A jury of international professionals gathered this weekend to select prize-winning photographs for The Anadolu Agency’s first 2015 Istanbul Photo Awards.

The jury members, who came from all corners of the world, spent intensive hours selecting the award winners.

Around 12,000 photographs sent in from over more than 100 countries have been assessed in several 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 jury consisted of respected professionals including TIME magazine’s International Photo Editor Alice Gabriner and Hong Kong-born Pulitzer-winning former photojournalist and founder of the Shanghai Center of Photography, Liu Heung Shing.

Stern Magazine’s Photo Editor Harald Menk, Getty Images’ Senior Director Georges De Keerle, AFP’s Photo Distribution Director Michel Scotto, World Press Photo award winner Guillaume Herbaut and war reporter Patrick Chauvel were also on the panel.

The Anadolu Agency’s own Visual News Editor Ahmet Sel and Photography Editor Firat Yurdakul also participated in choosing the winners.

Competition results will be announced on March 18 on The Anadolu Agency’s website, on Anadolu Images, the international photograph platform of The Anadolu Agency and on the competition’s own website (http://istanbulphotoawards.com/).

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

TIME magazine’s International Photo Editor Alice Gabriner spoke to an AA correspondent on the work program in Istanbul: "The jury is composed of incredibly professional names. As a photo editor it was nice to sit and talk with highly intellectual people about photography.”

Gabriner stated that the quality of the submitted photographs were very good and added the world's best photographers were among the applicants. 

“I think this is of the best quality of any contest that I have ever judged," she said. "For the first year it’s very remarkable and I think it will only mean very positive things for what you can be doing in the future and I feel very proud to be part of that first jury."

Hong Kong-born Pulitzer-winning former photojournalist Liu Heung Shing said he was excited to be part of the of the jury and that the quality of the photographs was "surprisingly good."

"Anadolu is a great partner of ours," said Getty Images Senior Director Georges De Keerle: "I work for Getty Images, so we are very proud to work with them to present their content and to have discovered over the course of the last year the excellence of their photography."

War reporter Patrick Chauvel stated that the jury had discovered people's stories and was surprised of the quality of the offerings, as it was the first photograph competition by the agency.

A jury of respected professionals has the daunting task this weekend of selecting prize-winning photographs from over 11,000 submissions for The Anadolu Agency's 2015 Istanbul PhotoAwards.

On Nov. 1, photographers were invited to submit images on www.istanbulphotoawards.com to be assessed in several 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.

Since then, 11,587 photographs have been sent from contestants from 104 countries.

This weekend Istanbul will host a specially selected jury which include Stern Magazine’s Photo Editor Harald Menk, Getty Images Senior Director Georges De Keerle, AFP’s Photo Distribution Director Michel Scotto, World Press Photo award winner Guillaume Herbaut, war reporter Patrick Chauvel, plus The Anadolu Agency’s Visual News Editor Ahmet Sel and AA’s Photography Editor Firat Yurdakul.

The jury will decide on the winning photographs this weekend and will also select one photographer for a special award.

Competition results will also be announced on Anadolu Images, the international photograph platform of The Anadolu Agency.

The Istanbul Photo Awards, the first edition of the international news and sports photography contest organized by the Anadolu Agency, has closed applications for new submissions.

On Nov. 1, photographers were invited to submit images on www.istanbulphotoawards.com to be assessed in several 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.

Since then, 11,587 photographs have been sent from contestants from 104 countries.

- World-renowned professionals to be part of jury

The inaugural competition will feature a jury of respected professionals, including TIME magazine’s International Photo Editor Alice Gabriner and Hong Kong-born Pulitzer-winning former photojournalist and founder of the Shanghai Center of Photography, Liu Heung Shing.

The jury will also include Stern Magazine’s Photo Editor Harald Menk, Getty Images Senior Director Georges De Keerle, AFP’s PhotoDistribution Director Michel Scotto, World Press Photo award winner Guillaume Herbaut, war reporter Patrick Chauvel, plus The Anadolu Agency’s Visual News Editor Ahmet Sel and AA’s Photography Editor Firat Yurdakul.

The Istanbul Photo Awards were first presented to international photoreporters during the Visa Pour l'Image Perpignan photojournalism festival in France, which took place between Sept. 1 and 7 in 2014.

The jury will decide the winning photographs on March 14-15, 2015. They will also select one photographer for a special award.

The winners will be announced at a press conference in April.

The competition results will also be announced on Anadolu Images, the international photograph platform of The Anadolu Agency.

There will be an exhibition of the winning photographs in Istanbul and in Ankara, followed up by an album.

- Prizes of the contest

A combined amount of $58,000 will be awarded in four categories in addition to the special prize.

The category prizes are:

More detailed information can be obtained by visiting the website istanbulphotoawards.com and anadoluimages.com.

Followers can also learn more about the contest on social media, including:

Twitter: @istphotoawards

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/IstanbulPhotoAwards

Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/128873901@N03/

Instagram: @istanbulphotoawards

The Anadolu Agency offers a newswire service in eight languages with operations around the globe, including the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Asia and Asia-Pacific.

It serves clients in more than 100 countries and is one of the main sources for discovering, purchasing and managing images and other digital content.

Organizers aim to make the contest one of the most important photoaward contests in the world.

Photographers are invited to submit images to be assessed in several categories: News Single and News Story, for an individual news photoor a collection around a story, as well as Sports Single and Sports Story. 

The jury will also select one photographer for a special award.

Since Nov. 1, over 6,000 photographs have been sent from contestants from around 100 countries.

- World-renowned professionals to be part of jury

The inaugural competition will feature a jury of respected professionals, including TIME magazine’s international photo editor Alice Gabriner and Hong Kong-born Pulitzer-winning former photojournalist and founder of the Shanghai Center of Photography, Liu Heung Shing.

The jury will also include Stern Magazine’s photo editor Harald Menk, senior director of Getty Images Georges De Keerle, AFP’s photodistribution director Michel Scotto, World Press Photo award winners Guillaume Herbaut, war reporter Patrick Chauvel, plus Anadolu Agency visual news editor Ahmet Sel and AA’s photography editor Firat Yurdakul.

The Istanbul Photo Awards were first presented to international photoreporters during the Visa Pour l'Image Perpignan photojournalism festival in France, which took place between September 1 and 7 in 2014.

The jury will decide the winning photographs on March 14-15, 2015. The winners will be announced with a press conference in April.

There will be an exhibition of the winning photographs in Istanbul and in Ankara and an album will be made as well.

- Prizes of the contest

A combined amount of $58,000 will be awarded in four categories in addition to the special prize.

Applications will be accepted via www.istanbulphotoawards.com.

The category prizes are:

More detailed information can be obtained by visiting the website istanbulphotoawards.com and anadoluimages.com.

Followers also can also learn more about the contest from social media, including at:

Twitter: @istphotoawards , Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/IstanbulPhotoAwards and Instagram: @istanbulphotoawards

The competition results will also be announced on Anadolu Images, the international photograph platform of The Anadolu Agency.

The Anadolu Agency offers a newswire service in eight languages with operations around the globe, including the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Asia and Asia-Pacific.

It serves clients in more than 100 countries and is one of the main sources for discovering, purchasing and managing images and other digital content.