The photo, showing a wounded boy in a makeshift hospital in Syria, is praised by jury for its great 'evocative power'

Taken by Syrian photographer Abd Doumany for AFP, a powerful image showing a deep well of emotion in the eyes of a wounded boy, encapsulating the horror of the last several years in Syria, was chosen Photo of the Year 2016 by the international jury of the 2nd Istanbul Photo Awards.

Taken in a makeshift hospital after a bombing, the photo is a very loud call to the world, expressed by the quiet gaze in the boy’s eyes. The expression on the boy’s face is a plea. It speaks directly to the world as the direct focus and attention on the situation in Syria now. The photo also underlines the reasons for the refugee crisis.

Additionally, Sergey Ponomarev won first prize for Single News, while Santi Palacios won first prize for Story News. Ian MacNicol was awarded for Single Sports, and Valery Sharifulin got first prize for Story Sports. Jury awarded Minzayar Oo with the Honour Award. For an overview of all the winners, visit: http://istanbulphotoawards.com/

Liu Heung Shing, director of the Shanghai Center of Photography and head of the jury, said, “This picture has enormous power to convey the suffering of this child’s questions to the world: Why, what happened? It is a very loud cry, but it is expressed in the very quiet gaze of his eyes.

“The jury decided to go for a picture that has evocative power rather than a descriptive image of the situation. The story of what is happening in Syria is capturing the imagination and concern, and I think this picture will remain part of our collective memory for years to come.”

Pulitzer Prize-winning Daniel Berehulak, who joined the jury as the laureate winner of Photo of the Year in the 2015 Istanbul Photo Awards, said the decision was unanimous. “It is a very very powerful photograph that shows so much emotion. We felt that it really encapsulated the terror, the horror of the situation that has been happening in Syria for a number of years. That also in a way is a source of a lot of the refugee crisis and many of the refugees that have fled Syria and are in Europe now.

“You know there are number of very very worthy photographs, but this was one that absolutely stood out and it was something that spoke, we felt, not only to us but to a much larger audience, as the direct focus and attention on the situation in Syria now.”

The photos were judged in four categories: News Single, News Story, Sports Single, and Sports Story by a jury of international professionals in Istanbul on March 18-21, 2016. Turkish Airlines is the Official Airline Sponsor of the contest.

2016 Photo Contest Jury

Returning as jury members were 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 prize winner, Anadolu Agency Visual News Editor-in-Chief Ahmet Sel, and Anadolu Agency Photography Editor Firat Yurdakul. 

Pulitzer Prize laureate Daniel Berehulak joined this year's jury as the 2015 winner of the competition's "Photo of the Year" prize, along with Newsweek magazine photo editor James Wellford, Le Monde Photography Director Nicolas Jimenez, and Laurent Van der Stockt, recipient of the Excellence-Journalism Prize from Columbia University. 
For more about the jury members, visit http://www.istanbulphotoawards.com/SiteJury.aspx?Uye=0

Prizes

The contest awarded prizes in four categories to 11 photographers from 9 countries.

The jury selected first, second and third prizes in all four categories. The winner of the Photo of the Year and the first prizes in all categories receive cash prizes of US$8,000. Second-place winners receive a cash prize of US$3,000, while third-place winners get US$1,500.

The awards jury also made a statement denouncing the recent deadly terrorist attacks in Ankara and Istanbul.

A panel of members of the 2016 international jury met in Istanbul this weekend to select award-winning news and sports photographs

A jury of international professionals gathered this weekend to select the winning photographs of Anadolu Agency’s second Istanbul Photo Awards sponsored by Turkish Airlines.

The jury members, who came from all over the world, spent hours selecting the winners, who are to be announced on Wednesday.

Around 13,000 photographs were sent in from all around the world were assessed in various categories: News Single and News Story for an individual news photo or a collection around a story, as well as Sports Single and Sports Story.

The winner of the Photo of the Year and the first prizes in all four categories will receive a cash prize of $8,000. Second-place finalists will receive a cash prize of $3,000, while those arriving in third place will receive a cash prize of $1,500.

The jury consisted of respected professionals including Pulitzer-winning former photojournalist and founder of the Shanghai Center of Photography, Liu Heung Shing, Getty Images senior director Georges De Keerle, AFP’s photo distribution director Michel Scotto. Anadolu Agency’s own visual news editor-in-chief Ahmet Sel and photography editor Firat Yurdakul also participated in choosing the winners.

Pulitzer-winning Liu Heung Shing said he was very excited to be part of the jury for the second year in a row. 

Getty Images senior director Georges De Keerle said: "I believe that that competition goes a long way to bring attention to the region and to the issues that shake the region." 

Among the jury members were also world-wide known war-photojournalist Laurent Van der Stockt, Newsweek photography editor James Wellford, French newspaper Le Monde director of photography Nicolas Jimenez, and the Pulitzer and 2015 Istanbul Photo Awards winner Daniel Berehulak.

Berehulak said: "Being here this time has been a fascinating process of looking at all the works from all around the world and at some of the most important news stories of the year." 

Competition results will be announced on Wednesday on the competition’s own website (http://istanbulphotoawards.com/) and Anadolu Images, the international photograph platform of Anadolu Agency. 

Results will also be announced in a press release the same day.

Istanbul Photo Awards 2016 book to be published

Anadolu Agency will publish last year's outstanding images in the Istanbul Photo Awards 2016 book.

On Istanbul Photo Awards 2015's cover was Daniel Berehulak's photograph on the Ebola epidemic in Liberia.

Taken for The New York Times, the image captures the drama of the outbreak and was selected as "Photo of the Year 2015" at the Istanbul Photo Awards.

Later the same picture was awarded the Pulitzer Prize​.

The awards jury also made a statement denouncing the recent deadly terrorist attacks in Ankara and Istanbul.

Photography contest winners to be announced on March 23

Applications for the Istanbul Photo Awards, an international news and sports photography contest organized by Anadolu Agency, ended Sunday, the agency said.

Photojournalists sent in thousands of images between November and January and the contest’s jury is scheduled to meet in Istanbul on March 19-21 before announcing the winners on March 23.

They will determine the Photo of the Year 2015 award as well as winners in the News Single, News Story, Sports Single and Sports Story categories.

Combined prize money of $58,000 will be distributed to the first, second and third placed photographers in each of the four categories and the winner of the photo of the year.

The best images from the awards, Turkey’s only international news and sports photography contest, will be exhibited around the world and, as last year, an album will be published.

Director of the Shanghai Center of Photography Liu Heung Shing; Getty Images Executive Georges De Keerle; AFP Director of Photo Business Development Michel Scotto; Guillaume Herbaut, a World Press Photo prize winner; Anadolu Agency Visual News Editor-in-Chief Ahmet Sel; and Photography Editor Firat Yurdakul return as jury members.

Pulitzer laureate Daniel Berehulak joins this year’s jury as the 2014 winner of the competition’s Photo of the Year, as well as Newsweek magazine’s Photo Editor James Wellford; Le Monde’s Director of Photography Nicolas Jimenez; and Laurent Van der Stockt, who has been awarded the Excellence-Journalism Prize from Columbia University.

Berehulak’s photograph on the Ebola epidemic in Liberia is the cover photo of the Istanbul Photo Awards 2014 album. Taken for The New York Times, the image captures the drama of the outbreak.

Detailed information about the contest is available at istanbulphotoawards.com.

Applicants can submit photos until Jan. 31

Members of the jury of the second "Istanbul Photo Awards" was announced Monday. 

The second "Istanbul Photo Awards" -- the international news and sports contest organized by Anadolu Agency -- will take place in 2016. 

Director of the Shanghai Center of Photography Liu Heung Shing, Getty Images executive Georges De Keerle, AFP director of photo business development Michel Scotto, as well as Guillaume Herbaut, a World Press Photo prize winner, Anadolu Agency visual news editor-in-chief Ahmet Sel and photography editor Firat Yurdakul return as jury members. 

Pulitzer laureate Daniel Berehulak joins this year’s jury as the 2014 winner of the competition’s "Photo of the Year" prize as well as Newsweek magazine photo editor James Wellford, director of photography at French newspaper Le Monde Nicolas Jimenez, and Laurent Van der Stockt, who has been awarded the Excellence-Journalism Prize from Columbia University. 

The jury members are scheduled to come together in Istanbul in March to announce the winners of Turkey’s only international news and sports photography contest. 

They will determine the winner of "Photo of the Year 2015" prize and the winners in "News single", "News story", "Sports single", and "Sports story" category. 

Last year’s competition received around 12,000 applications from photographers based in more than 100 countries. 

The outstanding images of 2014 have been published in the Istanbul Photo Awards 2014 book. 

Daniel Berehulak’s photograph on the Ebola epidemic in Liberia is the cover photo. Taken for The New York Times, the image captures the drama of the outbreak and was selected as photo of the year 2014. 

The deadline for entries in the Istanbul Photo Awards is Jan. 31. A combined $58,000 in prize money are to be distributed to the first, second and third placed photographers in each of the four categories and to the winner of the photo of the year. 

Detailed information about the contest is available on "istanbulphotoawards.com". 

In our second year, members of Istanbul Photo Awards 2016 met in Istanbul. You can find their biographies below.