Awards
AFP wins seven prizes at Pictures Of the Year international
Seven AFP photojournalists win awards at the 74th Pictures Of the Year international (POYi).
Jean-Philippe Ksiazek
2nd prize in the Spot News category
for his photo of a demonstrator holding a bouquet of flowers in one hand and a flare in the other as he faces riot police during a demonstration in Lyon against the government’s planned labour reform.
Aris Messinis
3rd prize in the News Picture Story and Spot News categories
On board the Astral with the NGO Proactiva Open Arms, Messinis reported on a rescue operation off northern Libya. The prize-winning shot in the “Spot News” category shows migrants attempting to pull a child out of the water as they wait to be rescued.
Ameer Alhalbi
Award of Excellence in the Impact category
The award-winning photo, taken on 25 August 2016 after an air strike on the Bab al-Nairab neighbourhood of Aleppo, shows a wounded man sitting in the back of a truck with the body of a child lying behind him.
Noel Celis
3rd prize in the General News category
for a photo taken at an overcrowded prison in Quezon City, Philippines. Built 60 years ago to accommodate 800 inmates, it now houses nearly 4,000. The men take turns sleeping on stairs, on the prison’s open air basketball court and in hammocks made from old blankets.
Luis Acosta
Award of Excellence in the General News category
for his photo of two FARC (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia) members resting in a remote jungle camp. He followed this group of fighters in February 2016 as they were preparing to lay down their arms under the peace agreement reached with the government after half a century of conflict.
François-Xavier Marit
2nd prize in the Olympics Action category
for an underwater shot of Britain’s Thomas Daley in the Men’s 10 Metre Platform semi-final during the Rio Olympics diving event.
Martin Bureau
3rd prize in the Olympics Action category
for his photo of American swimmer Chase Kalisz at the start of the 400 metre Individual Medley final at the Rio Olympics.