Biography of Anja Niedringhaus

Anja Niedringhaus (12 October 1965 in Höxter; died 4 April 2014 in Khost Province, Afghanistan) was a German photojournalist. She worked for the European Pressphoto Agency and later for the Associated Press. Her photographs were made in the Balkans, Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Gaza, Israel, Kuwait and at international sports events.

Höxter and early assignments

Niedringhaus began taking photographs early. As a teenager she worked as a freelancer for a local newspaper in Höxter. In 1990, she became a photographer for the European Pressphoto Agency in Frankfurt. One of her early assignments took her to the fall of the Berlin Wall; afterward, her work moved increasingly toward international news photography.

The Balkans

For EPA, Niedringhaus reported from southeastern Europe during the 1990s. She photographed in Albania, Bosnia, Croatia, Kosovo, Macedonia and Serbia. Those years made her familiar with work in contested regions, and with looking at people who experienced daily life, loss, flight and brief moments of normality in such circumstances.

Associated Press

In 2002, Niedringhaus joined the Associated Press and worked from Geneva as a travelling photographer. She photographed in the Middle East, Afghanistan and Pakistan, while also covering sports. AP cited nine Olympic Games and other international sports events as part of her work. That range became part of her profile: political violence, civilian life and athletic concentration appeared side by side.

Pulitzer and recognition

In 2005, Niedringhaus was part of the AP team that received the Pulitzer Prize for Breaking News Photography for coverage from Iraq. The same year, the International Women's Media Foundation honoured her with the Courage in Journalism Award; later she became a Nieman Fellow at Harvard University. The IWMF also runs the Anja Niedringhaus Courage in Photojournalism Award, named for her.

Khost

On 4 April 2014, Anja Niedringhaus and AP correspondent Kathy Gannon were in Khost Province reporting on preparations for Afghanistan's presidential election. While both were sitting in a car, an Afghan policeman opened fire. Niedringhaus was killed and Gannon was seriously wounded. Anja Niedringhaus was 48.