Istanbul Photo Awards launches New York exhibition

By Ovunc Kutlu

NEW YORK

The works of 22 award-winning photographers were on display Monday in an exhibit launched by Anadolu Agency at the United Nations headquarters in New York.

Winners of the Istanbul Photo Awards 2017 hail from 17 countries and beat out the competition at this year’s contest that received approximately 25,000 entries.

The Permanent Mission of Turkey to the United Nations helped open the exhibition that is sponsored by Turkish Airlines and the Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency

It is the second consecutive year the exhibit has been held at the UN headquarters and the third straight year Anadolu Agency has organized the contest.

"What is important for [Anadolu Agency] is to ensure that news photographs are widely published and more accessible," Anadolu Agency Deputy Director-General and Editor-in-Chief Metin Mutanoglu, who played host, said at the opening ceremony.

"And what is also important for us is to tell human stories to the audience through photo interviews, and this requires well-trained professionals," he added.

Among the highlighted works were Fleeing Daesh, the Photo of the Year award snapped by French photographer Frederic Lafargue for the weekly news magazine Paris Match.

News Series Award winner Aris Messinis’s Death in the Mediterranean for Agence France-Presse and Adam Pretty's photograph Below the Surface, taken for Getty Images in the sports category were also included.

A spotlight was also shined on Hosam Salem, a freelance photojournalist in Gaza who received the Young Photojournalist Award for his work, Street Training in Gaza.

The exhibition will be displayed adjacent to the Vienna Cafe in the UN until Oct. 27.

Distinguished guest at the opening ceremony included Turkey's permanent representative at the UN Feridun Sinirlioglu, Consul General in New York Ertan Yalcin, other UN permanent representatives, consular authorities, national and international media organizations and representatives for the Turkish community.

Applications for the Istanbul Photo Awards 2018 will open Nov. 1 and run until Jan. 31, 2018.

The number of categories will be increased from eight to 10 and the total prize money will be raised to $165,000 in the next competition.