Anadolu Agency journalist wins 3rd place in nature photo contest

By Handan Kazanci

ISTANBUL (AA) – An Anadolu Agency photojournalist on Wednesday won the third place in a nature photo contest.

Sebnem Coskun was awarded for her photo titled “COVID-19 Waste” in the People and Nature category of the Nature Conservancy contest.

Her photo depicts medical waste floating in water while multiple world record holder Turkish diver Sahika Ercumen is seen collecting the rubbish in the Sea of Marmara off Istanbul, Turkey's largest city.

More than 100,000 works submitted by photographers from 158 countries were evaluated in the competition organized by The Nature Conservancy, a non-governmental organization with over one million members focusing on global environmental issues.

Coskun won various awards earlier, including the Pictures of the Year (POY) Asia. The 33-year-old photojournalist came first in the Nature and Environment category with the same image joining the POY.

She participated in the Andrei Stenin International Press Photo Contest with the same photograph and was a finalist in the My Planet category.

Coskun was born in Istanbul, Turkey. She started her photography career in 2008 and earned a master’s degree in photography from Marmara University in Istanbul.

*Mehmet Kara in Istanbul contributed to this story.