Istanbul Photo Awards 2018 winners announced

ISTANBUL

Bosnian photojournalist Damir Sagolj’s striking shot of a dead boy with his eyes covered with leaves was chosen as Photo of the Year 2018 for the Istanbul Photo Awards organized by Anadolu Agency. 

“I think the winner this year is really strong. It is a picture that explains a lot about what the big story of the year was. It is a very moving picture, while it is also a very strong picture,” said Jury President Marion Mertens, senior digital editor at Paris Match magazine. 

This year’s contest saw 28 photographers from 22 countries around the world receiving awards. Around 37,000 photos from 125 countries were submitted to the contest. Jury members picked the winners in all categories from March 18 to March 21 in Istanbul. 

Canadian photojournalist Kevin Frayer won first prize in the Story News category for the series he had done for Getty Images on the Rohingya. 

Lukas Schulze, a freelance photojournalist based in Germany, got first prize in the Single Sports category with his photo “Athlete vs. Animal,” while Pavel Volkov from Russia won first prize in the Story Sports category for his series taken for Russian daily Vechernyaya Moskva. 

Malaysian photojournalist Muhamed Fathil Asri from The New Straits Times Press won first prize in the Single Nature & Environment category, while Marcus Yam’s work for The Los Angeles Times was awarded first prize in the Story Nature & Environment category. 

Andrew McConnell’s series taken for London-based Panos Pictures won first prize in the Story Portrait category, while Russian photographer Sergei Stroitelev received first prize in the Story Daily Life category. 

Ezra Acayan, a freelance photojournalist in the Philippines, won the Young Photographer award, presented to a winner under age 28 for the second time. 

This year’s jury did not nominate a winner in the Single Portrait and Single Daily Life categories. However, they gave Honorable Mentions to Rodrigo Cabrita in the Story Nature & Environment category and to Anastasia Rudenko in the Story Daily Life category. 

The winning photos will be compiled in an annual book and will be shown at exhibits in Turkey and abroad throughout the year. 

For a list of all the winners visit: http://istanbulphotoawards.com/