ISTANBUL

Anadolu photojournalist Ali Jadallah, who works in Gaza, was awarded the 2025 Presidential Culture and Arts Grand Award in the field of photography.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced the 2025 recipients of the Presidential Culture and Arts Grand Awards during a ceremony at the Presidential Complex in Ankara, recognizing achievements in science and culture, painting, music, Anatolian archaeology, and photography.

Documenting Israel’s war crimes through Jadallah's lens

Working as a photojournalist for Anadolu since 2015, Jadallah has spent more than 15 years documenting life in the Gaza Strip, capturing the humanitarian impact and stark reality of Israel's attacks on the region for the world to see, an extremely challenging professional task in the last two years.

His family's home was targeted in the early days of Israel's genocidal attacks, which began on October 7, 2023. Jadallah's father, two siblings, and three cousins were killed in the attack, and his mother, a dialysis patient, was severely injured when she was pulled from the rubble. Jadallah personally recovered the bodies of his family members under the debris over the course of three days.

While his wife, children, and mother were later evacuated to Türkiye, Jadallah chose to remain in Gaza, continuing to document the city’s destruction through Anadolu’s lens.

Beyond the devastation of conflict and genocide, Jadallah’s photographs reflect the strength, dignity, resilience, and hope of the people of Gaza. His artistic perspective and ability to rapidly and accurately document unfolding events have made him one of the leading and most distinctive photojournalists in the region.

Jadallah has established himself as one of the region's leading and most distinctive photojournalists, reflecting the people of Gaza's strength, dignified resistance, determination, and hope through his camera lens, as well as the ability to document unfolding events quickly and accurately.

Jadallah's photographs also served as the basis for Anadolu's books The Evidence and The Witness, which document Israel's war crimes.

The evidence-bearing images were also presented at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) hearing on South Africa's request for additional provisional measures against Israel.

Turkish president showcased Jadallah’s photo at UN General Assembly

In September, Erdogan displayed one of Jadallah’s photographs during his address to the 80th session of the UN General Assembly in New York. The image, taken on July 22, 2025, was titled “Food distributed to Palestinians struggling with hunger in Gaza.”

Lost his home and family in Israeli attacks

In an interview featured in Anadolu’s book The Witness, Jadallah recalled that three days after Oct. 7, he lost his home. While he was photographing at Al-Shifa Hospital on Oct. 11, shortly after the attacks began, he received a phone call informing him that his family had been targeted.

He immediately rushed to their home, where he experienced the full shock of the tragedy.

“It was a shock, an absolute shock. It was the beginning of the war. I lost all my family members. Only my mother survived under the rubble. Praise be to God. It’s impossible to describe people’s condition. There are no words in the dictionary to express that feeling. You lose your family, your security, your loved ones, everything you need in life; you lose everything,” Jadallah said.

Internationally acclaimed for his work

Through his work in Gaza, Jadallah has received numerous prestigious international awards in press photography.

He won the “Story” category at the 2025 World Press Photo competition, one of the most esteemed awards in the field.

At the Siena International Photo Awards, he received the “Photo of the Year” award in both 2024 and 2025, as well as first-place honors in the “Storytelling” and “Documentary and Photojournalism” categories.

He also ranked in the International Photography Awards (IPA) and won first place in the “General News” category at the Picture of the Year (POY) competition, while being named a finalist in the “Spot News” category.

At France’s Bayeux Calvados-Normandy Award, Jadallah claimed first prize in the “News” category and was also named “Photographer of the Year.”

His images were featured among the top 10 and top 100 photographs of the year by Time, US News, The Atlantic, and CNN, and appeared on the covers of Time Magazine, The Times, The Guardian, New Internationalist, and El Pais.

Additionally, Magnum Photos, a US-based agency regarded as one of the most important institutions in the history of war photography and founded by figures such as Robert Capa and Henri Cartier-Bresson, dedicated a special feature to Jadallah titled “Voices From Gaza: Ali Jadallah.”