Salwan Georges
Salwan Georges is an Iraqi-American Pulitzer Prize-winning photojournalist renowned for his compelling documentation of global crises and social issues. Currently working at The Washington Post, Georges was on the team awarded the 2020 Pulitzer Prize for Explanatory Reporting for illuminating worldwide climate change impacts.
His striking imagery earned him multiple Photographer of the Year accolades from Pictures of the Year International (2021) and the National Press Photographers Association (2023, 2024). Georges’s profound storytelling bridges cultures and continents, reflecting humanity amidst conflict, upheaval, and change.
Born in Baghdad in 1990, Georges and his family fled Iraq during his childhood, eventually resettling in Michigan, USA. Initially documenting his community’s experiences with a smartphone, Georges rapidly developed a passion for visual journalism. He earned a degree in journalism from Oakland University, launching his career at the Detroit Free Press before joining The Washington Post in 2017.
At The Post, Georges has reported from Ukraine, Iraq, Turkey, Syria, the West Bank, and numerous U.S. locations, covering war, environmental disasters, racial conflicts, and public health crises. His powerful image capturing a Ukrainian family’s emotional farewell at an Odesa train station was awarded Photo of the Year at the Siena International Photo Awards in 2023. His investigative work includes exposing the human cost of military burn pits in Iraq, documenting climate-induced transformations in Alaska’s fishing industry, and chronicling the fentanyl crisis devastating communities across North America.
Salwan Georges’s ongoing long-term project documenting Middle Eastern communities in America has received widespread recognition, becoming part of the permanent collection at the Library of Congress. His impactful imagery captures the complexities and resilience of immigrant life, offering nuanced perspectives often overlooked by mainstream media. This body of work has been exhibited at prestigious institutions, including the Arab American National Museum and the Library of Congress itself, highlighting Georges’s commitment to culturally sensitive storytelling.
Georges’s storytelling consistently balances emotional intensity with journalistic integrity, making his images powerful tools for public awareness and advocacy. Through visual journalism, Georges bears witness to global events and actively contributes to the deeper societal understanding of human resilience in times of adversity.
Georges’s dedication has brought him significant professional honours, including multiple Photographer of the Year awards for exceptional coverage of critical global events like the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the environmental crises in Africa, and sociopolitical unrest in the Middle East and North America. His work consistently receives international attention, positioning him as one of contemporary journalism’s leading voices, effectively humanising major global issues and prompting dialogue and change through photography.
Salwan’s ongoing work on Middle Eastern communities in the United States has been added to a collection at the Library of Congress in D.C. His work has been exhibited at the Perpignan, Photoville and Siena International Festival.
