Exhibition brings together photographs depicting key events from 2016

An exhibition of photographs featured in Anadolu Agency’s Istanbul Photo Awards 2017 began in the port city's Tophane-i-Amire Culture and Arts Centre in Beyoglu district on Sunday.

Photographer Frederic Lafargue's "Fleeing from Daesh" image, which was chosen as Photo of the Year by the jury, is among the photographs on display.

Sponsored by Turkish Airlines and Turkish Coordination and Cooperation Agency, this year's contest saw an additional 22 photographers from 17 countries receiving awards.

Around 25,000 photos had been submitted to the contest and jury members picked the winners during a special meeting in Turkey's Cappadocia, a historical region in Central Anatolia, between March 19 and March 22.

For the first time in the contest's three-year history, Hosam Salem, a freelancer photojournalist in Gaza, Palestine, received the Young Photojournalist award for his photograph titled "Street Training in Gaza". The newly-introduced award is given to a winner under the age of 28. 

Aris Messinis' photo series "Death in the Mediterranean" for the Agence France Presse (AFP) won the News Series Award.

Adam Pretty's photo "Below the Surface" taken for Getty Images won the Sports Single Award, while Patrick Smith won the Sports Series Award.

Mary Gelman won the first prize in Portrait-Multiple category for her photographs of women victims, while there was no winner in the Portrait-Single category.

Kemal Jufri's photo titled "Feeding Orphaned Orangutans" won the Nature-Environment Story Award, while Johnny Miller's Papwa Sewgolum Golf Course photo series took home the Nature-Environment Single Award.

A total prize money of $133,000 was awarded across eight different categories, in addition to the $3,000 Young Photojournalist award, and a separate $10,000 Photo of the Year award.

The exhibition will run through April 16.