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Please note, the image below contains an image of graphic violence.
BRANDISHING A GUN, his face contorted with rage, the shocking image of an off-duty Turkish policeman assassinating the Russian envoy to Turkey has won the prestigious World Press Photo Award.
Judges praised the bravery of Burhan Ozbilici, a photographer for the 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 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 told AFP.
“I knew I had to do my job. As a journalist, I couldn’t just run away to save my skin.”
The powerful photo went viral and has been viewed some 18 million times.
Judges from the World Press Photo Foundation in Amsterdam acknowledged it had been tough to choose the 2017 winner from over 80,400 images 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.
Agence France-Presse also scooped three awards. 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 pictures of children caught up in the bombardments of Aleppo and Douma near Damascus. It is the second year in the row that Doumany’s work has been honoured by the World Press Photo foundation.
‘Morally problematic’
But the winning photo sparked dissensions on the jury, with president Stuart Franklin, a British photographer, saying: “I voted against. Sorry, Burhan.”
“It’s a photograph of a murder, the killer and the slain, both seen in the same picture, and morally as problematic to publish as a terrorist beheading,” he wrote in The Guardian.
He argued that “placing the photograph on this high pedestal is an invitation to those contemplating such staged spectaculars.”
Ozbilici, who covered the failed coup bid in Turkey and been sent on mission to 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, who has worked for AP since 1989.
‘Edge of abyss’
Jury members agreed his photo captured an important moment in time.
“Right now, I see the world marching towards the edge of an abyss,” said jury member Joao Silva, referring to Altintas as a man who had “clearly reached a breaking point.
This image to me talks of everything that is happening across the world. It is the face of hatred.
A total of 45 photographers won awards across eight categories, touching on a vast array of subjects – from racial tensions in Louisiana to walls built around the world to thwart migrants.
Jury member Tanya Habjouqa said the choice of the 2017 winners was “bold”.
“I think the selection is definitely going to push forward a debate and I think it is a debate that is essential to have,” she said.
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, cancelled her trip to Amsterdam.
Amid the chaos unleashed by the ban, she decided it was too risky to leave her young children in the US where she lives, fearing she might not be allowed back in again.
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A picture thats makes a statement albeit a shocking one. Its none the less shockingly picturesque. The gleaming, spotless setting somewhat masking the brutality of what just happened. Even the Facial expression of the maniac in the suit. Poignant all the same..
Agreed Seán, I just don’t see the moral issue here as being with the picture or the acknowledgement of it. The question is surely whether or not this photo truly captures a moment in reality. And it does, it’s a powerful and relevant reflection of our time.
It’s certainly sad that this is the truth but the moral issues here surely lie far beyond the timely snap of a photographer’s aperture?
And yet one of most iconic pictures ever taken was that of a group of Vietnamese children (one girl naked ) running in terror 50 plus years ago! Well done to the photographer on this occasion – fortunes favour the brave!
Well deserved, most people would have shit their pants.
The photographer knew it was the money shot, let’s not paint him as a hero, no different than the thousands of other paparazzi who would sell their granny for a photo…….
@Sean Higgins:
No different to a gutter photographer lying on the ground hoping to get an upskirt pic?
Some people wouldn’t know actual journalism if it bashed them over the head
I always laugh at the high opinions Journalists have of them selves. ..gutter trash with no morals…2 yrs I collage and they go on like they are surgical consultants..
Very distasteful
@liam hayes:
Just close your eyes and it will all go away
Funny, the photo of assassination that isn’t really the photo of an assassination rather the aftermath of an assassination wins the award.
Most be some sort of alternative photo award.
One thinks perhaps Gavrilo Princip looked thus.
Nice suit
And at least he took the price sticker off the sole of his shoe! Imagine the embarrassment if he’d left it on.
It’s a picture of a lunatic with a gun & a dead guy on the ground ! It was a press conference therefore the media were present this image just glorifies killing , makes the killer a celebrity
He just happened to be at right place at right time, nothing clever about it, it isn’t even framed well. It also encourages people to think of making money instead of helping others in an emergency. A sad reflection of today’s morally bankrupt world.
Terribly insensitive move. The ambassadors family are still freshly grieving the horrible public loss of their father, husband.
It says of all really doesn’t it. More than a thousand words.
I think it’s an absolute disgrace that they showed the body of the murdered man lying there!! How terrible for his wife and family!! When a photo like this wins a prize, I despair!!
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