Turkish Photographer Burhan Ozbilici Wins the World Press Photo of the Year

The World Press Photo Foundation announces the winners of its renowned contests, the 60th annual World Press Photo Contest and the 7th annual World Press Photo Digital Storytelling Contest.

The World Press Photo Foundation announces the winners of its renowned contests, the 60th annual World Press Photo Contest and the 7th annual World Press Photo Digital Storytelling Contest.

The jury of the 60th annual Photo Contest has selected an image by Turkish photographer Burhan Ozbilici as the World Press Photo of the Year.

Burhan Ozbilici’s picture–which also won first prize in the Spot News Stories category–shows how Mevlüt Mert Altıntaş, a 22-year-old off-duty police officer, assassinated the Russian ambassador to Turkey, Andrey Karlov, at an art exhibition in Ankara, Turkey, on 19 December 2016. Altıntaş wounded three other people before being killed by officers in a shootout. Ozbilici is a staff photographer for The Associated Press, based in Istanbul.

“It was a very very difficult decision - says Mary F. Calvert, member of the jury - 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. Every time it came on the screen you almost had to move back because it’s such an explosive image and we really felt that it epitomizes the definition of what the World Press Photo of the Year is and means.” Jury member João Silva added "Right now I see the world marching towards the edge of an abyss. This is a man who has clearly reached a breaking point and his statement is to assassinate someone who he really blames, a country that he blames, for what is going on elsewhere in the region. I feel that what is happening in Europe, what is happening in America, what is happening in the Far East, Middle East, Syria, and this image to me talks of it. It is the face of hatred."

The 2017 Photo Contest drew entries from around the world: 5,034 photographers from 125 countries submitted 80,408 images. The jury gave prizes in eight categories to 45 photographers from 25 countries: Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Czech Republic, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, India, Iran, Italy, Pakistan, Philippines, Romania, Russia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Syria, New Zealand, Turkey, UK, USA.

THIS IS THE LIST OF WINNERS OF THE 2017 PHOTO CONTEST. To see the full gallery go to https://www.worldpressphoto.org/collection/photo/2017

CONTEMPORARY ISSUES - SINGLES

1 Jonathan Bachman, USA, ThomsonReuters, Taking a Stand in Baton Rouge

2 Vadim Ghirda, Romania, TheAssociated Press, Migrant Crossing

3 Daniel Etter, Germany, The Libyan Migrant Trap

CONTEMPORARY ISSUES - STORIES

1 Amber Bracken, Canada, Standing Rock

2 Lalo de Almeida, Brazil, for Folha de São Paulo, Victims of the Zika Virus

3 Peter Bauza, Germany, Copacabana Palace

DAILY LIFE - SINGLES

1 Paula Bronstein, USA,for Time Lightbox / Pulitzer Center For Crisis Reporting, The Silent Victims of a Forgotten War

2 Tiejun Wang, China, Sweat Makes Champions

3 Matthieu Paley, France, for National Geographic Magazine China’s Wild West

DAILY LIFE - STORIES

1 Tomas Munita, Chile, for The New York Times, Cuba on the Edge of Change

2 Elena Anosova, Russia, Out of the Way

3 Francesco Comello, Italy, Isle of Salvation

GENERAL NEWS - SINGLES

1 Laurent Van der Stockt, France, Getty Reportage for Le Monde, Offensive on Mosul

2 Santi Palacios, Spain, Left Alone

3 Noel Celis, Philippines, Agence France-Presse, Inside the Philippines' Most Overcrowded Jail

GENERAL NEWS - STORIES

1 Daniel Berehulak, Australia, for The New York Times, They Are Slaughtering Us Like Animals

2 Sergey Ponomarev, Russia,for The New York Times, Iraq’s Battle to Reclaim Its Cities

3 Alessio Romenzi, Italy, We Are Not Taking Any Prisoners

LONG-TERM PROJECTS

1 Valery Melnikov, Russia,Rossiya Segodnya, Black Days of Ukraine

2 Hossein Fatemi, Iran,Panos Pictures, An Iranian Journey

3 Markus Jokela, Finland, Helsingin Sanomat Table Rock, Nebraska

NATURE - SINGLES

1 Francis Pérez, Spain, Caretta Caretta Trapped

2 Nayan Khanolkar, India, Big Cat in My Backyard

3 Jaime Rojo, Spain, Monarchs in the Snow

NATURE - STORIES

1 Brent Stirton, South Africa,Getty Images for National Geographic Magazine, Rhino Wars

2 Ami Vitale, USA,for National Geographic Magazine, Pandas Gone Wild

3 Bence Máté, Hungary, Now You See Me

PEOPLE - SINGLES

1 Magnus Wennman, Sweden, Aftonbladet, What ISIS Left Behind

2 Robin Hammond, New Zealand, NOOR Images for Witness Change, Praying for a Miracle

3 Kristina Kormilitsyna, Russia, Kommersant Newspaper, Fidelity

PEOPLE - STORIES

1 Michael Vince Kim, USA, Aenikkaeng

2 Antonio Gibotta, Italy,Agenzia Controluce, Enfarinat

3 Jay Clendenin, USA, Los Angeles Times, Olympians

SPORTS - SINGLES

1 Tom Jenkins, UK, The Guardian, Grand National Steeplechase

2 Cameron Spencer, Australia,Getty Images, The Dive

3 Kai Oliver Pfaffenbach, Germany, Thomson Reuters, Rio's Golden Smile

SPORTS - STORIES

1 Giovanni Capriotti, Italy, Boys Will Be Boys

2 Michael Hanke, Czech Republic, Youth Chess Tournaments

3 Darren Calabrese, Canada, Adaptive Athlete

SPOT NEWS - SINGLES

1 Jamal Taraqai, Pakistan,European Pressphoto Agency, Pakistan Bomb Blast

2 Abd Doumany, Syria,Agence France-Presse, Medics Assist a Wounded Girl

3 Felipe Dana, Brazil,TheAssociated Press, Battle for Mosul

SPOT NEWS - STORIES

1 Burhan Ozbilici, Turkey, The Associated Press, An Assassination in Turkey

2 Ameer Alhalbi, Syria,Agence France-Presse, Rescued From the Rubble

3 Mathieu Willcocks, UK, Mediterranean Migration

- - -

This year, 282 productions were also submitted to the Digital Storytelling contest: 135 Short Form, 54 Long Form, 62 Immersive Storytelling and 31 Innovative Storytelling.TO SEE THE LIST OF WINNERS OF THE 2017 DIGITAL STORYTELLING CONTEST GO TO https://www.worldpressphoto.org/collection/mm/2017

Turkish Photographer Burhan Ozbilici Wins the World Press Photo of the Year
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© Burhan Ozbilici (World Press Photo of the Year) - Mevlüt Mert Altıntaş shouts after shooting Andrey Karlov, the Russian ambassador to Turkey, at an art gallery in Ankara, Turkey.

Turkish Photographer Burhan Ozbilici Wins the World Press Photo of the Year
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© Jonathan Bachman (1st Contemporary Issue - Single Image) - Lone activist Ieshia Evans stands her ground while offering her hands for arrest as she is charged by riot police during a protest against police brutality outside the Baton Rouge Police Department in Louisiana, USA, on 9 July 2016. Evans, a 28-year-old Pennsylvania nurse and mother of one, traveled to Baton Rouge to protest against the shooting of Alton Sterling. Sterling was a 37-year-old black man and father of five, who was shot at close range by two white police officers. The shooting, captured on a multitude of cell phone videos, aggravated the unrest coursing

Turkish Photographer Burhan Ozbilici Wins the World Press Photo of the Year
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© Paula Bronstein (1st Prize Daily Life - Single Image) - At the hospital, Najiba holds her two-year-old nephew Shabir who was injured from a bomb blast in Kabul on 29 March 2016.

© Tomas Munita (1st Prize Daily Life Story) - A weathered barber shop in Old Havana, Cuba.
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© Tomas Munita (1st Prize Daily Life Story) - A weathered barber shop in Old Havana, Cuba.

Turkish Photographer Burhan Ozbilici Wins the World Press Photo of the Year
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© Valery Melnikov (1st Prize Long-Term Projects) - Civilians escape from a fire at a house destroyed by an air attack in the Luhanskaya village. Ordinary people became victims of the conflict between self-proclaimed republics and the official Ukrainian authorities from 2014 onwards in the region of Donbass. Disaster came into their lives unexpectedly. These people were involved in the military confrontation against their will. They experienced the most terrible things: the death of their friends and relatives, destroyed homes and the ruined lives of thousands of people

Turkish Photographer Burhan Ozbilici Wins the World Press Photo of the Year
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© Brent Stirton (1st Prize Nature - Stories) - Care For Wild Africa is a donor-run organization that specializes in caring for wounded animals. They have a special focus on rhino and have taken in many rhino orphans from the poaching wars across South Africa at this time. Their latest orphan is Lulah, her mother was killed in Kruger National Park and when the rangers found her she was estimated to be one month old. Hyenas had attacked the tiny calf and chewed off her ears and parts of her nose, as well as a big bite off of her rear right leg. Lulah has a strong will to live and, despite fighting off infection in the wound, she is looking like she will survive. Lulah has a full-time caregiver, Dorota Ladosz, who is full-time staff. Dorota has an honors degree in both Animal Science and Wildlife Management. She lives full-time with Lulah at the time of this picture and sleeps with her in her enclosure. She maintains a constant watch on Lulah’s injuries and her temperature and feeds her at regular intervals. Lulah received surgery on this day and her wounds were cleaned out by Jan-Louis Ras, a surgeon who volunteers his services to Care for Wild Africa but actually usually works on humans. Infections in Lulah’s leg were cleaned out and her ears and the top of her head were dressed and disinfected. Care for Wild Africa has taken care of multiple rhino calves like this and today they have 27 survivors living on the property. Paying for their upkeep and their security is difficult.

Turkish Photographer Burhan Ozbilici Wins the World Press Photo of the Year
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© Michael Vince Kim (1st Prize People - Stories) Port of Progreso, where Koreans first arrived in the Yucatan peninsula. Their final stop was Merida, where they were sold off to the highest bidders as slaves.

Turkish Photographer Burhan Ozbilici Wins the World Press Photo of the Year
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© Kai Oliver Pfaffenbach (3rd Prize Sports - Single) Usain Bolt of Jamaica smiles as he looks back at his competition, whilst winning the 100-meter semi-final sprint, at the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Bolt is regarded as the fastest human ever timed. He is the first person to hold both the 100-meter and 200-meter world records since fully automatic time became mandatory.

Turkish Photographer Burhan Ozbilici Wins the World Press Photo of the Year
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© Mathieu Willcocks (3rd Prize Spot News - Stories) - Two men panic and struggle in the water during their rescue. Their rubber boat was in distress and deflating quickly on one side, tipping many migrants in the water. They were quickly reached by rescue swimmers and brought to safety.

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