Sergey Ponomarev

Sergey Ponomarev is a freelance photographer based in Istanbul, Turkey, and is best known for his work covering wars and conflict in the Middle East and the migrant crisis in Europe. From 2003 to 2012, he worked for the Associated Press before going freelance. Since then, he has worked mainly for the New York Times and other publications, including Paris Match, Volkskrant, Stern, and Figaro Magazine.

Migrants walk past the temple as they are escorted by Slovenian riot police to the registration camp.

In 2016 Sergey Ponomarev was part of the New York Times team that won a Pulitzer Prize for their coverage of the arrival of one million refugees from the Middle East and Africa to Western and Northern Europe. His photos of the migrant crisis also won first place in the World Press Photo contest in the General News category.

Among other awards, Sergey received the Robert Capa Gold Medal Award in 2016 for his coverage of the Mosul offensive in Iraq.

Sergey Ponomarev was the photographer that shot “The Exodus”. One of the strongest images in the series has been compared to the celebrated 19th-century painting “The Raft of the Medusa” by the French Romantic painter Théodore Géricault—high praise and well deserved.

Ponomarev is not a romantic. He is a working conflict photographer, and as such, he travels to areas experiencing significant upheaval and unrest.

Migrants arrive by Turkish cruise boat near village of Skala

Sergey Ponomarev is “one of this century’s most skilful, perceptive and compassionate”* photojournalists. Best known for his photojournalism works depicting the European refugee crisis as well as news images from wars and conflicts in the Middle East, including Syria, Gaza, Lebanon, Egypt and Libya. – ‘Financial Times Weekend, 29 April 2017’

EXHIBITIONS:

A Lens on Syria, Imperial War Museum, London. Curated by Hilary Roberts
REFUSSE, Hong-Kong, F11 Gallery curated by Leon Suen
Effondrements, Paris, Iconoclastes gallery curated by Alain Mingam