Anja Niedringhaus in April 2005 (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)

The Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard announces a new visual journalism fellowship in honor of 2007 Nieman Fellow Anja Niedringhaus, a Pulitzer Prize-winning Associated Press photographer who was shot and killed this year while covering the run-up to elections in Afghanistan. We welcome donations to support next year’s fellowship, described in the letter below, and invite you to learn more about Anja’s remarkable life and work.

Dear Friends,

The Spring 2014 issue of Nieman Reports includes a photo of a young girl wearing a bright polka-dot dress and sneakers reaching up to a policeman clad in black, sheathed in a bulletproof vest, holding a rifle. The image from Pakistan is a study in stark contrasts – innocence and vulnerability set against the threat of looming danger.

The person behind the lens that day was Associated Press photographer Anja Niedringhaus, a beloved 2007 Nieman Fellow and gifted photojournalist who was shot and killed earlier this year while covering elections in Afghanistan. A master at capturing tender moments even in the most unlikely settings, she embodied all that is good in journalism – and in humanity.

We write to you today to join us in contributing to a new campaign to fund a Nieman Fellowship in Anja’s name, one that will honor her memory by supporting a visual journalist for a year at Harvard. To achieve this goal we ask that you send a donation – as generous as you are able – that will provide a visual journalist the same opportunities afforded to Anja.

As 2014 winds down, we all are painfully aware of the growing threats to journalists around the world – from intimidation and imprisonment to brutal executions in Syria and Mexico and beyond. We need to support those courageous enough to tell the world’s stories – like Anja – and offer them the resources, tools and training that come with a Nieman Fellowship. Please read the upcoming Fall 2014 issue of Nieman Reports for a close examination of the rapidly changing nature of foreign reporting and what the future may bring.

We are working with Nieman on behalf of all alumni and thank you for your consideration of this important initiative. To make a donation, you may send a check to the Nieman Foundation at the address below or donate online by following instructions at nieman.harvard.edu/make-a-gift/ and including a note indicating the purpose of your gift. If you have suggestions about other funding sources for this project, please contact niemandevelopment@harvard.edu.

Sincerely,

Santiago Lyon, NF ’04, VP and Director of Photography, The Associated Press

Gary Knight, NF ’10, Co-Founder, VII Photo Agency