Sergey Igorevich Ponomarev (russian: Сергей Игоревич Пономарёв, 11 December 1980) is a Russian photographer. In 2016 he shared a

Pulitzer Prize for Breaking News Photography The Pulitzer Prize for Breaking News Photography is one of the American Pulitzer Prizes annually awarded for journalism. From 2000 it has used the "breaking news" name but it is considered a continuation of the Pulitzer Prize for Spot News Photogr ...

for coverage of the European migrant crisis. In 2017, he was awarded the Robert Capa Gold Medal (shared with Bryan Denton) for his coverage of the war in Iraq. He won World Press Photo awards in 2015, 2016 and 2017.

Life and work

Ponomarev was born in Moscow and graduated from Moscow State University and from

Academy of Labour and Social Relations The Academy of Labour and Social Relations (russian: Академия труда и социальных отношений) is a university in Russia, located in Moscow. It was founded in 1919. References External links * Universities ...

. Between 2003 and 2012, Ponomarev worked for

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. newspa ...

, subsequently starting his career as freelance photographer. He is a frequent contributor to ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

.'' In 2015, ''The New York Times'' asked Ponomarev to go to Greece and photograph the landing of refugees. Subsequently, he followed refugees on their way to Western Europe, spending in total five months on the project. Ponomarev previously covered the Moscow theater hostage crisis in Moscow in 2002, the Beslan school siege in 2004, the

Euromaidan Euromaidan (; uk, Євромайдан, translit=Yevromaidan, lit=Euro Square, ), or the Maidan Uprising, was a wave of Political demonstration, demonstrations and civil unrest in Ukraine, which began on 21 November 2013 with large protes ...

in Kiev, the

War in Donbass War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular ...

, and the Syrian Civil War. According to

James Nachtwey James Nachtwey (born March 14, 1948) is an American photojournalist and war photographer. He has been awarded the Overseas Press Club's Robert Capa Gold Medal five times and two World Press Photo awards. In 2003, Nachtwey was injured in a gren ...

, "Sergey (Ponomarev')s visual perception operates at a very high level. He has the ability to organize what he perceives in a compelling, complex manner using the full range of photographic vocabulary with great mastery." He sees his role "as simply developing stories that are meant to disturb the world", and he notes that restrictions imposed on viewing disturbing images diminishes their impact because "(t)he more people see injustice, the more they are willing to change it." Ponomarev opposes the Russian invasion of Ukraine and left Russia on 1 March 2022, flying to Istanbul.

Awards

*2015: A double runner-up for a

as a contributor to two of the three finalist portfolios, both for ''The New York Times.'' With

Mauricio Lima Mauricio may refer to: *Mauricio (given name) * Maurício José da Silveira Júnior (born 1988), Brazilian footballer known by the mononym Maurício *Maurício (footballer) Maurício is the Portuguese variant of Mauricio (given name). The diminutiv ...

, he was cited "for photographs that portrayed the conflict in Ukraine in an intimate way," specifically the Euromaidan protests and ensuing war, and for "capturing key moments in the human struggle in Gaza, and providing a fresh take on a long, bloody conflict." *2015: third prize of the World Press Photo award in the General News category for his photos of Gaza conflict. *2016: first prize, General News category, World Press Photo for the European migrant crisis photos. *2016: Shared a

with

Tyler Hicks Tyler Portis Hicks (born July 9, 1969) is a photojournalist who works as a staff photographer for ''The New York Times''. Based in Kenya, he covers foreign news for the newspaper with an emphasis on conflict and war. Hicks was present during the ...

, and Daniel Etter "For photographs that captured the resolve of refugees, the perils of their journeys and the struggle of host countries to take them in." Specifically, their coverage of the European migrant crisis, produced for ''The New York Times,'' was cited. He became the second Pulitzer Prize winner from Russia, after

Alexander Zemlianichenko Alexander Vadimovich Zemlianichenko (russian: link=no, Александр Вадимович Земляниченко; born 7 May 1950) is a Russian photojournalist, two times Pulitzer Prize winner. Biography Zemlianichenko was born on 7 Ma ...

(1997). *2017: Robert Capa Gold Medal (shared with Bryan Denton) for his coverage of the war in Iraq. *2017: Second prize stories, General News category, World Press Photo.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ponomarev, Sergey 1980 births Living people Russian photographers Pulitzer Prize for Photography winners