Anja Niedringhaus Courage in Photojournalism Award, named for the AP photojournalist who was killed reporting in Afghanistan in 2014, has been awarded to Stephanie Sinclair, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist who covers gender and human rights issues around the world.

"/> Anja Niedringhaus Courage in Photojournalism Award, named for the AP photojournalist who was killed reporting in Afghanistan in 2014, has been awarded to Stephanie Sinclair, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist who covers gender and human rights issues around the world.

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Posted in Behind the News

Honoring courage in the name of fallen AP photographer

, by Lauren Easton

The 2017 Anja Niedringhaus Courage in Photojournalism Award, named for the AP photojournalist who was killed reporting in Afghanistan in 2014, has been awarded to Stephanie Sinclair, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist who covers gender and human rights issues around the world.

The award, administered by the International Women’s Media Foundation, recognizes the work of women photographers who put themselves at risk to report the the news through images.

Tahini, in pink, was married to Mated when she was 6 years old and he was 25. She poses with former classmate Ghana, also a child bride, outside their mountain home in Hajji, Yemen, 2010. (Stephanie Sinclair)
Stephanie Sinclair. (Stephanie Sinclair)

Sinclair, an American journalist, has documented the cruelty faced by young girls across the globe, from India to Sierra Leone to Indonesia, depicting the lives of those subjected to child marriage, genital mutilation and acid attacks. National Geographic and The New York Times Magazine regularly publish her work. In her ongoing series “Too Young to Wed,” she examines how child marriage in a variety of cultures has altered the lives of thousands of young girls. Sinclair has also founded a nonprofit of the same name to protect women’s rights.

“It is a tremendous, if bittersweet, honor to win an award in Anja’s name,” Sinclair said in remarks shared by IWMF.

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.”

Acid attack survivors Ritu Saini, foreground, 21, and Rupa, 23, enjoy the monsoon rains atop a roof in Agra, India, 2016. (Stephanie Sinclair)

The award jury, which included photo editors from AP, TIME and World Press Photo Foundation, gave Sinclair the award for “deeply intimate” photos that demonstrate the “emotional and intellectual courage required to continue to bear witness to scenes of despair with eloquence and compassion.”

Anja Niedringhaus. (AP Photo)

Louisa Gouliamaki and Nicole Tung received honorable mentions.

Niedringhaus, who was shot and killed by an Afghan policeman in April 2014, received the IWMF Courage in Journalism Award in 2005. This year’s award ceremony will be held at the German Embassy in Washington on June 8.

 
Lauren Easton
Lauren Easton Vice President of Corporate Communications @LaurenEastonAP More posts by Lauren >
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