Harald Henden (63) has persistently and at great risk to his own life travelled to frontlines and conflict zones around the world to photograph important news events – always keeping the civilian population in mind. The ongoing wars in Ukraine and Gaza highlight the importance of photo documentation to illustrate the effects of war on the ground and violations of international law.

For war photographers and photojournalists, the point is often to be as early as possible to get the best access to uncensored documentation about what happens as when conflicts fester. Harald Henden has fearlessly entered dangerous, unpredictable areas to become a first-hand witness of what is happening.

“In troubled times, when the authorities and other actors use disinformation and propaganda, Fritt Ord wants this award to draw attention precisely to the credibility of war and press photographers who work on the ground, providing reliable information.

Grete Brochmann, chair of Fritt Ord.

“In troubled times, when the authorities and other actors use disinformation and propaganda, Fritt Ord wants this award to draw attention precisely to the credibility of war and press photographers who work on the ground, providing reliable information”, says Grete Brochmann, chair of Fritt Ord.

“It means a great deal to me to receive this award. I am very happy that the Fritt Ord Prize is being awarded to a stills photographer for the first time. That underscores the important work that war and press photographers do in the world’s troubled areas, making it an honour for everyone. If we fail to have independent witnesses to a conflict, it is easier for soldiers and civilians to commit abuses when situations and circumstances allow,” remarks Harald Henden.

If we fail to have independent witnesses to a conflict, it is easier for soldiers and civilians to commit abuses

Harald Henden.

Harald Henden has witnessed the long-running conflict between Israel and Palestine for decades. In 2001, he was shot in the head in Ramallah on the West Bank while covering the Israeli elections. He had several trips to Gaza and the West Bank behind him before documenting the Gaza wars between Israel and Palestine in 2008-2009, 2012 and 2014. The last two times, his coverage was from inside Gaza. Harald Henden returned to the Middle East to cover the war between Hamas and Israel in 2023 with the intention of entering Gaza if possible.

“It is critical for access to information that Israel has shut off access to the international press in Gaza during the ongoing war. The Palestinian photojournalists and civilians documenting inside Gaza today are doing an incredibly important job at the risk of their lives," continues Grete Brochmann.

Harald Henden travelled to Kyiv, Ukraine, even before Russia’s full-scale invasion on 24 February 2022 to document the run-up to the invasion and the attacks in the days that followed. Since the war began, he has made six reporting trips to Ukraine after January 2022, documenting the suffering and fate of soldiers and civilians in places such as Dnipro, Zaporizhzhia, Izium, Bakhmut, Donbass and Kharkiv. By making repeated trips to the same areas, Henden has gained insight into the conflict itself, as well as into ordinary people’s survival strategies and everyday life under extremely trying conditions.

In an exemplary manner, Harald Henden has also documented global events from 1989 to the present day in countries such as Angola, Afghanistan, Northern Ireland, Macedonia, Kosovo, Sierra Leone, Pakistan, Iraq, Iran, Thailand, Haiti and Somalia, to name but a few. He has been a permanent employee of the newspaper VG since 1991 and a member of the foreign affairs department since 1999. He was recently diagnosed with cancer, which is forcing him to quit working as a war photographer. Over the years, Harald Henden has collaborated with international photojournalists and war photographers from all over the world, and he has also worked for international media and photo agencies.
Harald Henden has trained generations of journalists in safety, and he has become a role model for the younger generation of photographers.

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