Burhan Ozbilici’s photograph is intense and haunting. Shot in the seconds following the assassination of Andrey Karlov, Russia’s ambassador to Turkey, it shows the gunman, Mevlüt Mert Altıntaş, standing next to the lifeless body, with one hand pointing to the sky and the other still holding the gun. On his face, we can read his fury and determination, making Ozbilici’s photograph one of the most intense images of 2016.
The photograph, which has been equally celebrated for its importance and denounced for its raw depiction of a man’s fanaticism , led the news last December and will continue to do so in the weeks to come after a jury of professional photographers and editors selected it as the World Press Photo of the Year, a prestigious photojournalism award.
Mevlut Mert Altintas shouts after shooting Andrei Karlov, right, the Russian ambassador to Turkey, at an art gallery in Ankara, Turkey, Dec. 19, 2016.Burhan Ozbilici—AP
The jury, which convened in Amsterdam in early February, was, however, cripplingly split, TIME has learnt, with the photograph receiving a simple majority of 5-4, several people familiar with the judging, who asked not to be named, confirm.
“It was a very close thing,” says Magnum photographer Stuart Franklin, the chair of this year’s jury. “I didn’t think, if I’m honest with you, that it should be World Press Photo of the Year, but look, I’m just one of the jurors… The majority vote was that it should be the picture.”
The decision was a hard one to make, but one that she agrees with, says photographer Tanya Habjouqa, one of the nine members of the jury. “The World Press Photo of the Year holds mystery,” she tells TIME. “It is a photo that despite being spot news – a raw, in-the-moment, truth – it also begs questions about the [killer’s] motivations. Questions that may never be answered.” Plus, she says, details about the image jolted her. “The poor state of the assassinated Russian ambassador’s shoes along with the flung glasses in the corner. I had never noticed that before.”
For photographer Mary F. Calvert, another member of the jury, there’s no doubt Ozbilici’s photograph deserved to win. “In the end, it was very apparent to us that the picture that won was the picture of the year,” she tells TIME. “It’s the consequential spot news picture that very few of us get an opportunity to experience in our lifetime as photojournalists. That picture was the shot heard around the world. I think there are very few people that didn’t see that picture.”
Ozbilici’s photograph, adds Calvert, draws its power from its universality. “The picture is indicative of the hate and desperation and frustration that’s so apparent in our society today,” she says. “It encompasses what’s happening in America, what’s happening with Russia, and what’s happening in Syria. You can draw parallels with all kinds of similar events happening around the world.”
But more importantly, as Ozbilici tells TIME, it shows the important role photojournalists play today. “Journalism has been neglected in the last few years,” he says. “This picture proves that we need great journalism. I feel this prize gives me more responsibilities toward my colleagues. It gives me a voice to support great journalism.”
The judges recognized that commitment not only through their choice of the World Press Photo of the Year, but also in the 45 other prizes they bestowed, starting with Daniel Berehulak’s in-depth investigation of thousands of drug-related murders in the Philippines. Done for the New York Times, the photo essay won first prize in the General News Stories category. “I think that’s an exemplary piece of photojournalism,” says Franklin. “Not only did he photograph it well, but he also did a great job of mapping the homicides and writing a very compelling text.”
World Press Photo 2017: The Best News Images
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 July 9, 2016. Jonathan Bachman—Reuters, Contemporary Issues - First Prize, Singles.A woman is supported by two men while crossing a river, as refugees attempt to reach Macedonia on a route that would bypass the border fence, on March 14, 2016. Vadim Ghirda—Associated Press, Contemporary Issues - Second Prize, SinglesTwo Nigerian refugees cry and embrace in a detention center for refugees in Surman, Libya, on Aug. 17, 2016. Daniel Etter, Contemporary Issues - Third Prize, Singles.Morton County Sheriffs - Riot police clear marchers from a secondary road outside a Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) worker camp using rubber bullets, pepper spray, tasers and arrests. In other incidents they've employed militarized vehicles, water canons, tear gas and have been accused of using percussion grenades.Amber Bracken, Contemporary Issues - First Prize, Stories.Work is life - In camp, every day tasks like cooking and chopping wood are the front line. Here men unload a massive donation of firewood.Amber Bracken, Contemporary Issues - First Prize, Stories.Healers - A man is treated after being pepper sprayed by police. White people have joined the camps in large numbers, often standing in front of indigenous protestors to shield them with their bodies. Amber Bracken, Contemporary Issues - First Prize, Stories.Jesse Jaso, 12, enters the Unity Teepee, at the Sacred Stone Camp near Cannonball, N.D. on Sept. 10, 2016. The teepee is signed by camp supporters from all over North America and around the world.Amber Bracken, Contemporary Issues - First Prize, Stories.Marcela, 2, observes her sisters in her mother's lap at the family's home in the rural area of Areia. Twin sisters Heloisa (left) and Heloá (right) were born seven months prior with microcephaly caused by the Zika virus.Lalo de Almeida for Folha de São Paulo, Contemporary Issues - Second Prize, Stories.Heloá, seven months old, takes a bottle of milk on her grandmother's lap at the family's home in Areia. She and her sister Heloísa were born with microcephaly caused by the Zika virus.Lalo de Almeida for Folha de São Paulo, Contemporary Issues - Second Prize, Stories.Adriana Cordeiro Soares, 30, bathes her son João Miguel, 3 months old, who was born with microcephaly caused by the Zika virus, in her house in the rural area of São Vicente do Seridó.Lalo de Almeida for Folha de São Paulo, Contemporary Issues - Second Prize, Stories.Ophthalmologist Liana Ventura examines Maria Alice, 11 months old, born with microcephaly caused by the Zika virus, while she sits in the lap of her mother, Helen Naiara, 22, at the Altino Ventura Foundation in Recife. According to doctor Liana Ventura, 40 percent of children with suspected microcephaly have ocular lesions, especially in the retina and optic nerve, and 6 percent have a hearing deficit.Lalo de Almeida for Folha de São Paulo, Contemporary Issues - Second Prize, Stories.A pastor, who also lives in the occupied buildings, explains all the construction problems. A couple of weeks ago, the hall floors from a building crashed down at night. Fortunately everybody was sleeping and nothing serious happened. Most of the buildings are exposed to corrosion.Peter Bauza, Contemporary Issues - Third Prize, StoriesEdilane and three of her seven children (at the time the photo was taken) rest on a mattress on the floor. She will soon give birth to a son. Despite all her problems and struggles on how to feed her kids, she is still positive about her life. Recently she was able to build up a very small and basic Internet store inside the buildings. Out of approximately 10 old computers, she can make one for the store. This represents some $5 daily.Peter Bauza, Contemporary Issues - Third Prize, StoriesDomingo, from Angola, came several years ago to Brazil in search for a better life.Peter Bauza, Contemporary Issues - Third Prize, StoriesSquatting of abandoned and empty buildings is often the only solution for many of the homeless who cannot afford rent.Peter Bauza, Contemporary Issues - Third Prize, StoriesAt the hospital, Najiba holds her two-year-old nephew Shabir who was injured from a bomb blast in Kabul on 29 March 2016.Paula Bronstein— Pulitzer Center For Crisis Reporting, Daily Life - First Prize, SinglesFour students of a gymnastics school in Xuzhou, China, do toe-pressure training for 30 minutes in the afternoon.Tiejun Wang, Daily Life - Second Prize, SinglesAn Uyghur woman carries money in her stockings, a common practice. Uygur women, while Muslim, typically do not adhere to the conservative dress code that women in neighboring countries follow. Matthieu Paley for National Geographic Magazine, Daily Life - Third Prize, SinglesA weathered barbershop in Old Havana, Cuba on Jan. 25, 2016.Tomas Munita—The New York Times, Daily Life - First Prize, StoriesMembers of the Ejercito Juvenil del Trabajo waited along the road to Santiago de Cuba at dawn for Fidel Castro’s caravan on Dec. 3, 2016.Tomas Munita—The New York Times, Daily Life - First Prize, StoriesFidel Castro's funeral procession in Santa Clara, Cuba on Dec. 1, 2016.Tomas Munita—The New York Times, Daily Life - First Prize, StoriesTrucks carried students home after the carriage carrying Fidel's ashes passed in Las Tunas Province, Cuba on Dec. 2, 2016. Tomas Munita—The New York Times, Daily Life - First Prize, StoriesA bear's skin is crucified on a house. It is the skin of the insomniac bear that came at night and ate the dogs, attacked people, and got into the house through the window. Elena Anosova, Daily Life - Second Prize, StoriesModern civilization penetrates slowly and fragmentarily. It is intricately woven into the local way of life.Elena Anosova, Daily Life - Second Prize, StoriesLife has not changed for centuries in this remote area surrounded by pristine wilderness.Elena Anosova, Daily Life - Second Prize, StoriesAll people are hereditary hunters in this small settlement near Nizhnyaya Tunguska River.Elena Anosova, Daily Life - Second Prize, StoriesThe lessons at school stop for the whole harvest time of the potatoes, to which all children should attend. Maria and Alexandra in a moment of pause.Francesco Comello, Daily Life - Third Prize, StoriesIn order to enter the priesthood in the Orthodox religion you must first become a monk or get married. Vladimir marries Vittoria, both a few years before they attended the community.Francesco Comello, Daily Life - Third Prize, StoriesBlessing of the well water.Francesco Comello, Daily Life - Third Prize, StoriesView of the village.Francesco Comello, Daily Life - Third Prize, StoriesThe Iraqi Special Operations Forces search houses of Gogjali, an eastern district of Mosul, looking for Daesh members, equipment, and evidence on Nov. 2016.Laurent Van der Stockt—Getty Reportage for Le MondeAn 11-year-old girl from Nigeria (left), who said her mother died in Libya, cries next to her 10-year-old brother aboard an NGO rescue boat, on July 28, 2016. Santi Palacios, General News - Second Prize, SinglesInmates sleep on the steps of a ladder inside the Quezon City jail at night in Manila. July 21, 2016.Noel Celis—AFPSix-year old Jimji cries in anguish as she screams "papa" before funeral parlor workers, move the body of her father, Jimboy Bolasa, from the wake at the start of the funeral to Navotas cemetery on Oct. 9, 2016 in Manila, Philippines.Daniel Berehulak—The New York Times, General News - First Prize, StoriesHeavy rain pours as Scene of the Crime Operatives investigate inside an alley on Oct. 11, 2016, where a victim, Romeo Joel Torres Fontanilla, 37, was killed by two unidentified gunmen riding motorcycles in the early morning in Manila, Philippines. Daniel Berehulak—The New York Times, General News - First Prize, StoriesInmates watch as drug suspects are processed inside a police station on Oct. 12, 2016 in Manila, Philippines.Daniel Berehulak—The New York Times, General News - First Prize, StoriesFuneral parlor workers carry away the body of Edwin Mendoza Alon-Alon, 36, who was killed by an unknown gunman on the road in front of a 7-Eleven store in Tambo on Oct. 18, 2016 in Manila, Philippines. Daniel Berehulak—The New York Times, General News - First Prize, StoriesA family flees the fighting in Mosul, Iraq’s second-largest city, as oil fields burned in Qayyara, Iraq, on Nov. 12, 2016.Sergey Ponomarev—The New York Times, General News - Second Prize, StoriesA boy holds the body of his father, killed by the Islamic State, as he arrived at a field hospital on the outskirts of Mosul, Iraq on Nov. 23, 2016.Sergey Ponomarev—The New York Times, General News - Second Prize, StoriesResidents of Mosul flee the city amid fighting between Iraqi forces and the Islamic State in Mosul, Iraq on Nov. 16, 2016.Sergey Ponomarev—The New York Times, General News - Second Prize, StoriesA tied, decomposed body is seen at the site of a mass grave that was discovered on the outskirts of Hamam al-Alil, Iraq on Nov. 12, 2016.Sergey Ponomarev—The New York Times, General News - Second Prize, StoriesSoon after he surrendered, an ISIS fighter is violently dragged by Libyan fighters affiliated with the government in Tripoli while they shout and threaten to lynch him on Dec. 5, 2016. Few minutes later he was found in the same place shot dead multiple times.Alessio Romenzi, General News - Third Prize, StoriesFighters of the Libyan forces affiliated to the Tripoli government walk around the gigantic chandelier of the conference room in Ouagadougou congress complex on July 14, 2016. Alessio Romenzi, General News - Third Prize, StoriesA woman and a child, allegedly IS family members, are seen after fighters of the Libyan forces affiliated to the Tripoli government took them out of the fighting area in Al Jiza neighbourhood in Sirte on Dec. 1, 2016.Alessio Romenzi, General News - Third Prize, StoriesA fighter of the Libyan forces affiliated to the Tripoli government carries a comrade who was seriously injured just seconds before by a booby trap placed by ISIS fighters on July 14, 2016.Alessio Romenzi, General News - Third Prize, StoriesLawyers help their injured colleagues after a bomb explosion in Quetta, Pakistan, on Aug. 8, 2016. Seventy people were killed when a bomb exploded outside a civil hospital where a crowd of lawyers and journalists had gathered to mourn Bilal Anwar Kasi, a senior lawyer who had been assassinated hours earlier.Jamal Taraqai—European Pressphoto Agency, Spot News - First Prize, SinglesA Syrian girl cries out as a wounded child lies next to her at a makeshift hospital on Sept. 12, 2016. She had been injured in reported government airstrikes on the rebel-held town of Douma, east of Damascus, Syria.Abd Doumany—AFPA car bomb explodes next to Iraqi special forces armored vehicles as they advance towards Islamic State-held territory in Mosul, Iraq, on Nov. 16, 2016.Felipe Dana—AP, Spot News - Third Prize, SinglesAndrey Karlov, the Russian ambassador to Turkey, speaks at an art gallery before being shot by Mevlüt Mert Altıntaş, left, in Ankara, Turkey.Burhan Ozbilici—AP, Spot News - First Prize, StoriesMevlüt Mert Altıntaş shouts after shooting Andrey Karlov, the Russian ambassador to Turkey, at an art gallery in Ankara, Turkey.Burhan Ozbilici—AP, Spot News - First Prize, StoriesGallery goers cower after Mevlüt Mert Altıntaş shot Andrey Karlov, the Russian ambassador to Turkey, at an art gallery in Ankara, Turkey.Burhan Ozbilici—AP, Spot News - First Prize, StoriesA Syrian man evacuates an area following a reported airstrike on April 22, 2016 in the rebel-held neighbourhood of Hayy Aqyul in Syria's second city Aleppo.Ameer Alhalbi—AFP, Spot News - Second Prize, StoriesSyrian civil defence volunteers, known as the White Helmets, rescue a boy from the rubble following a reported barrel bomb attack on the Bab al-Nairab neighbourhood of the northern Syrian city of Aleppo on Nov. 24, 2016. Ameer Alhalbi—AFP, Spot News - Second Prize, StoriesSyrian men carrying babies make their way through the rubble of destroyed buildings following a reported air strike on the rebel-held Salihin neighbourhood of the northern city of Aleppo, on Sept. 11, 2016.Ameer Alhalbi—AFP, Spot News - Second Prize, StoriesEDITORS NOTE: Graphic content / Syrians mourn over the body of baby following bombardment on the al-Marja neighbourhood of the northern Syrian city of Aleppo on Sept. 23, 2016.Ameer Alhalbi—AFP, Spot News - Second Prize, StoriesEritreans migrants seen cramped in the hold of a large wooden boat which carried approximately 540 men women and children, mostly Eritreans.Mathieu Willcocks, Spot News - Third Prize, StoriesTwo 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. Mathieu Willcocks, Spot News - Third Prize, StoriesLibyan fishermen throw a lifejacket at a rubber boat full of migrants . Migrants are very often not given any life jackets or means of communication by their smugglers. More often than not they only have some water, food and not enough fuel to make it to Italy.Mathieu Willcocks, Spot News - Third Prize, StoriesThe body of a migrant found floating at sea. Red Cross medical staff onboard the Responder estimated he had been at sea for at least four days.Mathieu Willcocks, Spot News - Third Prize, Stories
The New York Times received another two awards with photographers Sergey Ponomarev and Tomas Munita in Iraq and Cuba respectively. “These photographers spent considerable time digging into important news and social issues that were among the biggest stories of the year,” says the Times’ international photo editor, David Furst. “We’re thrilled and humbled by the recognition. It validates our commitment to in-depth photojournalism across the world, and the time and resources we invest to cover the biggest stories of the year.”
Other winners include Jonathan Bachman’s iconic image of Ieshia Evans, a Baton Rouge protester who is seen facing two police officers in riot gear as she’s about to be arrested; Laurent Van der Stockt’s heart-wrenching photograph of a terrorized Iraqi girl during the army’s Mosul offensive; and Brent Stirton’s searing images of the rapid destruction of the rhinoceros population, shot for National Geographic.
