Stanley Greene, an award-winning photojournalist for Amsterdam-based Noor Images, passed away Friday in Paris.
He had been undergoing treated for liver cancer. He was 68.
Ahmet Sel, the head of Anadolu Agency's Visual News Department, said he had met Greene in the early 1990s in Moscow while covering the fall of the Soviet Union.
"I crossed paths with him a couple of years later in the mountains of Chechnya, which were then being bombarded by Russian forces," he added.
"I was quite impressed by his persistent optimism and the firm worldview reflected in his photos."
Esra Kirecci, Anadolu Agency's corporate communications director, said she met Greene at an Istanbul Photo Awards workshop. "He took part in our program and fascinated everybody with his sincerity and knowledge," she said.
"We felt as if he was the youngest person there despite his age and advanced illness. It was our pleasure to meet and work with him," she added.
Greene was in Istanbul this March for talks as part of Anadolu Agency's third Istanbul Photo Awards.
Greene, one of the few African-American photographers who worked internationally, was known for honest photographs of wars, including conflicts in Chechnya, Georgia, Afghanistan, and Iraq.