Welcome to Pictures of the Year Asia

Competition

Pictures of the Year Asia 2024

We are pleased to announce the results for Pictures of the Year Asia 2024 competition, which was judged 5 — 7 April 2024.

The 10 esteemed judges awarded the Photographer of the Year, Asia to Diego Ibarra Sánchez, a Spanish photographer based in Lebanon.

In addition, the judges also recognised 13 First Places, 33 Finalists and 25 Awards of Excellence in 12 categories.

Judging videos for POY Asia 2024 can be found at facebook.com/AsiaPOY.

The winners this year come from Bangladesh, China, France, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Iran, Israel, Japan, Lebanon, Palestine, Portugal, Myanmar, Russia, South Korea. Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey and USA.

Modelled after the prestigious Pictures of the Year International (POYi), POY Asia was created in 2020 by and for photographers from Asia. POY Asia is an official program of POYi.

Inspired by POYi’s guiding principle of “Show truth with a camera,” POY Asia is committed to seeing the world from an Asian perspective.

Lam Chun Tung
Lam Chun Tung
Yuki Tanaka
Yuki Tanaka
Steven Lee
Steven Lee
Saiyna Bashir
Forough Alaei
Forough Alaei
Shuchi Kapoor
Shuchi Kapoor
Joshua Irwandi
Jessica Lim
Jessica Lim
Wan Chantavilasvong
Wan Chantavilasvong
Gülbin Özdamar Akarçay
Gülbin Özdamar Akarçay
Special Colours for POY Asia 2024
Before each POY Asia competition, we would spend a bit of time thinking about the colour scheme for our social media posts and websites.
For POY Asia 2024, we decided that the seven ‘new’ colours should come from flags of Asia countries eligible for the competition.
With so many to choose from, we are going with colours from countries that are not as well-represented in the past three editions. These additions are accompanied by the official POY Asia red.
Together, they represent our collective desire to reach out to photographers in these countries.
We are sure you will be googling to find out where these colours are from.

POY Asia 2024 Winners' List

First Place

Abed Rahim Khatib
DPA
Palestine

First Place

Mohammad Abu Elsebah
DPA
Palestine

First Place

Mohammad Abu Elsebah
DPA
Palestine

Finalist

Erçin Ertürk
Anadolu Agency
Turkey

Finalist

Firdous Nazir
Independent
India

Finalist

Evrim Aydin
Anadolu Agency
Turkey

Finalist

Ahmed Zakot
DPA
Palestine

Finalist

Marwan Naamani
DPA
Lebanon

Finalist

Mohammed Talatene
DPA
Palestine

Award of Excellence

Sedat Suna
EPA
Turkey

Award of Excellence

Enes Yıldırım
Anadolu Agency
Turkey

Award of Excellence

Shashi Shekhar Kashyap
The Hindu
India

First Place

Ebrahim Alipoor
Independent
Iran

Finalist

Oded Wagenstein
Independent
Israel

Finalist

Seyyed Matin Hashemi Aghajari
Independent
Iran

Finalist

Oded Wagenstein
Independent
Israel

Award of Excellence

Supratim Bhattacharjee
Independent
India

Award of Excellence

Arun Bhaskar
Independent
India

First Place

Adnan Abidi
Reuters
India

Finalist

Dan Han
Independent
China

Finalist

Sathiyaseelan Subramanian
Indhu Tamizh Thisai
India

Finalist

Himanshu Vats
Independent
India

Award of Excellence

Lakshitha Karunarathna
Independent
Sri Lanka

Award of Excellence

Vivek Sagar
Independent
India

First Place

Rajendra Mohan Pandey
Independent
India

Finalist

KyungHoon Kim
Reuters
South Korea

Finalist

Javid Nikpour
Independent
Iran

Award of Excellence

Evgenii Filippov
Independent
Russia

Award of Excellence

S R Hossain
Independent
India

First Place

Javid Nikpour
Independent
Iran

Finalist

Sathiyaseelan Subramanian
Indhu Tamizh Thisai
India

Finalist

Seyyed Matin Hashemi Aghajari
Independent
Iran

Award of Excellence

Gonçalo Lobo Pinheiro
Independent
Portugal/Macao

Award of Excellence

KyungHoon Kim
Reuters
South Korea

First Place

Ilia Yefimovich
DPA
Israel

Finalist

Mar Naw
Independent
Myanmar

Finalist

Erçin Ertürk
Anadolu Agency
Turkey

Finalist

Ilia Yefimovich
DPA
Israel

Award of Excellence

Abhishek N. Chinnappa
Independent
India

First Place

Supratim Bhattacharjee
Independent
India

Finalist

Ilia Denbrov
Independent
Russia/Kyrgyzstan

Finalist

Zohre Sabagh Nejad
Independent
Iran

Award of Excellence

Leung Man Hei
Independent
Hong Kong

First Place

Burning North

Chenglong Zhang
Independent
China

Finalist

Traveler Chicken “Paçalı”

Sebnem Coskun
Anadolu Agency
Turkey

Award of Excellence

Lebanon: Food crisis

Diego Ibarra Sánchez
Independent
Spain/Lebanon

Award of Excellence

Mpu Uteun : The Forest Guardian

Yoppy Pieter
Independent
Indonesia

First Place

Gender and national apartheid

Keiwan Fatehi
Middle East Images
Iran/Iraq

Finalist

15-year-old earthquake survivors

Qiu Yan
Independent
China

Finalist

Post Soviet Stories

Marylise Vigneau
Independent
France/Austria/Pakistan

Finalist

This Is Us (?)

Riska Munawarah
Independent
Indonesia

Award of Excellence

Unveiling the Unseen

Farzana Akhtar
Independent
Bangladesh

First Place

Abuse of Power

Igor Skabelin
Independent
Russia

Finalist

No More Children in My Motherland

Hayun Chun
Independent
South Korea

Finalist

In Human Seize

Maho
Independent
Iran

Finalist

War and War

Maxim Babenko
Independent
Russia

Finalist

Uranium Dreams

Маша Чудная
Independent
Russia

Award of Excellence

Aabuku

Moe Suzuki
Independent
Japan

Award of Excellence

Revolution in Myanmar

Ta Mwe
Sacca Photo
Myanmar

Award of Excellence

Taiwan’s last generation to fight China

Ann Wang
Reuters
Taiwan

First Place

Veiled by Cloud and Mist

Yixi Tian
Independent
China

Finalist

Peking Wood

Xiangfeitian
Independent
China

Award of Excellence

Ancestral Faith

Ksenia Maksimova
Independent
Russia

Award of Excellence

The Future of Food

Lauren DeCicca
Independent
USA/Thailand

Award of Excellence

Pehlivan

Onur Coban
Independent
Turkey

Award of Excellence

The Rite of the Second Burial

Sirachai Arunrugstichai
Independent
Thailand

Photographer of the Year, Asia

Diego Ibarra Sánchez
Independent
Spain/Lebanon

Finalist

Marina Sycheva
Independent
Russia

Finalist

Darya Aslanyan
Independent
Russia

Finalist

Sergei Stroitelev
Independent
Russia/Germany

Award of Excellence

Dmitry Ermakov
Independent
Russia

Pictures of the Year Asia is very pleased to welcome Singapore potter and ceramic artist Kim Whye Kee as a partner.

When we approached him to create a ‘trophy’ for POY Asia, he agreed without hesitation.

Being a full-time artist is very tough and he appreciates the challenges faced by photojournalists and documentary photographers.

He has first hand experience of the struggles faced by artists in trying to create art and putting rice on the table.

“Rice bowl,” Whye Kee said, “I will create a unique rice bowl for POY Asia every year.”

We could not ask for a more potent symbol of what it means to be a working artist in Asia.

So thanks to Whye Kee, we are happy to share that starting from POY Asia 2024, the winner of the Photographer of the Year, Asia category will receive a beautiful rice bowl, edition 1/1, sealed and dated.

POY Asia is proud to present its second exhibition in Seoul, South Korea.

Featuring 43 prints as well as a looped slide presentation of all the winning works from POY Asia 2023, the show at Mindful Art Forum(MAF) will run August 2 to September 22.

Most of you would have remembered that the inaugural POY Asia show was at the same gallery last summer.

We are grateful to HP for its generous sponsorship of the prints and mounts.

Most importantly, we could not have done this without the persistence and leadership of Dr Suejin Shin, MAF director and a judge for POY Asia 2021.

MAF is conveniently located in the arty district of Chungmuro, considered by many to be the birthplace of Korean cinema. It is not far from the Instagram-friendly Myeongdong shopping district but yet independent enough to have its own character. The proximity to several tertiary campuses gives Chungmuro a very youthful outlook. Last but certainly not least, this is also Seoul’s equivalent of a photographic district where you will find lots of film cameras. If you need a place to eat or drink after visiting our exhibition, just ask any of the staff at the gallery.

If you are not able to make it to Seoul, you can still enjoy the exhibition by downloading the guide.

Going Places, Thanks to Photojournalism

From teaching English in her native South Korea to winning College Photographer of the Year, an award that includes an internship at the esteemed National Geographic, photojournalist Yehyun Kim has come a long long way. Many will say that she has a blessed career but nobody will deny how hard she has worked to get to this stage.

Pictures of the Year International is proud to announce the creation of Pictures of the Year Asia, a program aimed at promoting Asia-based photographers. Inspired by POYi’s guiding principle of “Show truth with a camera,” POY Asia is committed to seeing the world from an Asian perspective.
POY Asia is created by and for photographers working and living in Asia. Kay-Chin Tay of Singapore, Prashant Panjiar of India, Tanya Habjouqa of Jordan and Maye-E Wong, a Singaporean based in USA, are the Founding Advisors. POYi Director Lynden Steele is a Co-Director and will serve in a supporting role. Kay-Chin co-directed POY Asia’s daily operations from its inauguration and retired in 2024.
In 2021, the group launched its first competition modelled after POYi. Please click here to go to the contest microsite.
About Us

Mission Statement

Our mission is to increase the representation of Asian photographers and stories by celebrating and sharing excellence in documentary and artistic visual storytelling throughout Asia. Through POY Asia, we hope to strengthen the growing photo community via competitions, exhibitions, publications and educational programs.

“Show truth with a camera,” as stated by POYi founder Cliff Edom in 1944, remains our guiding principle. We believe it is critical for people to see the news and issues that are shaping Asia through the eyes of those who live here every single day.

Competition

POY Asia 2023

We are pleased to announce the results for Pictures of the Year Asia 2023 competition which was judged 7 — 9 April 2023.
The 10 esteemed judges awarded the 2023 Photographer of the Year, Asia to Sergei Stroitelev, a Russian photographer who also won First Place in Cultural Practices and Daily Life Picture Story.
In addition, the judges also recognised 9 other First Places, 22 Finalists and 30 Awards of Excellence in 12 categories.
Volunteers

We Are (Always) Looking For A Few Good People

From the first POY Asia, we have relied heavily on volunteer coordinators for all the background work. They are priceless and indispensable in the success of our competition. Our team is fun, close and committed and we are always looking out for more volunteers.
If you are keen to work with us, please email Hillary Tan, POY Asia Chief Coordinator, and tell him where you are located, how you wish to contribute and your dates availability.
Hillary can be reached at hillary@poy.asia.
One-stop

Archives

Find links to POY Asia competitions, judges, results, events and more.
Quick links to POY Asia competitions by year: 2024 / 2023 / 2022 / 2021