The first exhibition of the 10th year of Istanbul Photo Awards, the international news photography competition organized by Anadolu Agency (AA), met with art lovers at Rami Library.
This year, Istanbul Governor Davut Gül, as well as the competition jury, winning photographers, international press and many people from the photography world attended the opening and award ceremony of the exhibition, which featured the award-winning photographs in the competition.
AA Chairman and General Manager Serdar Karagöz, in his speech at the opening, said that every photograph is a document and creates a memory.
Pointing out that many things have changed in the period from the camera obscura to today's digital photography, Karagöz said, "Many things have changed in the world of photography, from the taking of the first permanent photograph to color photography methods and today image processing technologies enriched with artificial intelligence. However, the fact that every photo is a document, that every photo is a witness of time and builds a memory has never changed." he said.
"We continue our work revealing the true face of war"
Karagöz stated that they wanted to present the winning photographs in the competition organized by Istanbul Photo Awards in 2024 to the participants in the exhibition and said, "The work that was deemed worthy of this year's 'Photo of the Year' award was Mohammed Salem's emotional and impressive work 'Palestinian Woman Hugging the Dead Body of Her Nephew'. This photograph also contains a story that deeply affects the human soul. This story is the story of Gaza, as we all know. This is a frame that will not be erased not only from the documents but also from our collective memory. "Unfortunately, we continue to witness many of these today. The Israeli administration has been continuing its intense attacks on Gaza since October." he said.
"185 thousand photographs, 18 thousand photographers in 10 years"
Serdar Karagöz stated that in today's exhibition they shared a selection of the efforts of photographers who fulfilled their profession under all kinds of difficult conditions, and said:
"Istanbul Photo Awards has become a global platform where approximately 185 thousand photographs and 18 thousand photographers have registered in the 10 years since its first year. We will visit the most prestigious photography awards in the world a little later. This year's competition took place with the participation of more than 20 thousand photographs from around the world. The world's most talented photographers from all over the world, from Brazil to Nepal, from Canada to Nigeria, from Palestine to Japan, participated in this competition. This global image makes us very happy. International "Our jury carefully evaluated each photo and the moments captured by 32 photographers in 10 different categories were deemed worthy of awards. I congratulate all my colleagues who won awards in their categories and thank all participants for their efforts and contributions."
"The best photographers in the world created a reaction with their Gaza shots"
Answering the questions of the press members after the speech, Karagöz pointed out that Istanbul Photo Awards is one of the most respected photography competitions in the world and said, "Today, we have brought together the photographic works and photographs taken by the world's most respected photo journalists." he said.
Stating that the international jury chose the best photographs among thousands of photographs, Karagöz said that after Istanbul, they will open the 10th anniversary exhibition of the Istanbul Photo Awards in New York and Brussels.
Stating that 2023 has been a painful year, Karagöz said, "First of all, the earthquake in Türkiye did not escape the attention of photography artists. One of the best photographs is a photograph taken during the Turkey earthquake. But unfortunately, the main theme of our exhibition consists of Gaza photographs this year. Photography is a document, a record. We document and record it here. The Turkish word objective means untouched, true to its essence, not manipulated, free from manipulation. This is why our photographers are in Gaza. "They recorded what was happening through their cameras, and the best photographers in the world created a reaction here with their Gaza shots." He made a statement.
Giving information about the categories in the competition, Karagöz made the following evaluations:
"This year, we also included the 'discrimination' category. That selection consists of images of people who are subjected to discrimination in the world. The environment category is very important. We have a selection about plastic waste that pollutes the environment. We present it to the attention of photography lovers. Our sports category is always a subject at the center of news photography. There are very strong photographs in this category. We present them to the attention of photography lovers from Istanbul."
"Photo of the Year" winner sent a message from Salem, Gaza
At the ceremony, the video message sent from Gaza by Reuters photojournalist Mohammed Salem, the winner of the Single News category and winner of the "Photo of the Year" award, was shown.
Then, on behalf of Muhammed Salem, his elder brother Reuters Gaza Visual Editor Suhaib Salem, Agence France Presse photojournalist Jeff Pachoud, who came first in the "Serial Sports" category, Anna Surinyach, who won the "Series Portrait" category, Luca Bettin from Sprint Cycling Agency, who was awarded the first prize in "Singular Sports", Agence France Presse photojournalist Adem Altan, who came third in the "Singular News" category, Agence France Presse photojournalist Mahmud, who came first in the "Serial News" category. Awards were presented to Hams, Associated Press photojournalist Francisco Seco, who came second in the "Singular Daily Life" category, and Marylise Vigneau, who came third in the "Series Daily Life" category.
In addition, a plaque of appreciation was presented to the jury members of the Istanbul Photo Awards and the representatives of the institutions among the supporters of the competition, and the participants came to the stage and took a souvenir photo.
About Istanbul Photo Awards
More than 20 thousand photo applications were received this year for the competition, where single and serial photographs are evaluated in the fields of news, sports, environment, portrait and daily life. 32 photographers won awards in a total of 10 categories in the competition.
Sony supports the competition, which is held under the communication sponsorship of Turkcell this year, as the award sponsor, Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TIKA) as the international event sponsor, and Turkish Airlines (THY) as the airline sponsor.
The exhibition, organized with the support of the Rami Library, includes photographs addressing the global events of the past year, from Israel's attacks in Palestine to the earthquake in Turkey called the "Disaster of the Century", from Mexican criminal organizations to Afghanistan refugee camps, from the use of plastic in Nigeria to the habitats of elephants turned into garbage in Sri Lanka, from the world swimming championship in Japan to the Wimbledon tennis tournament, from discrimination in India to the immigrants who lost their lives in Spanish waters.
Additionally, jury member and veteran photojournalist Yuri Kozyrev will hold a special conversation with photographers in the exhibition area tomorrow.
The exhibition of the competition, where information about the awarded photographs can be found at "istanbulphotoawards.com", can be seen in Rami Library F3 hall until June 23.
