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anjaniedringhaus · 6 months

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Palestinian Journalist Samar Abu Elouf Wins IWMF 2024 Anja Niedringhaus Courage in Photojournalism Award

Winning portfolio captured in Gaza during October and November 2023

[April 4, 2024 – WASHINGTON, DC] – The International Women’s Media Foundation (IWMF) today announced freelance photojournalist Samar Abu Elouf as the 10th annual recipient of its Anja Niedringhaus Courage in Photojournalism Award. The global recognition honors women photojournalists who document humanity amid conflict as well as the challenges facing marginalized populations worldwide. This year’s award is being issued on April 4, 2024, the 10th anniversary of German photojournalist Anja Niedringhaus’s passing; Niedringhaus was killed while on assignment in Afghanistan with the Associated Press.

Abu Elouf’s winning portfolio – and the bulk of her photojournalism – features reporting on war and its effect on women and children. Previously based in Gaza City, Abu Elouf puts herself at the center of danger to chronicle how conflict, loss, and need affect people in her own community. Late last year, Abu Elouf was forced to evacuate her home after it was partially destroyed. Her winning portfolio, ‘Gaza Under Attack,’ includes a series of 12 images commissioned by and featured in The New York Times.

“There are no more extreme conditions than what Samar endured to bring us these images from Gaza – a warzone that marks the deadliest period for journalists in modern history,” said Elisa Lees Muñoz, Executive Director of the IWMF. “Samar was separated from her children, her relatives were killed, and she slept in cars and on floors to keep reporting. Battling a lung infection and surviving on one meal a day, all to bring us the truth, Samar is the epitome of dedication, professionalism and courage.”

Link: 2024 Anja Niedringhaus Courage in Photojournalism Award

#awardwinner #IWMF #anjascourage

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anjaniedringhaus · 6 months

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"Anja Niedringhaus" Exhibition Opening + IWMF Courage in Photojournalism Award Ceremony

Thursday, April 4, 2024 6:30-9PM: 'Anja Niedringhaus' Exhibition Opening Reception 7:30PM: Anja Niedringhaus Courage in Photojournalism Award Ceremony

Exhibition information: Bronx Documentary Center 614 Courtlandt Ave, Bronx, NY 10451 On View: April 4 - May 5, 2024 Gallery hours: Thurs-Fri 3-7PM + Sat-Sun 1-5PM

More information here

#exhibition #imwf #anjascourage #awardwinners

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anjaniedringhaus · 2 years

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Paula Bronstein wins the Anja Niedringhaus Courage in Photojournalism Award

In its eighth year, the IWMF’s Anja Niedringhaus Courage in Photojournalism Award recognizes women photojournalists who exhibit extraordinary courage and humanity in reporting from areas of instability, oppression, and conflict. The award was created in honor of German Associated Press photojournalist Anja Niedringhaus, who was killed in Afghanistan in 2014. This year’s winner is veteran freelance photographer Paula Bronstein; Afghan journalist Farzana Wahidy and U.S. journalist Carol Guzy are also honored.

Link: 2022 Anja Niedringhaus Courage in Photojournalism Awards

#awardwinner #iwmf #anjascourage

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anjaniedringhaus · 3 years

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Fatima Shbair wins the Anja Niedringhaus Courage in Photojournalism Award

Brazilian and Iranian-Canadian women photographers also recognized

[September 29, 2021 – WASHINGTON, DC] – Today, the International Women’s Media Foundation presented Palestinian freelance photojournalist Fatima Shbair with the seventh annual Anja Niedringhaus Courage in Photojournalism Award. Since 2015, the international award has honored women photojournalists who take risks to capture humanity in dire circumstances, illuminating underreported and sometimes silenced stories. The prestigious award was created in honor of German Associated Press photojournalist Anja Niedringhaus, who was killed in Afghanistan in 2014.

Shbair’s portfolio rose above more than 100 applications that represented women photojournalists from more than 40 countries. At 24 years old, Shbair is the youngest winner of the ‘Anja Award’ to-date and is a self-taught, freelance photojournalist. Her portfolio, “11 Days of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict,” includes unique moments of tension, violence, devastation, and hope all captured from Gaza City in May 2021.

“Life here is different, and I had to find a way to [show] what was happening,” says Shbair from Gaza. “Despite successive wars and tragedies, people here dig deep in search of hope, and their lives matter – it’s my responsibility to convey their voices to the world.” Shbair continued: “Anja’s work gives us the determination to continue on the path despite the difficulties. I can’t find the words to describe how honored I feel to receive this award.”

The IWMF also recognized two other women photojournalists with honorable mentions in the competition: Brazilian photojournalist Adriana Zehbrauskas, currently working in Phoenix, Arizona, and Iranian-Canadian photographer Kiana Hayeri, who is based in Kabul, Afghanistan. Zehbrauskas’ portfolio included energetic yet sensitive portrayals of migration and the toll of COVID-19 in Latin America, while Hayeri’s work spotlighted the rising conflict and looming crisis in Afghanistan from an alternative perspective.

“Within the past two years so many communities worldwide have been pushed to the brink in order to survive,” says the IWMF’s Executive Director Elisa Lees Muñoz. “Anja’s focus on resilience, hope and the intimate struggles people face in times of crisis is a legacy we turn to now more than ever. The IWMF is thrilled to recognize this year’s winner, Fatima Shbair, as well as Kiana Hayeri and Adriana Zehbrauskas in Anja’s name.”

This year’s jury included Corinne Dufka, Jacqueline Larma, Robert Nickelsberg, Tara Pixley, and Bernadette Tuazon. Together, the committee issued the following statement on this year’s Anja Award selection: “The portfolios from this year’s winner and honorees draw in the viewer and continue to grow with impact and intimacy. Each photojournalist demonstrated remarkable tenacity and developed clear and close bonds with her subject, accessing what few photographers can convey. We congratulate Fatima, Adriana and Kiana on their remarkable work; Anja would be proud to recognize each of you.”

Anja Niedringhaus was a recipient of the IWMF Courage in Journalism Award in 2005. The winner’s $20,000 prize is made possible by the Howard G. Buffett Foundation. Honorees’ images and captions, biographies and headshots are available for media use with proper attribution; to inquire further, please contact Charlotte Fox ([email protected]).

Courage in Photojournalism Award Winner

This year’s winner, Fatima Shbair, is a Palestinian freelance photojournalist from Gaza City.

After studying business administration for three years at Al-Azhar University in Gaza, Shbair switched to study journalism and began concentrating on photojournalism in 2019 through independent study and working in the field.

In 2020, Shbair began to receive assignments from several international agencies, including Getty Images and The New York Times, to cover her hometown as tensions continued between Israel and Palestine. Her assignments increased in 2021 but came with the challenge of working during a global pandemic, which also strained and ravaged her own community. Shbair is currently a contributor to Everyday Middle East and continues her work with Getty Images. Her work has been exhibited in Palestine, the UAE, London, and Paris.

As a women photojournalist, Shbair’s gender and line of work are challenged daily, due to the conservative nature of society in Gaza, and the prevenance of male photojournalists in the industry.

Juror Dufka noted, “Fatima’s stunning photo essay is one of the strongest entries the jury had the pleasure of reviewing these past several years. Her work with light, angles, and composition is remarkable as she weaves through a forest of destruction in her own backyard.”

Juror Larma continued, “She clearly spent a great deal of time with her subjects and pursued what’s beyond obvious for most photojournalists. Within these 11 days, Fatima took the time to pursue intimate storytelling, showing us both the physical and emotional toll on her subjects while operating in extreme danger.”

From Gaza, Shbair further remarked: “Courage is not just about taking risks; being human first is the true courage of a photojournalist. It is a great honor to receive this award, especially in Anja’s image, as we are all still learning from her creativity, journey, and pursuit of the truth.”

Twitter: @FatimaMshbair, Instagram: @fatimashbair

Courage in Photojournalism Honorees

Honoree Kiana Hayeri was born and partially raised in Iran and was first introduced to photography in high school after her family moved to Canada. Hayeri left Toronto during her final year of university and traveled to Afghanistan on assignment in 2013, where she’s remained.

In 2021, Hayeri received the Robert Capa Gold Medal for her photographic series, “Where Prison is Kind of a Freedom,” documenting the lives of Afghan women in Herat Prison. In 2020, she received the Tim Hetherington Visionary award and was named as the 6th recipient of the James Foley Award for Conflict Reporting.

Hayeri was an IAAB fellow in 2011 and completed a CIS artist residency at MIT University in 2012. In 2014, she was named as one of the emerging photographers by PDN 30 Under 30. In 2016, she was selected for the IWMF’s cross-border reporting fellowship to work on her proposed story in Rwanda and DRC and was selected as the recipient of Chris Hondros Fund Award as an emerging photographer. In 2017, Hayeri received a grant from European Journalism Center to do a series of reporting on gender equality out of Afghanistan and received Stern Grant in 2018 to continue her work on the state of mental health among Afghan women.

Hayeri is a Senior TED fellow, and her work has appeared in The New York Times, Le Monde, Harper’s Magazine, Washington Post, NPR, Monocle Magazine, Wall Street Journal, Marie Clare, Glamour, The Globe and Mail, Al Jazeera America, and CBC, among others.

When reviewing Hayeri’s portfolio, Tuazon noted that, “These images can only be captured by a woman with her specific access and lens. Every single day in this portfolio demonstrates unbelievable courage as the women and children she illuminates convey a harrowing narrative.”

Twitter: @kianahayeri, Instagram: @kianahayeri

Adriana Zehbrauskas is a Brazilian documentary photographer based in Phoenix, Arizona. Her work is largely focused on issues related to migration, religion, human rights, underrepresented communities, and the violence resulting from the drug trade in Mexico, Central and South America.

Zehbrauskas contributes regularly to The New York Times, UNICEF and BuzzFeed News and her work has been widely published in outlets such as The New Yorker, The Washington Post, The Guardian, Stern, Le Monde and El País, among others.

She is the recipient of a 2021 Maria Moors Cabot Prize, a New York Press Club Award in Feature-Science Medicine and Technology in the Newspaper category for the article “Zika’s Legacy: Catastrophic Consequences of a Continuing Crisis (NY-2018) and a POY International (2019). She was a finalist for the Premio Gabo (2018) and received two Honorable Mentions at the Julia Margaret Cameron Award (2018).

Zehbrauskas is one of the three photographers profiled in the documentary “Beyond Assignment” (USA, 2011, produced by The Knight Center for International Media and the University of Miami. She’s a recipient of the first Getty Images Instagram Grant and was awarded Best Female Photojournalist -Troféu Mulher Imprensa (Brazil). Her mobile photography work was selected by Time Magazine for the “29 Instagrams That Defined the World in 2014″ and her project on Faith in Brazil and Mexico was awarded an Art & Worship World Prize by the Niavaran Artistic Creation Foundation.

She’s an instructor with the International Center of Photography (ICP- NY), the World Press Photo Foundation, Gabriel García Márquez’s Fundación Gabo, the Foundry Photojournalism Workshop and serves as a jury member to dozens of grants and awards worldwide.

Commenting on Zehbrauskas’ portfolio, juror Pixley said, “The strength of her images is indicative of a lengthy time occupying difficult spaces despite both health and safety concerns. Her consistency across countries, issues and movements reveals the same, unique human connection.”

Twitter: @AZehbrauskas, Instagram: @adrianazehbrauskas

#awardwinner #iwmf #anjascourage

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anjaniedringhaus · 4 years

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Masrat Zahra wins the Anja Niedringhaus Courage in Photojournalism Award

Zahra, born and raised in Srinagar, has documented the ongoing conflict in Indian-controlled Kashmir for four years. Her images illustrate the violent confrontations between Kashmiri protesters and Indian security forces and their subsequent toll on the community. She is one of a small number of women photojournalists working in the area.

“I hope this honor will encourage me to perfect my skills and do my work more confidently,” Zahra said in remarks shared by IWMF. “I also expect it to inspire other women photographers who are working in difficult environments. This is an honor to all women who choose to work in conflict zones.”

The award jury, which included representatives from The Associated Press and Human Rights Watch and other photojournalists, noted that Masrat’s “portfolio touches us with its humanity.”

“Her work is intensely feeling,” they continued, “and she consistently puts herself before extreme danger to bring us the stories of her communities, especially those of women.”

Photojournalists Laurel Chor, who documented protests in Hong Kong, and Nahira Montcourt, who covered civil unrest in Puerto Rico, received honorable mentions.

Niedringhaus, who received the IWMF Courage in Journalism Award in 2005, was shot and killed by an Afghan policeman in April 2014.

Links:

IWMF - International Women’s Media Foundation

Associated Press

#awardwinner #iwmf #anjascourage

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anjaniedringhaus · 6 years

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Andrea Bruce wins the Anja Niedringhaus Courage in Photojournalism Award

In April 2014, Associated Press photographer Anja Niedringhaus was killed by a police officer in Afghanistan’s Khost province. And for the past four years, Niedringhaus’s dedication and legacy — one that includes a Pulitzer Prize for photography — lives on through the Courage in Photojournalism Award, organized by the International Women’s Media Foundation and named after her.

This year, the award, which comes with a $20,000 cash prize, went to Andrea Bruce, a former Washington Post staff photographer. “I looked up to Anja,” Bruce told In Sight ahead of Thursday’s announcement. “She was courageous and smart, but also grounded and kind. She cared. As one of the few women covering conflict, she showed me how it can be done.”

“Now, receiving this award, I hope I can continue to encourage other photographers, especially women, to stay in this profession with Anja’s sense of purpose,” she added.

Bruce’s work focuses on the people living in the aftermath of war, especially in Iraq and Afghanistan. “Andrea was selected for her empathy, her emotional connection with subjects, and for the dignity that shines through in her portfolio, which also includes images from Syria, Russia, Bahrain, India and Haiti,” the IWMF said in a statement. Juror Eman Mohammed added that Bruce “was always inspiring others within the field to step up and inspiring young female photographers.”

Bruce was chosen from among 136 nominations, the highest number since the program began. Photographers Amber Bracken and Rebecca Conway received honorable mentions.

Links:

IWMF - International Women’s Media Foundation

The Washington Post

#awardwinner #imwf #anjascourage

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anjaniedringhaus · 7 years

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Advocate for women and girls wins photojournalism award

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) - This year's recipient of an award named for an Associated Press photographer killed in Afghanistan is a photojournalist who captures the quiet dignity of women and girls who have endured cruel practices such as child marriage, genital mutilation and acid attacks. New York-based freelance photographer Stephanie Sinclair will accept the Anja Niedringhaus Courage in Photojournalism Award on Thursday in Washington.

"Courage is not only defined by facing risk on the front lines of war but also displaying emotional and intellectual courage required to continue to bear witness to scenes of despair with eloquence and compassion," the panel of industry judges gathered by the International Women's Media Foundation wrote, adding that Sinclair received their unanimous support.

The annual award, first given in 2015, goes to a female photographer whose life and work honor Niedringhaus' legacy. It was established by the International Women's Media Foundation and includes a $20,000 prize, funded by the Howard G. Buffett Foundation. Niedringhaus was part of an AP team that won the 2005 Pulitzer Prize for breaking news photography for coverage of the Iraq War. A native of Germany, she was killed on assignment in 2014 when an Afghan police commander walked up to the car she was in and opened fire. Honorable mentions in this year's contest went to Louisa Gouliamaki, an Athens-based photojournalist and a permanent stringer for AFP who documented European refugees and Kiev's deadliest day during the 2014 Ukrainian revolution; and Nicole Tung, an Istanbul-based photojournalist who submitted work from Syria and Iraq. Sinclair, a 44-year-old Miami native who attended the University of Florida and interned at the then-St. Petersburg Times, is best known for her series "Too Young to Wed," which examines forced child marriage around the world. "In my experience, girls in developing countries, the world's poorest areas, really have the least amount of rights and protection. They're the most vulnerable in the world," she said. "It's our responsibility to take care of those who don't have the same amount of support. We don't get to control where we're born. If they succeed, we all succeed." Her photos are stunning and often difficult to view, with images of women disfigured from attempting suicide by self-immolation or the tears of a girl forced into painful female genital mutilation. "We are drawn into the lives of three Nigerian girls, their faces softly illuminated in an otherwise dark room. The motion of the Afghan girl writhing in pain from self immolation, fearing her husband's reaction to a simple broken TV, portrays her shifting reality and portends the labyrinth of pain she will endure for the rest of her life. The photo of a girl clutching a wall during childbirth transports us directly into the clinic room," wrote the jury. Sinclair said that this isn't a case of her parachuting in to cover a story, only to move on to the next topic. She began documenting issues of women and girls in Afghanistan in 2003. And later, she started her own nonprofit, Too Young to Wed. The organization aims to amplify the frequently overlooked voices of girls and women around the world - often using photography. This summer, Sinclair will host a workshop for child marriage survivors to tell their stories through photography and portraiture. "With this topic, with girls rights, I just feel like I'm on the right side of history here," she said. "I'm honored to be accepted into these communities to tell the story that they want the world to know. I'm blessed to be able to share these stories, and awards like this help amplify it. Each time I'm interviewed, all of these photographs are shared, and the girls' voices are heard."

Fürsprecherin von Frauen erhält Preis für Mut im Fotojournalismus St. Petersburg (AP) - Die US-Fotojournalistin Stephanie Sinclair erhält in diesem Jahr den nach der in Afghanistan getöteten deutschen AP-Fotografin Anja Niedringhaus benannten Preis für Mut im Fotojournalismus. Die in New York lebende Sinclair hat sich in ihrer Arbeit des Schicksals von Frauen angenommen, die unter grausamen Praktiken wie Kinderehen, Genitalverstümmelung und Säureangriffen leiden. Der Preis wurde 2015 erstmals verliehen. Er geht jeweils an eine Fotografin, deren Leben und Arbeit das Vermächtnis Niedringhaus' hochhält. Die 44-jährige Sinclair, eine freie Fotografin, wollte den Preis am Donnerstag in Washington entgegennehmen. Zu ihren bekanntesten Arbeiten zählt die Serie «Zu jung zum Heiraten» über erzwungene Kinderehen weltweit. Niedringhaus wurde im April 2014 während eines Einsatzes getötet, als ein afghanischer Polizeikommandeur das Feuer auf das Auto eröffnete, in dem sie mit einer Kollegin saß.

Washington (dpa) - Die US-Journalistin Stephanie Sinclair, die seit Jahren mit ihrer Kamera den Blick auf junge weibliche Gewaltopfer in aller Welt lenkt, ist am Donnerstag in Washington mit dem Anja-Niedringhaus-Preis geehrt worden. Die Internationale Stiftung für Frauen in den Medien würdigt damit Fotojournalistinnen, die sich bei ihrer Arbeit durch besonderen Mut auszeichnen. Der Preis wird seit 2015 verliehen, zu Ehren der deutschen Fotografin Anja Niedringhaus. Die Pulitzer-Preis-Trägerin hatte für die Nachrichtenagentur AP aus verschiedenen Kriegsgebieten berichtet und wurde 2014 in Afghanistan erschossen. Die freiberufliche Journalistin Sinclair (44) reist seit 15 Jahren um die Welt, um das Leid von jungen Frauen und Mädchen zu dokumentieren, die Opfer von Gewalt, genitaler Verstümmelung oder Zwangsheirat geworden sind. Berühmt ist insbesondere eine Fotoserie mit dem Titel «Zu jung zum Heiraten», die aufzeigt, wie das Leben junger Mädchen durch die erzwungenen Ehen zerstört wird.

#awardwinner #imwf #anjascourage

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anjaniedringhaus · 7 years

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Celebrating the Legacy of Anja Niedringhaus

Photojournalist Anja Niedringhaus dedicated her life to telling humanity’s most troubling stories at the front lines of conflict. Her death in 2014 brought into sharp reality the futility of war and the importance of effectual images. Niedringhaus’ legacy is undoubtedly her photographs but also the courage she has ignited in her fellow journalists.

Read more on: http://time.com/4764211/anja-niedringhaus-legacy/

#iwmf #anjascourage #awardwinner

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anjaniedringhaus · 7 years

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Stephanie Sinclair wins Anja Niedringhaus Award

[AMSTERDAM, WORLD PRESS PHOTO FESTIVAL, APRIL 20, 2017]: — The International Women’s Media Foundation (IWMF) is pleased to announce Stephanie Sinclair as the winner of the 2017 Anja Niedringhaus Courage in Photojournalism Award. The Award celebrates women photographers whose work demonstrates bravery, dedication and skill, while reporting the news through images. Now in its third year, the award was created through a generous grant from the Howard G. Buffett Foundation to pay tribute to the strength and dedication of Pulitzer Prize-winning Associated Press photographer Anja Niedringhaus, who was tragically killed while reporting in Afghanistan in 2014. Niedringhaus received the IWMF’s Courage in Journalism Award in 2005.

Louisa Gouliamaki and Nicole Tung are receiving honorable mentions for the 2017 award. All three women will be recognized at an awards event in Washington, DC on Thursday, June 8, 2017. The 2017 Anja Niedringhaus Courage in Photojournalism Awards is being presented in collaboration with Amsterdam-based World Press Photo Foundation, as part of an exciting partnership formed to support female photojournalists around the globe.

“We couldn’t be more proud to recognize Stephanie Sinclair, Louisa Gouliamaki and Nicole Tung. Each exemplifies courageous journalism in important and unique ways,” said the IWMF’s Executive Director Elisa Lees Muñoz. She added, “They are a credit to their profession and to Anja’s legacy, as they also bring to light humanity and resilience of spirit through imagery, while exposing and bringing us closer to the difficult realities they’re documenting.”

Sinclair is a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist known for gaining unique access to the most sensitive gender and human rights issues around the world, who regularly publishes in esteemed outlets including National Geographic and The New York Times Magazine. Through her work, Sinclair portrays in a quiet and compelling way the lives of vulnerable girls subjected to practices such as child marriage, genital mutilation and acid attacks, with dignity, depth and empathy. Her ongoing 15-year series, “Too Young to Wed,” delves into how child marriage has altered the fate of tens of thousands of young girls, and she has founded a nonprofit in the same name. The Jury noted how her photos “touch your soul” and how “courage is not only defined on the front lines of war, but also displaying the emotional and intellectual courage required to continue to bear witness to scenes of despair with eloquence and compassion.”

“It is a tremendous, if bittersweet, honor to win an award in Anja’s name. I’ve long been a fan of IWMF’s mission and am humbled and proud that your jury would recognize my photojournalism in this way and be one of the women journalists supported and empowered by your organization,” said Sinclair about receiving this honor. She added, “Not only will this award support my continued work, but I am grateful for the awareness such a high profile honor will bring to the stories I shared in my application.”

Sinclair’s work received unanimous support from the award jury, which was comprised of leading photojournalists and photo editors from agencies including The Associated Press, TIMEand World Press Photo Foundation. They praised Sinclair’s personal commitment to the subjects she explores, saying they hoped it would serve as a new model for the 21st century photojournalist. “It is testament to her deep sense of humanity and commitment to not only show the world community the brutality endured, but [to also] provide assistance, advocacy and solutions to give back to these communities of brave women willing to open their lives to her camera,” the jury statement noted. As with Award winners from previous years, Heidi Levine and Adriane Ohanesian, Sinclair will receive a $20,000 prize to support her ongoing work, made possible by the Howard G. Buffett Foundation.

Honorable Mention Louisa Gouliamaki, a Polish-Greek photographer based in Greece, was recognized for displaying masterful visual storytelling on both the European refugee crisis and the revolution in the Ukraine. The jury noted “Her work comprises immediacy and intensity during violent confrontations, and also moments of humanity and warmth.” Nicole Tung, who also received an Honorable Mention, was recognized for work that shows the devastating effects war has on civilians and the emotional trauma of conflict in places such as Syria, Iraq, Libya and Egypt. The jury noted, “Like Anja, Nicole provides balance and a moment of hope, giving viewers a breath away from the intensity of war…Her dedication and compassion will continue to shed light on the dark corners of our world, where people are mired in isolation and desperation.”

This year’s Anja Niedringhaus Courage in Photojournalism Award event and reception will be hosted on June 8 at the German Embassy and residence by German Ambassador to the U.S. Peter Wittig and Mrs. Huberta von Voss-Wittig. The event program will feature leading international journalists, including Katty Kay.

#anjascourage #awardwinner

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anjaniedringhaus · 8 years

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Adriane Ohanesian wins Anja Niedringhaus Award

WASHINGTON (AP) - Kenya-based freelance photojournalist Adriane Ohanesian, who has documented conflicts in Sudan and South Sudan, has won an award for courage named for an Associated Press photographer killed on assignment in Afghanistan in 2014.

The announcement that Ohanesian won the Anja Niedringhaus Courage in Photojournalism Award was made Tuesday.

Ohanesian has been reporting primarily in Africa since 2010, according to the International Women's Media Foundation, which established the $20,000 prize. The award is funded by the Howard G. Buffett Foundation.

Ohanesian is a New York native and graduate of Colorado College according to her website. Based in Nairobi, she has documented the civil war in South Sudan and the conflict in Sudan's Darfur region. The award jury said in a statement that Ohanesian won for her "evocative images and tenacious dedication to documenting the effects of conflict on citizens in perilous regions."

"My photographs document what I've seen in isolated areas of the world. I hope the people I photograph feel that these photos communicate their circumstances to the outside world. It takes a massive amount of trust on the part of my subjects to know that I'm accurately representing them and their story," Ohanesian said in a statement released by the International Women's Media Foundation.

An email to her Tuesday generated this reply: "Thank you for your email. I am currently on assignment with very limited access to the internet and no access to phone networks. Thank you for your patience."

Santiago Lyon, the AP's vice president and director of photography, was one of five members of the award jury. He singled out for particular praise two of Ohanesian's images from Darfur: one showing hundreds of women and children sheltering in a cave and another showing a child badly burned by a bomb dropped by the Sudanese government. Lyon said Ohanesian shares a "similar focus and determination to tell difficult stories" with the late Niedringhaus, who joined the AP in 2002 and worked throughout the Middle East, as well as in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

"I think she embodies very much the spirit of the award," Lyon said of Ohanesian.

Niedringhaus was part of an AP team that won the 2005 Pulitzer Prize for Breaking News Photography for coverage of Iraq. A native of Germany, she was killed on assignment when an Afghan police commander walked up to the car she was in and opened fire. Her friend and colleague, AP reporter Kathy Gannon, was seriously injured in the attack.

Two other women, Lynsey Addario and Paula Bronstein, received honorable mentions in this year's competition. Addario, who is based in London, was recognized for her work documenting humanitarian crises. Bronstein, based in Bangkok, was honored for her coverage of refugees, natural disasters and political protests.

The award was first given out in 2015 and will be awarded annually to a female photojournalist whose life and work honor Niedringhaus' legacy.

#anjascourage #awardwinner

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anjaniedringhaus · 9 years

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Photographer Heidi Levine honored by women’s media group

BERLIN (AP) - Freelance photographer Heidi Levine, who has made a career of covering conflicts, was honored Thursday with the inaugural award for courage named for Associated Press photographer Anja Niedringhaus, who was killed on assignment in Afghanistan.

Levine, an American freelance photojournalist based in Jerusalem, has spent 30 years covering wars and revolutions. She worked with Niedringhaus in Israel, Gaza and Libya, and said it was a great honor to be the first recipient of the award in her name.

"Anja was not just a colleague, she was also my friend," she said in an emotional acceptance speech.

Santiago Lyon, AP's director of photography and a jury member, said that among more than three dozen nominations, Levine's entry "stood out from the others immediately."

"She is truly a remarkable practitioner of photojournalism, a skilled visual storyteller and a warm caring person," Lyon said. "She is very deserving of this award."

The Anja Niedringhaus Courage in Photojournalism Award is a $20,000 prize established by the Washington-based International Women's Media Foundation and funded by the Howard G. Buffett Foundation.

It was created to honor Niedringhaus, who was killed last year on assignment when an Afghan police commander walked up to the car she was in and opened fire. Her friend and colleague, AP reporter Kathy Gannon, was seriously injured in the assault.

At the award ceremony, Gannon said Niedringhaus showed a compassion, empathy and humor in her photos that was also a reflection of how she was as a person.

"Anja's passion was her photography, but she was also so much more," Gannon said.

She added that she can imagine "Anja smiling, happy that Heidi Levine was chosen as the first recipient of this award in her name."

Levine is originally from Boston and moved to Israel in 1983. She began her career with the AP and is now represented by the Sipa Press photo agency.

The prize will be awarded annually to a female photojournalist who reflects the courage and dedication of Niedringhaus.

Niedringhaus started her career as a freelance photographer when she was 16 in her native Germany and went on to cover the conflict in the former Yugoslavia. She joined the AP in 2002 and worked throughout the Middle East, as well as in Afghanistan and Pakistan. She was part of an AP team that won the 2005 Pulitzer Prize for Breaking News Photography for coverage of Iraq. copyright: Associated Press