German photographer's portfolio covers life and loss at a Sudanese hospital

WASHINGTON, Sept. 15, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- This morning the International Women's Media Foundation announced Johanna Maria Fritz as the 2025 recipient of the IWMF Anja Niedringhaus Courage in Photojournalism Award, which recognizes extraordinary bravery and dedication while reporting. Fritz's winning portfolio captures life inside a Sudanese hospital amid one of the most severe humanitarian catastrophes in modern history. The Anja Award was created in 2014 to honor the life and work of Pulitzer Prize-winning German AP photographer Anja Niedringhaus, who was killed while reporting with the Associated Press in Afghanistan.

Fritz's winning portfolio – "Al Naw: The Last Hospital" – depicts the deeply underreported story of civilians suffering from war-related violence inside one of the country's last functioning public hospitals, located in Omdurman. On the brink of destruction, Al Naw is both a shelter and lifeline, where doctors and volunteers work under harrowing conditions to increase patients' odds of survival. According to UNESCO, at least nine journalists have been killed in Sudan since this current conflict began and roughly 90 percent of the country's media infrastructure has been destroyed, displacing close to 1,000 journalists and creating information blackouts.

"We are living in a world beset by conflict, yet our news feeds rarely reflect the full scale of loss unfolding in Sudan," said Elisa Lees Muñoz, Executive Director of the IWMF. "Johanna's remarkable courage documenting war crimes, a humanitarian crisis and displacement reminds the world who pays the highest price during times of unrest. Immeasurably difficult to craft, her work ensures we cannot look away: It helps us to better understand our world and its fragility."

"Anja Niedringhaus' fearless approach to war photography has been a guiding force in my career. Like Anja, whom I learned from at university, I seek to tell the stories of my subjects with honesty and dignity," said Fritz. "I'm moved to receive this award in her honor, especially for the work in Sudan, which was the saddest and some of the most difficult reporting I've done in my career. Despite constant shelling, we were able to document the journeys of many kind and brave people, which is the reason I became a photojournalist."

Two honorable mentions were also distributed this year, the first to Adriana Loureiro Fernández, a Venezuelan photojournalist. Fernández is a freelance photojournalist focused on social conflict and human rights. Her portfolio, "Paradise Lost," recounts her country's descent into chaos, from violent crime and political persecution to a dependency on oil production and food insecurity. The second honoree – a freelance photojournalist from the United States – is Nicole Tung, who received the same recognition from the IWMF in 2017. Tung's work concentrates on conflict and migration. Her submission includes work from Ukraine, Syria, Bangladesh and Hong Kong, and lingers on what conflict and hostile environments do to the human psyche and physical spaces.

This year's Anja Award jury included renowned industry editors and photojournalists Corinne Dufka, Whitney Johnson Latorre, Brent Lewis, Enric Martí, Benjamin Snyder, Sandra Stevenson and Bernadette Tuazon, who reviewed 114 submissions from 43 countries. Following selection, the jury issued the following statement:

"Each image in Johanna, Nicole and Adriana's portfolio tells a story and resembles the legacy Anja set for the field. Like Anja, each photojournalist embraces full-frame storytelling to bring underreported narratives beyond their localities with skill, determination and, above all, humanity. These well-captured images make a remarkable impression and demonstrate the power of courageous journalism."

Anja Niedringhaus was a recipient of the IWMF Courage in Journalism Award in 2005. The winner's $20,000 prize is made possible by the Howard G. Buffett Foundation. Honorees' images and captions, biographies, and headshots are available for media use with proper attribution; to inquire further, please contact Charlotte Fox (cfox@iwmf.org).

Courage in Photojournalism Award Winner

This year's winner, Johanna Maria Fritz, is a photojournalist with Ostkreuz Agency, focusing on war, human rights and social issues. She regularly contributes to Die Zeit, Der Spiegel, Stern and other international outlets, and her work has been exhibited in museums, galleries, and festivals worldwide.

Since 2016, she has reported extensively from Afghanistan before and after the Taliban's return to power, covered the war in Ukraine since the full-scale invasion, documented the fall of Assad in Syria and reported on the ongoing humanitarian crisis and conflict in Sudan. In 2024, she received a World Press Photo Award, the Peace Prize for Photography (2019), and the Inge Morath Award (2017).

Alongside her frontline coverage, Fritz is developing a new multimedia project, "Keep her pure," which explores cultural notions of female virginity and their impact on women's lives.

Instagram: @johannamaria_fritz 

Courage in Photojournalism Honorees

Adriana Loureiro Fernández is a freelance photojournalist working in Venezuela. Focusing on social conflict, environment and migration, her work has been featured in The New York Times, The Washington Post, Bloomberg Businessweek and Der Spiegel, among other outlets.

In 2024, Fernández received a World Press Photo Award, the Eugene Smith Grant, and was shortlisted for the Leica Oskar Barnack Award and Picture of the Year International. In 2019, she received the Remi Ochlik Award at Visa Pour L'Image. Fernández's work has been exhibited across several European and Latin American countries as well as several cities in the United States, including multiple exhibitions at Photoville in New York City.

She has a master's degree in journalism from Columbia University.

Instagram: @adriana.loureiro

Nicole Tung is a freelance photojournalist currently based in Turkey. She graduated from New York University in 2009 and works with international publications and NGOs, primarily covering the Middle East region, those affected by conflict and the consequences of war. She has documented the Russian invasion of Ukraine since 2022 for Harper's Magazine, The Washington Post and The New York Times as well as the aftermath of earthquakes in Turkey and Syria in 2023.

Tung's work has been exhibited internationally and has received multiple awards including an honorable mention for the 2017 IWMF Anja Niedringhaus Courage in Photojournalism Award and the 2018 Online News Association's James Foley Award for Conflict Reporting. In 2020 she received the Visa Pour L'Image French Ministry of Culture's Production Grant and is part of VII Foundation's "Imagine: Reflections on Peace" exhibition and book. Tung is also the 2025 recipient of the Philip Jones Griffiths Award and a finalist for the 2025 Pulitzer Prize in Breaking News Photography as part of a team for her work in Ukraine for The New York Times.

Instagram: @nicoletung

About the International Women's Media Foundation

The International Women's Media Foundation (IWMF) is the only global organization built to serve the holistic needs of women and nonbinary journalists. We are a bold and inclusive organization that supports journalists where they are with awards, reporting opportunities, fellowships, grants, safety training and emergency aid. As one of the largest supporters of women-produced journalism, our transformative work strengthens equal opportunity and press freedom worldwide. Follow the IWMF on X/Twitter at @IWMF, on Facebook at @IWMFPage, on Instagram on @TheIWMF and on TikTok @theiwmf.

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SOURCE The International Women's Media Foundation