Award-winning photographer Sergey Ponomarev in his talk “Reporting in the West Bank: a Long-Term Visual Story from the Divided Land“ will give a testimony of a specific humanitarian and political context, from the perspective of the visual medium of photography. Award winning photographer Sergey Ponomarev spent months in the West Bank documenting affected communities. He focused on both the increased Israeli military restrictions and settler attacks, as well as the hurdles and struggles of everyday life.
Israel’s occupation of the West Bank has made life hard for many of the roughly 2.7 million Palestinians living there. Since October 7, they have been subjected to even harsher restrictions and an increased military presence. Much of the Israeli right believes Israel should control the West Bank in perpetuity, while Palestinians see the area as integral to their aspirations for an independent state.
Since the war in Gaza began, hundreds of Palestinians have been killed by Israeli security forces in the West Bank and in East Jerusalem, according to the United Nations, and thousands have been detained. Israeli security forces often leave behind a trail of destroyed houses and damaged infrastructure in many cities and refugee camps. They have added more checkpoints and roadblocks, throttling traffic for many Palestinians who have to endure hours of delayed commutes. Settler violence against Palestinians, through harassment and vandalism, has skyrocketed since the start of the war. Roughly 500,000 settlers live in settlements and outposts in the occupied West Bank. Most countries consider the settlements illegal, and regard them as an obstacle to the creation of a sovereign Palestinian state.
Sergey Ponomarev is a Russian photojournalist with over 15 years of experience in covering breaking news, war and conflict, sports and politics.
He worked as a staff photographer for Associated Press from 2004 to 2011. Since starting his freelance career in 2012, he has been a regular contributor to The New York Times, and has worked for other international publications, such as Paris Match, Libération, de Volkskrant, Stern and Figaro Magazine.
In 2016 he was part of The New York Times team that won a Pulitzer Prize for Breaking News Photography for coverage of the over one million refugees from the Middle East and Africa arriving in Europe. Sergey was awarded the Robert Capa Gold Medal for his coverage of the war in Iraq, and has won several World Press Photo awards, including a 3rd place for his photos of the 2014 Israel Gaza war.
