World Press Photo award goes to assassination picture
February 13, 2017
Associated Press photographer Burhan Ozbilici has garnered this year's World Press Photo of the Year, one of the most prestigious accolades for photo journalism.
Associated Press photographer Burhan Ozbilici has garnered this year's World Press Photo of the Year - a prestigious award for photo journalism.
Image: Reuters/K. Pfaffenbach
An image of rage goes viral
Burhan Ozbilici's image was captured in the seconds after the December 2016 assassination of Andrey Karlov, Russia's ambassador to Turkey. Ozbilici has also been on assignment in Syria, Libya and Egypt. He said he aims "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," according to AFP news agency.
This award-winning photo by Jonathan Bachman depicts 28-year-old activist leshia Evans standing her ground during a protest against police brutality in Baton Rouge, Louisiana in July 2016. Activists point to the blatant racism behind the killings of African-Americans by white police officers.
Image: Reuters/J. Bachman
The end of an era
Fidel Castro's death grabbed headlines around the world. Tomas Munita's image of the Cuban leader's funeral procession on December 1, 2016 took first prize in the Daily Life, Stories category.
Image: Reuters/The New York Times/World Press Photo Foundation//T. Munita
On their toes
Tiejun Wang captured this image of young students doing toe-pressure training at a gymnastics school in Xuzhou, China. The photo won second prize in the Daily Life, Singles category.
Image: Reuters/World Press Photo Foundation/Tiejun Wang
Trying to escape
Sergey Ponomarev's photo won second prize in the General News category. It shows a family fleeing the fighting in Mosul, Iraq's second-largest city, while oil fields burn in the background in November 2016.
Image: Reuters/World Press Photo Foundation/The New York Times/S. Ponomarev
At a loss
Santi Palacios's image, which took second prize in the General News, Singles category, shows an 11-year-old girl from Nigeria (left), with her 10-year-old brother on a rescue boat in July 2016.
This photo by Brent Stirton won first prize in the Nature, Stories category. It shows a dead black rhino bull that was poached for its horns at Hluhluwe Umfolozi Game Reserve in South Africa.
Image: Reuters/World Press Photo Foundation/Getty Images for National Geographic/B. Stirton
Aiming to win
Usain Bolt of Jamaica is shown here smiling as he wins the 100-meter semi-final sprint at the Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro in 2016. The image by Kai Pfaffenbach took third prize in the Sports, Singles category.
Image: Reuters/K. Pfaffenbach
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Burhan Ozbilici's image was captured in the seconds after the assassination of Andrey Karlov, then Russia's ambassador to Turkey. Karlov was shot at an art gallery in Ankara in December 2016. The image depicts the rage and fury of the gunman, policeman Mevlut Mert Altintas, while the ambassador's body lies lifeless in the background.
Jury chair Stuart Franklin called Ozbilici's image "an incredibly hard-hitting news photograph," AP reported. The photo went viral around the world following the assassination.
Hard to choose
The judges of the World Press Photo Foundation in Amsterdam praised the courage of photographer Ozbilici, but also said they had a difficult time selecting the winning image. More than 80,000 pictures by over 5,000 photographers from 125 countries were submitted.
According to the foundation's website, "whether entered as singles or stories, these pictures are judged in terms of their accurate, fair, and visually compelling insights about our world." The prize, which is accompanied with a prize of 10,000 euros ($10,600), was awarded for the 60th time this year.
Prizes also went to other photographers in various categories, with the prize-winning images to go on show in a traveling exhibition to 45 countries. They will also published in a yearbook.
