy chairman of Anadolu Agency’s Executive Board – said AA provides news, photos, info-graphics and information to its subscribers around the world with its 96-years of experience and as a reliable news hub.

“With its vast network of journalists and photo-journalists around the world, the agency publishes stories 24/7 in 11 languages. It has offices in 35 countries and journalists in 86 countries,” Kizildag said.

Referring to numerous people getting killed and displaced in Syria every day, Kizildag said: “We believe that photography has the power to unite people against all pain and brutality in the world.”

At the exhibition in Vienna, visitors can see the work of photographer Abd Doumany, whose photo of an injured Syrian boy was chosen as “Photo of the Year” by an international jury.

Also on display will be the work of Sergey Ponomarev, who caught images of refugees arriving to the Greek island of Lesbos for The New York Times, winning the Single News category and later a Pulitzer Prize.

Images by award-winning Santi Palacios, Ian MacNicol, and Valery Sharifulin will also be exhibited.

These photos were also featured at the Istanbul Photo Awards in 2016, first launched two years ago, and expected to include 13,000 photos from 84 countries this year.

Anadolu Agency also distributes its booklet “FETO's Coup Attempt in Turkey - A Timeline” to visitors of the exhibition.

Organized by the Anadolu Agency Corporate Communications Directorate, and sponsored by the Promotion Fund, Turkish Airlines, and the Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TIKA), the exhibition will be open through Oct. 2. 

For more photographs from the exhibition please visit; 

http://istanbulphotoawards.com/Exhibitions.aspx#

Famed photos by distinguished photojournalists on show through Oct. 2

Anadolu Agency will open the third exhibition of photographs featured at the Istanbul Photo Awards 2016 in the Austrian capital Vienna on Saturday.

Bringing together around 40 pictures showing key events from around the world, the display will be open through Oct. 2.

Saban Kizildag, the deputy chairman of Anadolu Agency’s Executive Board, and the agency’s Deputy Director-General Mustafa Ozkaya will host the opening ceremony at the Museumsquartier.

At the exhibit, visitors can see the work of photographer Abd Doumany, whose image of an injured Syrian boy was chosen Photo of the Year by an international jury.

Also on display will be the work of Sergey Ponomarev, who captured images of refugees for The New York Times that won the Single News category and later a Pulitzer Prize.

Images by prize winners Santi Palacios, Ian MacNicol, and Valery Sharifulin will also be on display.

The exhibit, organized by the Anadolu Agency Cooperate Communication Directorate, is sponsored by the Promotion Fund, Turkish Airlines, and the Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TIKA).