#anjascourage

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

“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 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.

Tung’s winning submission narrates the human cost of war across 13 years in Syria and Ukraine, demonstrating the impact of violence on communities under continual assault. Documenting extreme destruction, mounting loss of life, and growing refugee communities, her work details how conflict tears apart bodies, families and communities. Following Tung’s honorable mentions in 2025 and 2017, this year marks the third time Tung has been recognized through the Anja Awards – a record for a single photojournalist.

“What the IWMF continues to see in Nicole’s courageous work – and what the judges of the Anja Award recognized – is a tenacity to return, again and again, to the frontlines of suffering at the hands of the world’s most violent forces,” said Elisa Lees Muñoz, President of the IWMF. “Like Anja, Nicole shows us that staying with people who cannot escape war ensures their stories won’t disappear.”

“I am honored, humbled, and proud to be this year’s award recipient; being able to follow in Anja’s footsteps means the world to me,” said Tung, from Istanbul. “Photojournalism requires passion, toil, and a deep faith that documentation will have impact, but it is never done alone. I am deeply appreciative of the IWMF for continuing to support the belief that all voices need to be heard.”

Alongside Tung, this year’s honorable mentions are Georgian photojournalist Daro Sulakauri, whose work combines investigative reporting and visual storytelling to examine social injustice and the lasting impact of conflict and occupation, and Viviana Peretti, a Bogotá-based Italian documentary photographer working across analogue and digital media. Sulakauri’s multi-year submission, “Chasing Shadows,” captures how hidden crimes in Georgia – including stolen babies and illegal adoptions – reverberate through identity, memory, and time. In “Limbo,” documented across more than a decade, Peretti demonstrates how forced disappearance in Colombia continues to wound families and nations. Like Tung, both women explore violence and absence – what was taken, what remains unresolved, and what must not be forgotten.

This year’s Anja Award jury was chaired by Whitney Johnson Latorre and included renowned industry editors and photojournalists Corinne Dufka, Brent Lewis, Enric Martí, Benjamin Snyder, Sandra Stevenson, and Bernadette Tuazon, who reviewed 133 submissions from 49 countries.