Sameer Al-Doumy Wins Inaugural 2019 High Note Global Prize in Photography

Franco-Syrian Photojournalist Honored for Image Captured in the Rubble of His Besieged Hometown of Douma

(New York, NY — December 10, 2019) — Photography 4 Humanity, the photography pillar of the newly launched High Note Global Initiative, today unveils a landmark photography exhibit at the United Nations headquarters in New York featuring the work of the inaugural High Note Global Prize in Photography recipient, Sameer Al-Doumy. His piercing image — taken in the broken remains of his hometown of Douma, Syria — captures a married couple sharing coffee inside the rubble of their home, a quiet, defiant testament to the unbroken dignity of ordinary life amid the wreckage of war.

The announcement, made today on United Nations Human Rights Day, marks the founding of Photography 4 Humanity as one of two founding pillars of the High Note Global Initiative, alongside High Note Music. Created by David Clark Cause in official partnership with United Nations Human Rights, the program calls on amateur and professional photographers from around the world to bring the power of human rights to life through their images — illustrating courage, despair, hope, injustice, and compassion in ways both small and large.

Al-Doumy, a Franco-Syrian photojournalist born in Douma in Eastern Ghouta, began documenting the Syrian uprising as an activist in 2011, became a freelance photographer for Agence France-Presse in 2014, and escaped his besieged hometown through a rebel-dug tunnel in 2017. Douma would later become the site of one of the war’s most horrific chemical-weapons attacks. His winning image — captured before his escape — refuses to let the dignity of ordinary life be erased by the violence that surrounded it. He is a previous recipient of the World Press Photo Award, the Istanbul Photo Awards, and the International Photography Awards.

“We are proud to support Photography 4 Humanity, as art has the ability to transcend borders and speak truth to power. It also has the power to galvanize global mobilization for human rights, and at the same time honor artists who passionately use their work to promote and protect the rights of others.” — Laurent Sauveur, Chief External Outreach, United Nations Human Rights

“Sameer Al-Doumy’s image takes a war the world had grown numb to and gives it back its humanity. Two people, one cup of coffee, four shattered walls — and the unmistakable insistence that a life, and a love, persists. There could be no more fitting first recipient of the High Note Global Prize in Photography.” — David Clark, founder, High Note Global

The exhibit at the United Nations features Al-Doumy’s winning image alongside ten finalist photographs from around the world, on view through UN Human Rights Day, and viewed globally on UN.org. For more information, visit www.photography4humanity.com.