Frankfurt am Main, 2 Jun – The European Pressphoto Agency B.V. (EPA Images) hosted the third edition of the EPA Awards to honor the outstanding achievements, contributions, and values displayed by its global staff throughout 2025. The ceremonyrecognized excellence in visual journalism alongside outstanding service and commitment to the agency's mission.
The EPA Achiever of the Year 2025 was awarded to Neil Hall, EPA’s London-based photographer who joined the agency in 2017, for his exceptional dedication to the new multimedia service EPA Focus, delivering high-quality content, even while busy covering news events in the UK's capital. “He consistently comes up with excellent ideas that are very well executed,” said the jurors.
The EPA Legacy Award 2025 went to supervising editor Alex Ehlers. With over 12 years at EPA Images in the Frankfurt headquarters, he has become one of the agency’s cornerstones, recognized not only for his expertise in image editing but also for constantly sharing his knowledge with his colleagues. “He perfectly demonstrates that you can have a strong, unique personality while remaining a dedicated team player," added the jurors.
The EPA Values@Work Award 2025 has been awarded to Sales Manager Anne Olf, who has been working for EPA Images for almost two decades. The jurors highlighted her “extraordinary” professional growth over the past year, noting her constant willingness to embrace new challenges. Anne “perfectly represents” the values of integrity, commitment, and teamwork that define the EPA work culture, they added.
“We have incredible people working behind the lens and behind the scenes in EPA,” saidJulia R. Arévalo, President & CEO of EPA Images. “The EPA Awards is our way to recognize, from the heart, their work and contribution to our mission and success.”
The company also recognized the exceptional contribution, both in quantity and quality, of three of its visual journalists: Clemens Bilan (Germany), Rungroj Yongrit (Thailand) and Martin Divisek (Czech Republic), who won the first, second and third prizes of the EPA Top Contributor Award 2025, respectively.
The EPA Image of the Year Award 2025, voted by the staff across the agency, was awarded to Abir Sultan, EPA’s visual journalist based in Israel, for an aerial picture of runners in action at the starting point of the 6th Dead Sea Marathon taken in February 2025 in Ein Bokek, near the border with Jordan. “Abir has a long experience of conflict coverage before and after he joined EPA," said Arévalo. “But I like the fact that his colleagues chose a photo of life over death and destruction to recognize his talent.”
The award winners received a plaque at today’s ceremony with their colleagues in Frankfurt, together with a bonus and some extra perks.
About EPA Images:
European Pressphoto Agency B.V. (rebranded as EPA Images) was established in November 1984 through an agreement among seven European news agencies. The founders’ vision was driven by the demand for an independent, high-quality picture service originally designed for the European media market. In early 2003, EPA Images made its service available worldwide, marking the beginning of its global operations. In 2014, EPA Images launched its global video service. Today’s EPA Images’ photo and video services are based on a broad network of visual journalists worldwide, as well as on the daily production of its eight member agencies: ANA-MPA, ANP, ANSA, EFE, KEYSTONE-SDA, LUSA, MIT, and PAP, all of which are market leaders in their respective countries