Pulitzer Prize for Feature Photography

The Pulitzer Prize for Feature Photography is one of the American Pulitzer Prizes annually awarded for journalism. It recognizes a distinguished example of feature photography in black and white or color, which may consist of a photograph or photographs, a sequence or an album.

Photojournalist Carolyn Cole, who won the award in 2004

The Feature Photography prize was inaugurated in 1968 when the single Pulitzer Prize for Photography was replaced by the Feature prize and "Pulitzer Prize for Spot News Photography", renamed for "Pulitzer Prize for Breaking News Photography" in 2000.

Winners and citations

One Feature Photography Pulitzer has been awarded annually from 1968, with the exception of 1985, when two prizes were awarded.^[1]

Year	Image	Name(s)	Publication	Rationale
1968		Toshio Sakai	United Press International	"for his Vietnam War combat photograph, 'Dreams of Better Times.'
1969		Moneta Sleet Jr.	Ebony	"for his photograph of Martin Luther King Jr.'s widow and child, taken at Dr. King's funeral.
1970		Dallas Kinney	The Palm Beach Post	"for his portfolio of pictures of Florida migrant workers, 'Migration to Misery.'
1971		Jack Dykinga	Chicago Sun-Times	"for his dramatic and sensitive photographs at the Lincoln and Dixon State Schools for the retarded in Illinois.
1972		David Hume Kennerly	United Press International	"for his dramatic photographs of the Vietnam War in 1971.
1973		Brian Lanker	The Topeka Capital-Journal	"for his sequence on child birth, as exemplified by his photograph, 'Moment of Life.'
1974		Slava Veder	Associated Press	"for his picture of the return of an American prisoner of war from captivity in North Vietnam.
1975		Matthew Lewis	The Washington Post	"for his photographs in color and black and white.
1976		Staff	Courier Journal	"for a comprehensive pictorial report on busing in Louisville's schools.
1977		Robin Hood	Chattanooga Times Free Press	"for his photograph of a disabled veteran and his child at an Armed Forces Day parade.
1978		J. Ross Baughman	Associated Press	"for three photographs from guerrilla areas in Rhodesia.
1979		Staff	Boston Herald	"for photographic coverage of the blizzard of 1978.
1980		Erwin H. Hagler	Dallas Times Herald	"for a series on the Western cowboy.
1981		Taro Yamasaki	Detroit Free Press	"for his photographs of Jackson, Michigan State Prison.
1982		John H. White	Chicago Sun-Times	"for consistently excellent work on a variety of subjects.
1983		James B. Dickman	Dallas Times Herald	"for his telling photographs of life and death in El Salvador.
1984		Anthony Suau	The Denver Post	"for a series of photographs which depict the tragic effects of starvation in Ethiopia and for a single photograph of a woman at her husband's gravesite on Memorial Day.
1985		Larry C. Price	The Philadelphia Inquirer	"for his series of photographs from Angola and El Salvador depicting their war-torn inhabitants.
		Stan Grossfeld	The Boston Globe	"for his series of photographs of the famine in Ethiopia and for his pictures of illegal aliens on the Mexican border.
1986		Tom Gralish	The Philadelphia Inquirer	"for his series of photographs of Philadelphia's homeless.
1987		David C. Peterson	The Des Moines Register	"for his photographs depicting the shattered dreams of American farmers.
1988		Michel du Cille	Miami Herald	"for photographs portraying the decay and subsequent rehabilitation of a housing project overrun by the drug crack.
1989		Manny Crisostomo	Detroit Free Press	"for his series of photographs depicting student life at Southwestern High School in Detroit.
1990		David C. Turnley	Detroit Free Press	"for photographs of the political uprisings in China and Eastern Europe.
1991		William Snyder	The Dallas Morning News	"for his photographs of ill and orphaned children living in subhuman conditions in Romania.
1992		John Kaplan	Block Newspapers	"for his photographs depicting the diverse lifestyles of seven 21-year-olds across the United States.
1993		Staff	Associated Press	"for its portfolio of images drawn from the 1992 presidential campaign.
1994		Kevin Carter	The New York Times	"for a picture first published in The New York Times of a starving Sudanese girl who collapsed on her way to a feeding center while a vulture waited nearby.
1995		Staff	Associated Press	"for its portfolio of photographs chronicling the horror and devastation in Rwanda.[2]
1996		Stephanie Welsh	Newhouse News Service	"for her shocking sequence of photos, published by Newhouse News Service, of a female circumcision rite in Kenya.[3]
1997		Alexander Zemlianichenko	Associated Press	"for his photograph of Russian President Boris Yeltsin dancing at a rock concert during his campaign for re-election.[a][4]
1998		Clarence Williams	Los Angeles Times	"for his powerful images documenting the plight of young children with parents addicted to alcohol and drugs.[5]
1999		Staff	Associated Press	"for its striking collection of photographs of the key players and events stemming from President Clinton's affair with Monica Lewinsky and the ensuing impeachment hearings.[6]
2000		Carol Guzy	The Washington Post	"for their intimate and poignant images depicting the plight of the Kosovo refugees.[7]
2001		Matt Rainey	The Star-Ledger	"for his emotional photographs that illustrate the care and recovery of two students critically burned in a dormitory fire at Seton Hall University.[8]
2002		Staff	The New York Times	"for its photographs chronicling the pain and the perseverance of people enduring protracted conflict in Afghanistan and Pakistan.[9]
2003		Don Barletti	The New York Times	"for his memorable portrayal of how undocumented Central American youths, often facing deadly danger, travel north to the United States.[10]
2004		Carolyn Cole	Los Angeles Times	"for her cohesive, behind-the-scenes look at the effects of civil war in Liberia, with special attention to innocent citizens caught in the conflict.[11]
2005		Dean Fitzmaurice	San Francisco Chronicle	"for her sensitive photo essay on an Oakland hospital's effort to mend an Iraqi boy nearly killed by an explosion.[12]
2006		Todd Heisler	Rocky Mountain News	"for his haunting, behind-the-scenes look at funerals for Colorado Marines who return from Iraq in caskets.[13]
2007		Renée C. Byer	The Sacramento Bee	"for her intimate portrayal of a single mother and her young son as he loses his battle with cancer.[14]
2008		Preston Gannaway	Concord Monitor	"for her intimate chronicle of a family coping with a parent's terminal illness.[15]
2009		Damon Winter	The New York Times	"for his memorable array of pictures deftly capturing multiple facets of Barack Obama's presidential campaign.[16]
2010		Craig F. Walker	The Denver Post	"for his intimate portrait of a teenager who joins the Army at the height of insurgent violence in Iraq, poignantly searching for meaning and manhood.[17]
2011		Barbara Davidson	Los Angeles Times	"for her intimate story of innocent victims trapped in the city's crossfire of deadly gang violence.[18][19][20]
2012		Craig F. Walker	The Denver Post	"for his compassionate chronicle of an honorably discharged veteran, home from Iraq and struggling with a severe case of post-traumatic stress, images that enable viewers to better grasp a national issue.[21][22][23]
2013		Javier Manzano	Agence France-Presse	"for his extraordinary picture, distributed by Agence France-Presse, of two Syrian rebel soldiers tensely guarding their position as beams of light stream through bullet holes in a nearby metal wall.[24]
2014		Josh Haner	The New York Times	"for his moving essay on a Boston Marathon bomb blast victim who lost most of both legs and now is painfully rebuilding his life.[25][26]
2015		Daniel Berehulak	The New York Times	"for his gripping, courageous photographs of the Ebola epidemic in West Africa.[27][28][29]
2016		Jessica Rinaldi	The Boston Globe	"for the raw and revealing photographic story of a boy who strives to find his footing after abuse by those he trusted.[30]
2017		E. Jason Wambsgans	Chicago Tribune	"for a superb portrayal of a 10-year-old boy and his mother striving to put the boy’s life back together after he survived a shooting in Chicago.[31][32][33]
2018		Staff	Reuters	"for shocking photographs that exposed the world to the violence Rohingya refugees faced in fleeing Myanmar.[b][34][35]
2019		Lorenzo Tugnoli	The Washington Post	"for brilliant photo storytelling of the tragic famine in Yemen, shown through images in which beauty and composure were intertwined with devastation.[c][36]
2020		Channi Anand	Associated Press	"for striking images captured during a communications blackout in Kashmir depicting life in the contested territory as India stripped it of its semi-autonomy.[37]
		Mukhtar Khan
		Dar Yasin
2021		Emilio Morenatti	Associated Press	"for a poignant series of photographs that takes viewers into the lives of the elderly in Spain struggling during the COVID-19 pandemic.[38]
2022		Adnan Abidi	Reuters	"for images of COVID’s toll in India that balanced intimacy and devastation, while offering viewers a heightened sense of place.[d][39]
		Amit Dave
		Sanna Irshad Mattoo
		Danish Siddiqui
2023		Christina House	Los Angeles Times	"for an intimate look into the life of a pregnant 22-year-old woman living on the street in a tent—images that show her emotional vulnerability as she tries and ultimately loses the struggle to raise her child.[40]
2024		Staff	Associated Press	"for poignant photographs chronicling unprecedented masses of migrants and their arduous journey north from Colombia to the border of the United States.[41]
2025		Moises Saman	The New Yorker	"for his haunting black and white images of Sednaya prison in Syria that capture the traumatic legacy of Assad’s torture chambers, forcing viewers to confront the raw horrors faced by prisoners and contemplate the scars on society.

Notes

1. Moved by the Pulitzer board from the Spot News Photography category.
2. Moved by the Pulitzer board from the Breaking News Photography category.
3. Moved by the Pulitzer board from the Breaking News Photography category.
4. Moved by the Pulitzer board from the Breaking News Photography category.

See also

• List of photographs considered the most important