The “Picture of the Year” award will reward the country’s best photo and video journalism, with several nominees in various categories. The highest award, “Picture of the Year”, is awarded for the best single picture throughout the year. This photo is selected from the winning photos in the different photo categories.
The jury’s reasoning for the two main winners reads as follows:
Tomm W. Christiansen, Aftenposten:
“A critical condition that is beautifully photographed. There is a great tale that has arrived on our doorstep; which is not just about leaving the country to cover the climate crisis. It concerns us. It is so important that we do jobs like this, and here the photographer has given the event room to grow into something bigger. The painting she carries conveys a strong double meaning: Perhaps this is how the landscape should have looked. We are impressed by the timing and the clear composition. A once-in-a-lifetime moment.”
Svenska Dagbladet’s Linus Sundahl Djerf receives the award for “picture of the year” for a picture he took last fall, in November, which shows a mother hugging her son just before he goes back to the army and the war against Hamas (left). He also received the prize for Portrait of the Year (right), also a mother with her child, but taken in an apartment in Stockholm and depicts the situation of people fleeing Russia’s war of aggression in Ukraine.
“Picture of the Year” Linus Sundahl-Djerf, Svenska Dagbladet
“The care and love for our children never ends. The Picture of the Year shows this most beautifully. It is quiet, it is tender, it is universal.”
Prizes went to several other Schibsted photographers
In addition to Sundahl-Djef and Christiansen taking home the main prizes, a large number of other Schibsted photographers were also declared winners in the various categories.
Here are all the Norwegian winners (see all the photos here):
- Picture of the year/News of the year: Tomm W. Christiansen, Aftenposten: «Tatt av raset».
- News abroad: Pontus Höök, VG: «Zombiedopet»
- Portrait: Per Kristian Aale, Aftenposten: «De modige»
- Everyday life in Norway: Stein Bjørge, Aftenposten: «Flomflyktninger»
- Sports News: Paal Audestad, Aftenposten: «En stille protest»
- Sports reporting: Tom W. Kristiansen, Aftenposten: «Fotballens Mekka»
- Climate and environment: Tom W. Kristiansen, Aftenposten: «Siste skrik»
- Documentary abroad: Gina Grieg Riisnæs, Aftenposten: «Krigens hverdag»
And Swedish winners (see all the photos here):
- Picture of the year: Linus Sundahl-Djerf/Svenska Dagbladet
- News abroad: Pontus Höök/Verdens Gang/frilans
- Everyday life abroad: Magnus Wennman/Aftonbladet
- Portrait: Linus Sundahl-Djerf/Svenska Dagbladet
- Sport photo: Andreas Bardell/Aftonbladet
Honorary award to Harald Henden
In Norway, VG’s renowned war photographer, Harald Henden, was also awarded the first-ever honorary prize in connection with this award.
This reasoning was read out by the jury:
“Dear Harald.
A true inspiration. A role model. The history books would not have been the same without you, your photos, the work you do and the human being you are.
You leave a mark, dare, and inspire.
You are an outstanding photographer who conveys the situation of people in war and disasters with a clear humanitarian perspective. We get very close to the people you portray; we see the owners’ feelings, their hopes, their everyday lives, and the owners’ despair and dreams. You have a very special ability to meet people in crisis with great respect and through your photos we get to know them and remember their story afterwards. Your portrayals are very important for increasing understanding of how people in humanitarian crises have lived, and for tearing down stereotypes, which are all too often used in narratives from war and disasters.
The world needs your pictures!”
