Judges
Courtesy of
Mehmet Masum Suer
Faces of Humanity Single
Mehmet Masum Suer
2nd
Mehmet Masum Suer is a documentary photographer and freelance journalist living in the city of Diyarbakir in Turkey.
He began his career as a journalist in 1974, then worked for different agencies and newspapers in Turkey as a reporter, photo-journalist, writer, redactor, and representative.
He was forced to leave his job as a reporter in 1992 when armed attacks and pressure against journalists and intellectuals increased in Turkey. After these years, he turned to research on culture and history.
Suer started art photography in 2005 and took his first photographs in 1970 when he was a 13-year-old boy. He has been taking pictures ever since. Suer takes pictures of historical places and buildings, especially in Diyarbakir, Mardin, Van. Urfa, Adiyaman and Hasankeyf. Meanwhile, he has been involved in a project taking photos of famous Kurdish artists. Cultural, historical values, and works of art are the subjects that take his attention.
Süer opened 12 solo exhibitions in Turkey, Iraq, Belgium and the USA. He also participated in some international joint exhibitions. Photos of Suer are especially used in tourist publications and in international tourism fairs, newspapers, and magazines. Four of his photos have been printed as postage stamps in Turkey.
Has many awards from competitions of FIAP and PSA patronages. He currently holds 31 international titles. Süer has served as a jury member in 15 international photography competitions so far.
He also is a photographer for Istock-Getty Images and Alamy Agency.
Roboski
Roboski village of Uludere district of Sirnak province
2011
Roboski village is a mountain village in the Uludere district of Sirnak province in southeast Turkey. On the night of 28 December 2011, Turkish Air Force planes bombed a civilian group on the Iraq border. 34 Kurdish civilians who smuggled gasoline and cigarettes between the two countries were killed in the bombing.
The Turkish General Staff announced that it was decided to bomb the group because they were using the crossing of armed Kurdish militants. Families could not get a positive result from the lawsuits they filed. The state agreed to pay compensation of 123 thousand Turkish Liras per family. However, the families did not accept the money. Families want the culprits to be found and prosecuted.
The families of the deceased visit their graves every Thursday, read the Qur'an and pray. Families want those responsible to be found and punished.