UNICEF Photo of the Year Shared Between Israeli and Palestinian Photographers

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A young boy on the left appears sad in dim lighting, wearing a grey shirt. On the right, a young girl in a white dress with black embroidery holds a boy in a dark shirt sitting beside her, both looking pensive.

For the first time in its 25-year history, the UNICEF Photo of the Year prize has been shared by two photographers covering different sides of the same conflict.

The poignant award has been won by two female photographers: Avishag Shaar-Yashuv from Israel and Samar Abu Elouf from Palestine. Shaar-Yashuv took a series of pictures entitled Portraits of the Survivors, one of them shows an eight-year-old called Stav in an emergency shelter after he survived the Hamas attack on his settlement of Moshav HaAsara on October 7, 2023.

A young boy stands by a window, looking contemplative. He is wearing a gray T-shirt with a geometric design. The lighting casts soft shadows, highlighting his expression as he gazes outside.

Abu Elouf’s winning photo is a portrait of 11-year-old Dareen and five-year-old Kinan. As part of her project, Wounded Children of Gaza, Abu Elouf photographed the siblings after their parents had been killed in an Israeli air raid on a residential building. Dareen and Kinan were pictured in a hospital in Qatar where they had been admitted for medical treatment.

A young girl in a white dress with black embroidery holds a young boy wearing a gray shirt and shorts with "Stay Mad" in flaming letters. They are sitting together on a wooden surface near a window, looking thoughtfully outside.

“This year’s selection of the two winning pictures underlines the universality of children’s suffering,” says Peter-Matthias Gaede, member of the jury and the German Committee for UNICEF.

“The fact that we have awarded two pictures from two sides of a front for the first time in the history of the competition means that we are not judging questions of guilt here, because children cannot be guilty. And we are not judging by the quantity of suffering in a war. We are judging solely by what it can do to each individual child when it plunges their previous life into an abyss.”

A man holds a young boy close in a dimly lit hallway, both looking thoughtful. Their reflection is visible on a glass surface, adding depth to the scene. Light filters in from the side, highlighting the tender moment.

A person with long, dark hair sits at a woven table in a chair, looking thoughtfully to the side. They are in a shadowed area with a scooter lying on the ground nearby. The scene is lit by a soft beam of sunlight.

A person wearing a blue shirt and a black hijab looks thoughtfully out of a window with light streaming in. The room appears dimly lit.

A young boy sits in a wheelchair by a window, wearing a light green shirt and black shorts. He looks ahead with a thoughtful expression, hands clasped in his lap, and bare feet resting on the footrests. The room is softly lit.

UNICEF Germany has been awarding UNICEF Photo of the Year since 2000. The wider organization, UNICEF, works to protect children’s rights, save their lives, and help them reach their potential.

Other photographers recognized include French photographer Pascal Maitre who reported on the viral Mpox disease within the Democratic Republic of Congo. Mitre captured children covered in pustules while being treated in the Kivu region.

A close-up of a child with numerous lesions on the face, including purple marks around the lips and nose, looking directly at the camera. The background is blurred with various out-of-focus objects.

In third place, another French photographer Maylis Rolland spent time at the University Hospital in Rennes capturing tiny babies as they were being stabilized in intensive care.

A woman gently touches a newborn's face in an incubator. The baby is wearing a breathing mask and is wrapped in a blanket. The scene is tender and intimate, reflecting a strong bond and care.

An exhibition with all the award-winning works can be seen at the House of the Federal Press Conference in Berlin until the end of January 2025. They will then be open to the general public at the Willy Brandt House from January 30 to April 27, 2025. For more, head to the UNICEF Germany website.

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