Nariman El-Mofty:I really believe in having to take it all in to tell a story, and that’s why I like staying longer and pushing, trying to be as present as I can.
LA: Photographs by honorees, Anastasia Taylor-Lind and Nariman El-Mofty have been published by some of the world’s leading media outlets. But first, a statement from the winner, Samar Abu Elouf, who until recently was based in Gaza City. She continued to document what was happening to her community even after her home was destroyed and she was separated from her children. Samar has experienced trauma. She’s lost friends and relatives. She’s had to evacuate her home country and could not come to the US to accept her reward in person because of visa issues. This is what she wrote, especially for us at Women Who Travel. We hear Samar speaking in Arabic while Charlotte Fox from the International Women’s Media Foundation reads the translation.
Samar Abu Elouf: [foreign language 00:02:39].
Charlotte Fox:I am Samar Abu Elouf, a photojournalist from Gaza City. Despite the difficult events, I am very happy to receive this award, which comes after the most difficult period of coverage I’ve endured as a journalist in 14 years and is due to the constant pressure and lack of safety, food and water, and communications technology. Despite all these difficult circumstances, I was, and I am determined to deliver courage in photojournalism.
LA: It’s a privilege that Samar sent that to us. You can see her award-winning photos focusing on Palestinian mothers and children in The New York Times as part of her series, Gaza Under Attack. Sitting in front of me today is the British-Swedish photojournalist, Anastasia Taylor-Lind, who’s come to New York to receive her honorary award. Her winning collection of work is called 5K from the Frontline.
You landed in New York yesterday?
ATL: Yeah, yesterday evening.
LA: Okay. So how are you feeling? I’m sorry the weather is so abominable.
ATL: The weather is making me feel very at home.
LA: I was going to say, “Welcome to England.” You traveled across the Atlantic to just be back home.
ATL: I just realized as I got in the taxi to come down here that I had optimistically packed my sunglasses. What a mistake.
LA: How long are you here for?
ATL: Two days.
LA: Okay. Yeah, it’s going to rain the whole time. I’m so sorry.
ATL: You don’t need to apologize for that.
LA: So you’re based in the UK. In London?
ATL: That’s right. Yeah. Hackney.
LA: Okay. Well, I know Hackney very, very well, but I imagine you’re not home that much.
ATL: I travel about half of the year.
LA: Okay.
ATL: Yeah.
LA: What did last year look like for you?
ATL: Well, since the full-scale Russian Invasion of Ukraine, I’ve only worked in Ukraine. And as fastidious and responsible as I am with the hostile environments training still today in Ukraine, anything can fall on your head at any moment. And that’s just the reality of working in this space right now. And sometimes the reason why some people survive and others don’t almost always is just a matter of luck.
