2016 Photo Contest, General News, 1st prize

Reporting Europe's Refugee Crisis

Photographer

Sergey Ponomarev

The New York Times

16 November, 2015

Refugees arrive by boat on the Greek island of Lesbos.

Over one million refugees entered Europe in 2015, the vast majority arriving by sea, through Greece and Italy. Many landing in Greece wanted to move on, through the Balkan countries, to enter the Schengen Area of the European Union, where movement between member states does not require a passport. Balkan countries tended to steer refugees towards the next border, in the largest movement of people on the continent since World War II. Hungary, to the north, closed its frontiers, first with Serbia, then with Croatia.

About the photographer

Sergey Ponomarev

Before becoming a freelancer in 2012, Sergey worked for the Associated Press starting in 2003. He has won many international and domestic photography awards. Most recently, he w...

Technical information

Shutter Speed
1/640
Focal length
24.0 mm
F-Stop
3.5
ISO
200

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