Anadolu Agency honors Konstantinos Tsakalidis, winner of Istanbul Photo Awards 2022

ISTANBUL

Konstantinos Tsakalidis, the winner of this year's Istanbul Photo Awards, was presented his prize, a camera, by Anadolu Agency Director-General Serdar Karagoz on Friday.

Tsakalidis, a 36-year-old Greek photojournalist freelancing for Bloomberg, was honored for his moving portrait of an elderly woman during last year's devastating wildfire on the island of Evia.

The photo – titled Woman from Evia – captured 81-year-old Kritsiopi Panayiota's pained reaction as a blaze approaches her house in the village of Gouves.

"This is one of the most powerful photographs of last year," Karagoz said at Anadolu Agency's Istanbul office.

"And your photo was the best. That's why I wanted to personally present this award to you," he said, wishing Tsakalidis well and expressing the hope that he would get many more awards in the future.

Karagoz also invited Tsakalidis to an environment forum being organized by Anadolu Agency this fall.

"Environmental issues are one of our key focus areas and something we are working on very seriously," he said, adding that the event will feature discussions on "all kinds of environmental challenges and climate change issues."

Tsakalidis' photograph, Karagoz said, was a poignant depiction of the impact of climate change.

News agencies from around the world, including Greece, will be invited to the forum to "discuss the media's responsibilities on this issue," he added.

He said the event will also include a photo exhibition, where Tsakalidis' snap will be "one of the most important photographs" on display.

Karagoz urged Tsakalidis to "keep taking such great photographs for the world," stressing that journalists share a "very similar" culture.

"We should work together because our cultures are very similar. We need solidarity to tackle our common challenges, like environmental problems and refugee issues," he asserted.

'A great honor' to accept award

Tsakalidis said it was a "great honor" for him to accept the award in the "magnificent city" of Istanbul.

"Istanbul Photo Awards is one of the most prestigious competitions in our field," he said.

"I'm very happy, and maybe in the future it will be great to not have such sad photographs in the competition," he added in a lighter vein.

This year's Istanbul Photo Awards were supported by Canon, the Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TIKA), and the national flag carrier, Turkish Airlines.

Information about the jury and all the winning photographs is available on the website: www.istanbulphotoawards.com.