AFP Honoured at the 2025 Istanbul Photo Awards
Omar Al-Qattaa, Eyad Baba, Sameer Al-Doumy and Luis Tato were recognised at the 2025 edition of the Istanbul Photo Awards.
Story News Category
Omar Al-Qattaa was awarded first prize in the category for a series of images captured in the Gaza Strip during the conflict between Israel and Hamas.
Eyad Baba was awarded third place in the same category, also for his coverage of the conflict.
Both photo series, taken in 2024, depict the impact of Israeli airstrikes on the population of the Gaza Strip, which has been facing a major humanitarian crisis.
Story Nature & Environment Category
Luis Tato was awarded first prize for a series on the floods that struck Kenya. In 2024, severe flooding swept across East Africa, displacing thousands and crippling infrastructure. Kenya had only just emerged from a period of extreme drought when the country experienced its worst flooding in decades.
Marion Mertens Single Daily Life Category
Two AFP photographers were honoured in this category.
Sameer Al-Doumy was awarded second place for an image taken in Homs, Syria, on 20 December 2024. The photograph shows a Syrian man selling vegetables in front of a tank and the rubble of a building, following the overthrow of President Bashar al-Assad by Islamist rebels in December 2024.
Luis Tato received two awards at the 2025 edition, earning third place in the Marion Mertens Single Daily Life category. He was recognised for a photograph taken in a Kampala slum in Uganda on 23 January 2024, showing members of a community orchestra rehearsing ahead of a performance. The organisation Brass for Africa uses recycled instruments and offers music lessons to underprivileged youth, aiming to transform both their lives and those of their communities.
The Istanbul Photo Awards is an international news photography competition organised by the Anadolu Agency. It “aims to contribute to the field of news photography and offers a perspective shaped by the region’s unique position at the crossroads of diverse cultures.”