Courageous photographers risk lives to document humanitarian crimes in Gaza: Anadolu president
ISTANBUL
Courageous photojournalists continue to risk their lives to expose crimes against humanity in the Gaza Strip, Anadolu President and CEO Serdar Karagoz said Saturday while evaluating the 2025 winners of İstanbul Photo Awards.
This year, Palestinian photographer Saeed Jaras won Photo of the Year for his work titled, “Gaza-Deir al-Balah” for Middle East Images.
“The photo shows the indescribable suffering of the parents whose children were killed in an Israeli airstrike,” Karagoz said. “Jaras and courageous photographers like him continue to take great risks to inform the world about the crimes against humanity in Gaza,” he added.
The prestigious contest has attracted entries from 20,000 photographers worldwide since its first year. İstanbul Photo Awards 2025 showcased renowned photographers like Hannah McKay and Mads Nissen, alongside independent talents from a diverse range of countries, including China and Italy.
This year’s submissions prominently featured the changing dynamics in Syria alongside the war in Gaza. Karagoz said the Syrian scene, which has been relatively calm since 2016, gained momentum again with the collapse of the Bashar Assad regime.
In the Story News category, Samuel Nacar received second prize for “The Shadows Already Have Names,” which documented the survivors of Syria’s notorious Sednaya Prison for Revista 5W. AFP’s Sameer Al-Doumy won second prize in the Single Daily Life category for “Beneath the Scars of War.”
Karagoz underlined that the contest introduced a special tribute to Marion Mertens, a visual storyteller and former jury member who died in December, by renaming the Single Daily Life category after her to perpetuate her memory. Palestinian photographer Mahmoud Zaki Salem Issa won the category with his powerful depiction of Gaza’s hunger crisis.
“İstanbul Photo Awards has become more than a contest — it’s a global meeting point for the photography community,” said Karagoz, who announced worldwide exhibitions and innovative events to showcase the winning works.
Karagoz congratulated the winning photographers and concluded by saying that Anadolu would continue to carry the contest further every year.
Anadolu Agency website contains only a portion of the news stories offered to subscribers in the AA News Broadcasting System (HAS), and in summarized form. Please contact us for subscription options.
