Anadolu Agency's third international photo contest will feature world-renowned names on its jury

The jury of the third Istanbul Photo Awards 2017 -- the international news and sports photography contest organized by Anadolu Agency -- will boast world-renowned editors, publishers, and photojournalists.

Among the world-famous jury members are Marion Mertens, digital editor of French newsweekly Paris Match; NOOR agency photojournalist Yuri Kozyrev; Getty Images Australian photographer Cameron Spencer; Istanbul Photo Awards 2016 winner Sergey Ponomarev, who won a Pulitzer Prize for images of refugees arriving at a Greek island; Anadolu Agency Visual News Editor Ahmet Sel; and Anadolu Agency Photography Editor Firat Yurdakul.

Applications for the Istanbul Photo Awards 2017 are open through Jan. 31. 

Seasoned Paris Match Editor Mertens

After working as Paris Match’s deputy news deputy editor for 15 years, Marion Mertens became its digital editor. Mertens directs the magazine’s Internet, tablet and mobile formats. Before joining Paris Match in 1998, Mertens worked at Le Figaro, l'Express, and VSD. 

Getty photojournalist, sports expert

Successful Getty Images photojournalist Cameron Spencer is also serving on the Istanbul Photo Awards 2017 jury. Since 2004, Spencer has worked professionally on sports and portrait photography. Famous photographer Spencer's comments will be important for Istanbul Photo Awards' sport-single and sport-multiple categories. 

From Istanbul Photo Awards 2016 to a Pulitzer

Sergey Ponomarev, who took first prize in the Istanbul Photo Awards 2016 single-news category for his photo "Refugees" and got the Pulitzer Prize for the same photo, is also on the Istanbul Photo Awards 2017 jury. Ponomarev worked for the Associated Press in 2003-2012 and continued his career at the New York Times. He won third prize in the World Press Photo award in the General News category for his photos showing the tragedy in Gaza.

Ponomarev rose to prominence for his photos depicting culture and daily life in Russia. He has won multiple awards both nationally and internationally.

Other members of the 2017 jury include: Liza Factor, a curator who is famous for her multimedia works; AFP Photograph Distribution and Business Development Director Michel Scotto; Shanghai Photograph Center Director and Pulitzer-winning photojournalist Liu Heung Shing; photojournalist and visual media consultant Georges De Keerle; Anadolu Agency Video News Editor-in-Chief Ahmet Sel; and Anadolu Agency Photography Editor Firat Yurdakul.

Anadolu Agency Video News Editor-in-Chief Ahmet Sel said the Istanbul Photo Awards has once again assembled a prestigious jury.

As exampled, he named "Yuri Kozirev, Sergey Ponamarev, and Cameron Spencer, photojournalists who shot the best news and sports photos in years past, and France's biggest newsmagazine Paris Match's Digital Editor Marion Mertens, who are both on the Istanbul Photo Awards contest jury."

"Mertens, one of the leading actors of news photography in France, is a top official at Paris Match, which sets the international news photography agenda," Sel said.

He added: "Experienced editor Mertens has made Paris Match digital a website followed by millions of readers from around the world. Paris Match digital is well known for being uncompromising in photojournalism, and boasts a website that photographers follow in the hope of being published."  

Moving forward in its 3rd year

Esra Kirecci, Anadolu Agency’s corporate communications director, also said that the contest has entered its third year. Kirecci added that they have been moving forward consistently for three years in terms of jury quality, the caliber of the participants, and the results.

She said: "Daniel Berehulak, who won the Photo of the Year prize in our first contest in 2015, just after that won the Pulitzer Prize and joined our 2016 jury."

"Last year, Russian photojournalist Sergey Ponomarev got first place in our single-photograph category and right after won the Pulitzer Prize for the same photo. This is a great honor for us as only a three-year-old contest, and it shows that our jury is following the photographic world closely," she added.

Kirecci said that they want to make this a tradition at the contest.

She added that they are planning to have the contest winner sit on next year’s jury, if possible.

The jury of the Istanbul Photo Awards 2017 -- with the official sponsor Turkish Airlines and support from the Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TIKA) -- will meet in March to consider the applications made from around the world.

After pre-selection, the jury will select the most powerful photos of world events from 2016, considering the photos in terms of content, aesthetics, and technique.

Applications can be made at www.istanbulphotoawards.com through Jan. 31.

This year’s competition sees expanded range of categories

Jury members for the third Istanbul Photo Awards 2017 -- the international news and sports photography contest organized by Anadolu Agency -- were revealed Saturday.

As in past years, the jury for this year's contest is composed of some of the most prestigious names in the field of photography.

Director of the Shanghai Center of Photography Liu Heung Shing, photojournalist and visual media advisor Georges De Keerle, AFP director of photo business development Michel Scotto, Anadolu Agency Visual News Editor-in-Chief Ahmet Sel and Photography Editor Firat Yurdakul return as jury members.

Photojournalist at NOOR agency Yuri Kozyrev, Director of Photography at National Geographic Sarah Leen, Getty Images Photographer Cameron Spencer, and visual documentary producer and curator Liza Faktor will join the panel for the first time. 

New jury members

Sarah Leen worked as a freelance photographer for more than 20 years until she started at National Geographic in 2005 as a senior photo editor.

Leen participated in the juries for Pictures of the Year International, the W. Eugene Smith Grants, the Getty Images Editorial Grants and the World Press Joop Swarts Masterclass.

Photo journalist Yuri Kozyrev worked for Time magazine across the world during his 20-year career.

Kozyrev received several awards for his photography, including several World Press Photo Awards for pictures from Chechnya, Egypt, Bahrain, Libya and Yemen.

Liza Faktor, a visual documentary producer and curator, served as jury member at the 2014 World Press Photo Multimedia Contest. Faktor is one of the most important and innovative names in the field of photography with Howard Chapnick Grant.

Australian photographer Cameron Spencer has been working on sports and portrait photography since 2004. Spencer has also received many awards in his field. 

New categories added, awards increased

Entry applications for the Istanbul Photo Awards 2017 started on Nov. 1 and will continue until Jan. 31, 2017.

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

Total prize money for all categories in the contest will be $133,000.

This year’s competition sees an expanded range of categories, from four to eight. The four new categories include nature-environment single, nature-environment story, portrait-single and portrait-multiple.

Turkish Airlines sponsors the contest which will also be supported by the Turkish Prime Ministry’s Promotion Fund and the Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TIKA).

In the contest, a Young Photographer award will be given for the first time to a winner under the age of 28.

Applications will be made via http://istanbulphotoawards.com.

The exhibitions, which consist of photographs of winners of the competition, are on display every year at the important centers across the world.

Anadolu Agency's third international photo contest offering expanded range of award categories for 2017

Anadolu Agency's third Istanbul Photo Awards contest started to accept applications on Tuesday. This year’s competition sees an expanded range of categories, from four to eight.

The four new categories include nature-environment single, nature-environment story, portrait-single and portrait-multiple.

In the contest, a $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. Winners in other categories will be given $8,000 for first prize, $5,000 for second and $3,000 for third.

Turkish Airlines sponsors the contest which will also be supported by the Turkish Prime Ministry’s Promotion Fund and the Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TIKA).

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

Last year, photographers Abd Doumany, whose image of an injured Syrian boy was chosen as Photo of the Year by an international jury and Sergey Ponomarev, who captured images of refugees arriving at a Greek island, won 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.

Applications will be accepted until Jan. 31, 2017 via http://istanbulphotoawards.com".

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#