Jury decides Istanbul Photo Awards winners

By Firdevs Bulut

ANKARA (AA) – After meeting online this week to judge the entries, the jury of the Istanbul Photo Awards 2020, organized by Anadolu Agency, Turkey's top news source, has chosen the winners.

Next Tuesday, June 30, will see the announcement of the choice photos honored by the awards, organized this year by Anadolu Agency for the sixth time.

The selection process took place using an online platform using state-of-art software developed by Anadolu Agency's dedicated tech team.

The winning photos were selected from more than 10,000 entries sent by professional photographers in over 100 countries. Starting June 30, the winners will be viewable at istanbulphotoawards.com.

Jury members include Yuri Kozyrev, a veteran photojournalist with Dutch-based NOOR Agency; Marion Mertens, a senior digital editor at Paris Match in France; Michel Scotto, AFP's head of photo business development in France; Deborah Copaken, an American photojournalist and author; Georges De Keerle, a photojournalist and visual media consultant; Cameron Spencer, Getty Images sports chief photographer; Ahmet Sel, a senior photojournalist; Hasan Oymez, the editor-in-chief of Anadolu Agency's Visual News Department, and Firat Yurdakul, photography editor for Anadolu Agency.

An Anadolu Agency team organized the elimination process on an online platform specifically designed for the awards.

Jury members praised the continuation of the contest even amid the coronavirus outbreak, and shared their thoughts on the organization.

Scotto congratulated the organizers for maintaining a smooth process despite this year’s challenging circumstances due to the pandemic.

Spencer said the online elimination platform, including jurors from at least six countries, was handled very smoothly, and congratulated the team.

De Keerle said the technology used in the platform was quite advanced, while Mertens praised its ease of use.

Turkish Airlines, Turkey’s flag carrier airline, sponsors the contest.