The awards were delivered for the Documentary Photography Contest organized by the Near East University Faculty of Communication, Department of Journalism for high school and university students. Coşkun Aral, a well-known documentary producer and press photographer from Turkey, also attended the award ceremony held at the Near East University Grand Library on Wednesday, May 17, 2023.
The photographs participating in the contest, which consisted of cultural heritage and history, environment and human, freedom, democracy and human rights, human and animal and space (portrait), themes, were evaluated by the jury consisting of documentary maker and press photographer Coşkun Aral, and academics and photographers Gazi Yüksel, Aykan Özener and Mert Yusuf Özlük. While ten photographs in high school and fifteen photographs in university category were classified to be evaluated in the finals in the pre-selection, Berke Yetişmiş from Near East College won the best photography award in the high school category, and Ufuk Turpcan from Anadolu University won the best photography award in the university category. Zehra Çiğdem Can, a student at Atatürk Vocational High School, who participated in the competition in the high school branch, and Diren Darbaz from Surrey University in the university category were deemed worthy of the special jury award.
Three workshops were held for high school and university students who participated in the Documentary Photography Contest, which aims to pave the way for young people to express their view of the world through the language of photography. Before the competition, in which the contestants can participate with the photos they took with their mobile phones, two workshops were held on mobile photography in Turkish and English.
The Turkish workshop was held by Near East University Photography and Cameraman Associate Degree Program Coordinator, Specialist Lecturer and Photography Artist Gazi Yüksel, and the English workshop was conducted by Near East University Journalism Department Specialist Lecturer and Photographer Mert Yusuf Özlük. Finally, a photography workshop was held for the finalists of the competition by Documentary Producer and Press Photographer Coşkun Aral, including the simultaneous English translation.
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ayça Demet Atay: “A journalist’s pen or camera should be fair.”
Making the opening speech of the Documentary Photography Contest award ceremony, Near East University Head of Journalism Department Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ayça Demet Atay thanked Turgay Deniz, Director of Deniz Plaza and Nahide Merlen, Owner of Işık Bookstore, who supported the competition as a sponsor.
Emphasizing that journalism is a profession with high public responsibility, Assoc. Prof. Dr. said that journalists tell and make sense of the world with their articles, photographs and images. Atay said, “A journalist’s pen or camera should be fair, ethical, on the side of rights and the just.” Underlining that it is not enough to know how to do the job technically to be a good journalist, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Atay said that a good journalist should have a good cultural background in order to see what he is looking at, to make sense of what he sees and to explain it. Assoc. Prof. Dr. Atay also underlined that they aim to train students who can work in all media in the Near East University Faculty of Communication, Department of Journalism, who have awareness, social sensitivity, and high analysis and observation power.
Coşkun Aral: “The competition encouraged young people to see their surroundings with a questioning eye.”
Documentary producer and press photographer Coşkun Aral, who came to the island to attend the Documentary Photography Contest award ceremony, stated in his speech that Turkey’s sister land, Northern Cyprus, is one of the countries he has visited most in his professional life. Aral said that as a country where people who are educated and logical, the educational institutions in the TRNC are much more privileged with their quality and multicultural structures.
Expressing his happiness at the invitation he received from the Near East University Journalism Department within the framework of the Documentary Photography Contest, Aral drew attention to the importance of encouraging high school and university youth to see their surroundings with a more inquisitive and questioning eye and document them, rather than being only a participant in a documentary photography contest. Aral expressed his wish that the competition will continue to develop and reach an international dimension in the coming years. Saying that “Near East University is a universal university with the values it produces”, Aral congratulated the participating youth for their successful work.
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ayhan Dolunay: “I sincerely congratulate all the participants, the finalists and the students who were deemed worthy of the award.”
Near East University Faculty of Communication Vice Dean Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ayhan Dolunay expressed his happiness to be together in such a meaningful artistic ceremony. Emphasizing that the Near East University Faculty of Communication trains qualified professionals who will quickly adapt to the constantly developing and changing media, communication and advertising sectors, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Dolunay said, “In addition to this, we aim to graduate our students fully equipped with the experience gained by coming together with professionals who have developed cultural backgrounds and artistic abilities.”
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Dolunay emphasized that the Documentary Photography Contest, organized by the Near East University Faculty of Communication, Department of Journalism, created an opportunity for high school and university students to improve themselves with the feedback they received from the jury members by proving their talents in the field of photography, and said, “I would like to thank the jury members and those who contributed to the competition. I sincerely congratulate all the participants, the finalists and the students who were deemed worthy of the award.”
