Amid the worst migrant crisis since the World War II, the photographers managed to capture "the resolve of refugees, the perils of their journeys and the struggle of host countries to take them in," the Pulitzer website reads.
A Breaking News Photography #Pulitzer goes to… Mauricio Lima @SergeyPonomarev @TylerHicksPhoto @DanielEtterFoto pic.twitter.com/tP58yfmhFY
— The Pulitzer Prizes (@PulitzerPrize) April 18, 2016
A special prize in this category was given to Thomson Reuters photographers for images on the same topic that followed the journey of refugees "across uncertain boundaries to unknown destinations."
Los Angeles Times staff won the Breaking News Reporting nomination for reports on the shooting in San Bernardino and the following terrorism investigation.
Ponomarev has won multiple international and domestic photography awards over the years.
Earlier this year he took first prize in the international World Press Photo contest in the "General news stories" category. In a series of remarkable images one shows an overcrowded boat of refugees arriving on the thinly-patrolled shores of Lesbos, Greece. This photo was included in the Pulitzer Prize-winning project.
I have no words to describe the impact of his work. #PullitzerPrize #RefugeeCrisis @SergeyPonomarev pic.twitter.com/hkE43b8QLH
— Luz María Gallardo (@Luzmariagc) April 19, 2016
In 2015 Ponomarev won third prize in the World Press Photo contest for reports from Gaza. His winning photo featured two brothers of the El Agha family mourning their father, killed during the shelling of the town of Khan Yunis.
Gaza Conflict.
— Nosolopalabras (@_nosolopalabras) February 20, 2015
Photo: Sergey Ponomarev.
3rd prize stories.
2015 World Press Photo Contest. pic.twitter.com/z3Grw7xEve
The 100th Pulitzer Prize award ceremony was held on April 18th, at Columbia University in New York City.
