A Great Success from Turkish Photojournalist Şebnem Coşkun
Recent great success from Turkish photojournalist Şebnem Coşkun has caused amusement in Turkey. So, Şebnem Coşkun is a Turkish photojournalist from Anadolu Agency (AA). She has recently won the first prize in Nature and Environment category and the finalist award in the Photographer of the Year. As for the category in which she won the award, it is the Asia category. By the way, the contest is the Pictures of the Year (POY) Asia, a prestigious international contest.
Photo of a Turkish Diver in the Bosporus Strait
Coşkun won the prize in Nature and Environment category with her image. In her image, she took a diver surrounded by COVID-19 waste in the Mediterranean Sea. So, she took this photo of Turkish diver Şahika Ercümen last year in the Bosporus Strait. In the meanwhile, the main aim of the photojournalist was to raise awareness about plastic pollution in the seas.
The Main Aim of the Turkish Photojournalist
Turkish Photojournalist made a statement about her photo. She said that she hopes to draw more attention to the issue. The issue, by the way, “is the responsibility and problem of every individual globally.” That is to say, she wanted to draw attention to global pollution as it puts humankind’s future in the danger. What’s worse, it is also fatal jeopardy for the life of every living creature on earth!
“Asylum Seekers” and “Turkey’s COVID-19 Story” from Turkish Photojournalist
The Turkish photojournalist Şebnem Coşkun was also the finalist in the Photographer of the Year, Asia category for her series of photos. The name of the series is “Asylum Seekers on Move to Reach Europe” and “Turkey’s COVID-19 Story.”
Check it out for more news on Covid-19 in Turkey
“I have followed the migrants in the northwestern province of Edirne. It is a great pleasure for me to give voice to those people and to be able to fulfill my professional duty. The process was the same for COVID-19,” she said.
AA (Anadolu Agency) Photojournalists are no Strangers to POY
AA photojournalists received the finalist award in the “Local team photography series” category as a team in the same competition this year.
So, 20 photographs of AA photojournalists Şebnem Coşkun, Elif Öztürk, Arif Hüdaverdi Yaman, Gökhan Balcı and Onur Çoban in the series “Open Door to Europe” show that asylum seekers. They want to go to Europe gather in Edirne. What’s more, they have a land border with Greece. So, those photographs are showing their expectations in the region.
Turkish Journalists Are Used to This Award
On the other hand, AA photojournalists had won POY awards 4 times in previous years. Photojournalist Mosaab Elshamy in Egypt in 2014, photojournalist Sebastian Castenada in Peru in 2015, photojournalist Mustafa Hassona in Gaza in 2016, and Elif Öztürk, a photojournalist in Istanbul in 2020, received awards in the competition.
The College of Journalism at the University of Missouri in the USA has been holding this competition regularly since 1944. A jury makes evaluations every year in the form of an open session. They are, by the way, experts in the field of press photography. Subsequently, the committee awards in various categories.
