Applications end for Istanbul Photo Awards 2021

By Dilan Pamuk

ANKARA (AA) - Applications for the Istanbul Photo Awards 2021 ended on Friday, an extra nine hours after the pre-determined deadline of March 18.

In its seventh round, the international news photography contest by Anadolu Agency met great interest in 2021, as it did in the previous years.

Professional photographers entered with their works reflecting global events over the last year from India to Italy, the US to China.

A total of 1,206 photographers of 96 different nationalities applied with 14,740 photographs after three months of applications.

Along with many award-winning photographers, a significant number of freelance journalists applied to the contest as well. Global media institutions and photography agencies also showed great interest in the contest.

Anadolu Agency's Director-General Senol Kazanci said it was a great achievement to reach such high participation in the competition amidst the global pandemic.

Kazanci underlined that humanity had experienced a turning point in its history since the last year's contest.

"Right at this point, nearly 15,000 photographs that keep the visual record of history have been submitted to the Istanbul Photo Awards 2021. As the jury, we will evaluate each of these photographs individually, and we'll work meticulously to choose among them," he said.

Thanking all the participants in the contest for reflecting the past year in which all travel, social life and sports events came to a halt worldwide, Kazanci said: "Receiving almost 15,000 photographs for our contest despite the global situation at hand shows that the Istanbul Photo Awards has now become world-class."

"This spring, photography enthusiasts, photography artists and photography veterans across the world will be watching the Istanbul Photo Awards," he continued.

As one of the significant photography contests open to professionals worldwide, the Istanbul Photo Awards is held annually to support press photography on all corners of the globe.

Having become a platform with over 12,000 users in seven years, the contest contributes to the sector of photography with not only the prizes it gives but also the exhibitions and photo albums that present the winning photographs.

Photographers applied to this year's contest in six categories, consisting of Single News, Single Sports, Story News, Story Sports, Story Daily Life, and Story Portrait.

The international jury will gather online to evaluate applications on May 4-6. The winners will be named on May 11 via the platform developed exclusively for the contest by the Anadolu Agency Information Technology team.

The "Photo of the Year" award will be given to the photograph ranked first in the Single News category, with the photographer to receive a prize of $6,000. The winners of each category will be awarded $3,000, while runners-up will get $1,500, and those in third place $1,000.

In Story Daily Life and Story Portrait categories, only first-prize winners will receive awards.

Information about the 2021 jury, consisting of the prestigious names in photography, as well as on the winning photographs of previous years, can be accessed on the contest's official website at www.istanbulphotoawards.com.