Pulitzer-winning photojournalist Sergey Ponomarev looks to bring plight of refugees closer to home with Hong Kong exhibition
Russian opens first Asia exhibition in Happy Valley with 60 photos documenting struggle of those caught up in Europe’s migrant crisis
Pulitzer prize-winning photojournalist Sergey Ponomarev, who scooped the honour for his images documenting the struggles of refugees heading for Europe, has opened his first exhibition in Asia, in Happy Valley.
The Russian photographer, who spent five months last year eating, sleeping and travelling with migrants fleeing war-torn areas, said he hoped their plight would resonate with Hongkongers more than 8,000km away.
“Hong Kong is quite fancy, it reminds me of New York City in a way, and shares similarities with my home, Moscow,” the 35-year-old freelancer said after arriving from New York, where he received the 2016 Pulitzer Prize in Breaking News Photography in a ceremony earlier this month.
Ponomarev travelled to Greece, Serbia, Hungary, Croatia and Austria last year covering the influx of more than one million migrants and refugees mainly fleeing conflict areas in Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan.
The Pulitzer prize, which Ponomarev called the highest form of recognition in journalism, was awarded to him and three others “for photographs that captured the resolve of refugees, the perils of their journeys and the struggle of host countries to take them in”.