Image of Turkish assassin wins 2017 World Press Photo Award
Print Edition
BRANDISHING a gun, his face contorted with rage, the shocking image of an off-duty Turkish policeman assassinating the Russian envoy to Turkey won the prestigious World Press Photo Award yesterday.
Judges praised the courage and bravery of Burhan Ozbilici, a photographer for Associated Press, who stood his ground as 22-year-old policeman Mevlut Mert Altintas pumped nine bullets into ambassador Andrei Karlov at the opening of an Ankara exhibition.
Altintas shouted “Allahu Akbar” (“God is greatest”) and “Don’t forget Aleppo” as he opened fire, vowing that those responsible for events in Syria would be held accountable.
“From the moment I heard the shots I knew this was a historic moment, very serious,” Ozbilici said. “I knew I had to do my job. As a journalist, I couldn’t just run away to save my skin.”
The vivid photo went viral around the world, and has been viewed some 18 million times.
The judges from the World Press Photo Foundation in Amsterdam acknowledged they had a tough job to choose the 2017 winner from more than 80,400 images submitted by 5,034 photographers from 125 countries.
“It was a very, very difficult decision, but in the end we felt that the picture of the year was an explosive image that really spoke to the hatred of our times,” said jury member Mary Calvert.
Manila-based photographer Noel Celis took third place in the General News category for his photo of inmates trying to sleep in an over-populated prison in the city.
Syrian snappers Abd Doumany and Ameer Alhalbi won second prize in the Spot News category for their pictures of children caught up in the bombardments of Aleppo and Douma.
It is the second year in the row that Doumany’s work has been honored by the World Press Photo Foundation.
“It’s not easy for these photographers, for these Syrians. It’s taking terrible risks. They are young guys telling their stories from hell basically,” jury president, British photographer Stuart Franklin, said.
Ozbilici, who covered the failed coup bid in Turkey and has carried out missions in Syria, Libya and Egypt, said he always tried to be ready for difficult tests, “to have the courage to confront a world which has been made rotten by the dishonest and corrupt, in order to try to do some good.”
He said he was sorry for the death of the envoy, whom he described as a “natural, kind, sincere man” whose death was a direct consequence of the Syrian catastrophe. “This photo marked an important moment in the history of Turkey, especially in its relations with Russia,” said Ozbilici.
“This image to me talks” of everything that is happening across the world. “It is the face of hatred,” said jury member Joao Silva.
The competition itself was directly affected by the travel measures brought in by US President Donald Trump, when one of the nine jury members, Palestinian Eman Mohammed, had to cancel her trip to Amsterdam for judging amid fears that she might not be allowed to enter US again.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
