Turkey-based AFP photographer wins Time laurel

Time magazine named AFP’s Bulent Kilic as its Best Wire Photographer for 2014 on Monday for his powerful images from the Syrian border, Ukraine and his native Turkey.

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He is the third Agence France-Presse photographer to win the Time laurel for excellence in news wire images, established in 2010.

Kilic, 35, “systematically found himself at the heart of the news,” not least when he captured the moment when Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) fighters came under air attack near the flashpoint Syrian border town of Kobane, Time said.

“His striking, vivid and memorable images have captured the attention of photo editors across the planet,” added Olivier Laurent, editor of Time’s LightBox photo blog.

Based in Istanbul, Kilic began the year covering anti-government protests in Ukraine, before going on to the Soma coal mine disaster in Turkey in May, in which 301 people died.

In October, using a telephoto lens from a hilltop by the Turkey-Syria border, he captured what Time called “a jaw-dropping explosion” from which a lone Islamic State militant is seen running amid a mushroom cloud of dust.

Previous AFP winners of Time’s laurel for top wire service photographer are Mauricio Lima in 2010 and Marco Longari in 2012.

AFP photographers have twice won the Pulitzer prize for their work: Massoud Hossaini in 2012 and freelancer Javier Manzano in 2013.