European Pressphoto Agency (EPA) photographer Sergey Kozlov's photo titled "Ukraine-Russia War" won the Photo of the Year award at the Istanbul Photo Awards, the ninth edition of the annual international photography contest held by Anadolu Ajansı to support photojournalists.
The contest is now a globally dedicated platform with more than 16,000 international users.
A prestigious jury gathered online and selected the award-winning photographs for the Istanbul Photo Awards 2023.
Kozlov's photo was selected as the winner of the Photo of the Year among more than 21,000 photographs submitted from different parts of the world.
The winners were selected from photographs that cover last year's global events, from the Ukraine-Russia war to the incidents in Palestine, from the pressures of the Taliban administration to child trafficking in Nigeria, from Lithium-induced environmental changes to wildlife studies in Thailand, from the World Cup in Qatar to Portuguese bullfights, Arctic pole icebreakers to African albinos' daily life.
The international jury stated that the quality of the photos sent was very high and they had great difficulty in making the decision in the eliminations made on the platform specially prepared by the AA Information Technologies team.
In the Story News category, Associated Press (AP) photographer Evgeniy Maloletka won first place with his series about the siege of the Ukrainian city of Mariupol.
Getty Images Photojournalist David Ramos took first place in the Single Sports category with his work documenting the joy of Lionel Messi in the World Cup final.
Agence France-Presse (AFP) photographer Jeff Pachoud took first place in the Story Sports category with his photos at The Tour de France Femmes.
Brais Lorenzo won the first prize in the category of Single Nature and Environment by capturing people watching the fires in Spain with concern.
The jury awarded Jonas Kako's work, which shows the undeniable effects of drought, as the winner of the Story Nature and Environment by the jury.
The winner of the Single Portrait is Elham Abbasloo, who captured the women's movement that started in Iran after the death of Mahsa Amini.
AP photographer Ebrahim Noroozi won the first prize in the Story Portrait category for his photographs of female athletes in Afghanistan under Taliban rule.
In the Single Daily Life category, Gazeta Wyborcza photographer Jakub Porzycki won the first prize with his photo of Wanda, who was celebrating her 111th birthday.
Politiken / Panos Pictures photographer Mads Nissen, who documented life in drug prisons in Afghanistan, won the first prize in the Story Daily Life category.
This year, 29 photographers received awards in 10 categories in the contest supported by Nikon, the Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TIKA) and Turkish Airlines (THY), the nation's flag carrier.
Information related to the jury and award-winning photographs can be accessed via the website (http://istanbulphotoawards.com).
