[ PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR, ASIA ] This premier category is open to all photographers — independent, agency, wire service, or newspaper photographers. Please submit 10 to 50 images per portfolio consisting of at least two stories. Single images are optional. The images must be taken in 2019 or 2020. Each participant is allowed to enter only one portfolio.
Judges for Photographers of the Year, Asia
Quick links to award categories: COVID-19 / Spot News / Portraits / Nature & Environment / Covid Picture Story / Covid Expressions / Issue Reporting Picture Story / Cultural Practices / Photographer of the Year, Asia
Ezra Acayan is a documentary photographer based in Manila covering politics, religion, and issues concerning human rights. Since 2019, he has regularly worked on assignment for Getty Images. His work includes documentary reportage on the suffering and abuse experienced by communities In 2017 he was awarded a special merit at the Human Rights Press Awards for multimedia reporting on the drug war. In 2018 he received grants from both the Ian Parry Scholarship and the Lucie Foundation, as well as being named Young Photographer of the Year at the Istanbul Photo Awards. In 2019, he received a World Press Photo Award in the Spot News category. His work—along with work by other journalists who cover the drug war—has been exhibited in Geneva for three straight years at the United Nations Human Rights Council. It has also been exhibited at the Foreign Correspondents Club in Thailand (FCCT), in France during the Prix-Bayeux Calvados Award for War Correspondents, in Sarajevo during the WARM Festival, and in Germany during the Lumix Festival for Young Photojournalism. Locally, his work is shown regularly in galleries, schools, and churches. He has done work for various outfits such as Getty Images, Reuters, European Pressphoto Agency, and Agence France-Presse. He has also done work for institutions such as the World Bank, Agence Française de Développement, and the African Development Bank; and for NGOs such as Diakonie Katastrophenhilfe, Care International, and the French Red Cross.
Sebnem Coskun was born in 1987 in Istanbul-Turkey. She started her photography career in 2008. After completing her undergraduate education, she completed her master's degree in Marmara Fine Arts Faculty Photography Department. Master's education is on "underwater photography and environment". She had the chance to visit Chad, Niger, Malaysia, Thailand, Russia, Spain, Greece and many more countries. And she developed some photography projects in these countries. Since 2012, she has been developing herself in underwater photography and documentary photography. She also made social responsibility projects underwater. In recent years, she has been working on underwater medical wastes, plastic pollution, recycling, climate change and nature issues. She is a photojournalist with Anadolu News Agency, the largest in Turkey.
