Reuters photographers Adnan Abidi, Sanna Irshad Mattoo, Amit Dave and the late Danish Siddiqui won the 2022 Pulitzer Prize for feature photography on Monday for their coverage of the coronavirus crisis in India.

Siddiqui, 38, was killed while covering a clash between Afghan security forces and Taliban fighters near a border crossing between Afghanistan and Pakistan on July 16.

The jury said that the prize was awarded to the four photographers for their images of the crisis that “balanced intimacy and devastation, while offering viewers a heightened sense of place”.

This is Abidi’s third Pulitzer. Siddiqui had also won the prize before, in 2018.

Reuters Editor-in-Chief Alessandra Galloni said that the world was “jolted awake” to the scale of India’s Covid-19 outbreak after the news agency’s photographers documented it.

“To have Danish’s incredible work honoured in this way is a tribute to the enduring mark he has left on the world of photojournalism,” Galloni said in a statement.

A mass cremation of victims who died due to the coronavirus disease is seen at a crematorium ground in New Delhi on April 22, 2021. Reuters/Danish Siddiqui

While Abidi is based in New Delhi, Mattoo is a photographer from Kashmir. Dave is based in Ahmedabad, from where he covers local and national news assignments for Reuters.

The body of a person, who died from the coronavirus disease, lies on a funeral pyre during a mass cremation at a crematorium in New Delhi on May 1, 2021. Reuters/Adnan Abidi
Family members embrace while wearing personal protective equipment as they mourn a male relative, who died from the coronavirus disease, during his cremation ceremony in New Delhi on April 21, 2021. Reuters/Adnan Abidi

Other winners

The New York Times won three Pulitzer Prizes and was named as a finalist in five other categories on Monday.

The Washington Post won the award in the public service category for its “compellingly told and vividly presented” account of the attack on Capitol Hill in Washington on January 6, 2021.

The journalists of Ukraine were also awarded a special citation for their coverage of the Russian invasion.

American journalists Corey G Johnson, Rebecca Woolington and Eli Murray of the Tampa Bay Times were awarded the Pulitzer for their investigative reporting.

The three had exposed highly toxic hazards inside Florida’s only battery recycling plant that forced the implementation of safety measures to adequately protect workers and nearby residents.

Novelist Joshua Cohen was awarded the Pulitzer in the fiction category for his book The Netanyahus. The book is based on the life of Benzion Netanyahu, the father of former Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The Pulitzer Prize in music was awarded to Raven Chacon for his composition Voiceless Mass.

See the full list of winners here.