Istanbul Photo Awards exhibition opens in Rome with Gaza Photo of the Year

The award-winning photographs from the 2026 Istanbul Photo Awards, organized by Anadolu Agency, went on display in Rome after Ankara. The exhibition at Il Portale Ostiense will remain open until October 30.

The award-winning photographs from the 2026 Istanbul Photo Awards, an international news photography contest organized by Anadolu Agency (AA), went on display in Rome. The exhibition, whose second stop after Ankara is Rome, opened at Il Portale Ostiense on the evening of October 22. More than 50 award-winning photographs are on display, and the exhibition can be visited until October 30.

Among those attending the opening were AA Board Chair and Director General Serdar Karagöz, Türkiye's ambassador in Rome Elif Çomoğlu Ülgen, Türkiye's ambassador to the Vatican Fahrettin Altun, Palestine's ambassador to the Vatican Issa Kassissieh and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus representative in Rome, Mustafa Kemal Beyazbayram.

A view from the exhibition opening

Photographers submitted 19,000 photographs this year

"This year alone, we received 19,000 photographs from around the world," Karagöz said. Karagöz said approximately 22,000 photographers had entered the contest with more than 207,000 photographs since 2015, adding that they would continue telling the stories of civilians in Gaza. This year, 26 photographers received awards in 10 categories.

‘No Hope’ from Gaza

The exhibition hall at Il Portale Ostiense

The Photo of the Year award went to “Gaza, No Hope,” a photograph taken by Palestinian photographer Haitam Imad for EPA. It shows 2-year-old Sham Qudeih receiving treatment at Nasser Hospital in Gaza and weighing approximately 4 kilograms at the time. Qudeih was later taken to Naples, Italy, for treatment.

Ambassador Çomoğlu Ülgen said she hoped the exhibition would become a tradition, while Ambassador Altun said the photographs covered subjects including Gaza, Syria, Ukraine, the environment, sports and space debris. Turkcell was the exhibition's communications sponsor, TİKA its international events sponsor and Turkish Airlines (THY) its partial transportation sponsor.

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