UNICEF Photo of the Year

The internationally renowned ‘UNICEF Photo of the Year’ contest is aimed at professional photographers from all over the world. An independent jury of photography experts chooses the winner. This year’s contest was once again conceived and directed by Angela Rupprecht.

The Contest

Each year since 2000, UNICEF Germany has awarded the ‘UNICEF Photo of the Year’ award to photos and photo series that depict the personalities and living conditions of children worldwide in an outstanding manner. Only professional photographers are eligible for this contest.

“High-quality documentary photography can open people’s eyes. Each year, the winning photos from the UNICEF photo contest do exactly that: they open our eyes to the predicaments of children all around the world,” says Georg Graf Waldersee, Chairman of UNICEF Germany. “They show children’s fates, honestly and sincerely, sometimes full of pain and sometimes full of hope. They are a powerful appeal for empathy and compassion, reminding us of our shared mission: to work for the well-being of children worldwide.”

Since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, the jury session has been held online. To ensure that the jury can properly compare the submitted images, all photos and their associated information are displayed in a standardized presentation format. All entries are also anonymized for the jury session.

As a partner of the contest, Epson Germany provides high-quality printouts of the pictures for the annual exhibition of the ‘UNICEF Photo of the Year’ in the Haus der Bundespressekonferenz in Berlin. The photo series will then be exhibited again by the Freundeskreis Willy-Brandt-Haus e.V. and also shown in the Museum Schleswig. 

The Participants

Photojournalists from over 95 nations and all continents have received awards since 2000. In individual photos or in photo series, they document the living conditions of children and young people who have to live in the most challenging conditions: in war, in material or emotional hardship, in the wake of natural disasters. However, they also show moments of happiness, joy, and different facets of the everyday lives of children from all over the world. To be eligible for this contest, the photos must be recommended by internationally renowned photography experts.

The Winning Images From 2000-2021

The 2022 Jury

An independent jury led by art historian and publicist Prof. Klaus Honnef chose the winner of the ‘UNICEF Photo of the Year’.

As in the last two years, the 2022 jury session was once again held online. The virtual format was developed two years ago due to the coronavirus pandemic. After a preliminary voting round, the jury members met again via Zoom to determine the ‘UNICEF Photo of the Year 2022’, the award winners and the honorable mentions. The digital implementation and documentation was carried out with the help of the ‘UNICEF Photo of the Year’ project team.

The team consists of renowned photo experts with international expertise in the fields of photojournalism and art history. The jury is independent. Neither UNICEF nor the nominating experts influence it in any way. It selects photos and photo series that stand out for their aesthetic and journalistic quality, as well as for their care, empathy and respect for children and the conditions they have to live in.

The Nominating Photography Experts 2022

The nominating photography experts include representatives of news agencies such as epa (European Pressphoto Agency), dpa (German Press Agency) as well as outstanding photo agencies such as VII Photo Agency, laif, Agence VU, Drik and others. They also include experts from renowned universities for photography such as the Hanover University of Applied Sciences and Arts or the Danish School of Photojournalism, as well as internationally renowned photographers, such as the photographer and winner of an Emmy Award this year, Patrick Brown. Among the nominating experts are also Photo Editors Sherri Dougherty, Mojtaba Abdoulrahimkhan and Svetlana Bachenova. All of them have international expertise and a high awareness of ethical standards in photojournalism and documentary photography. With their contacts to globally active photographers, they also stand for the promotion and development of the highest quality in international photojournalism. We would like to thank all of them for their commitment.