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MARILYN STAFFORD FOTOREPORTAGE AWARD ANNOUNCES WINNER OF 2025 PRIZE

WITH HONOURABLE MENTIONS AWARDED TO FOUR SHORTLISTED PHOTOGRAPHERS

 

Photographer Jodi Windvogel has been awarded the prestigious Marilyn Stafford FotoReportage Award 2025, for her work:

LIFE UNDER OCCUPATION: INSIDE CISSIE GOOL HOUSE & CAPE TOWN’S HOUSING CRISIS

 

 

 

Jodi Windvogel is a South African documentary photographer and filmmaker whose work is rooted in long-form storytelling, often focusing on deeply personal narratives. Their photography explores themes of land, memory, gender, and displacement – always with the intention of challenging stereotypes and reframing how marginalised communities are seen and understood. With a thoughtful, intimate approach, Jodi captures moments of strength and vulnerability, creating space for empathy and honest conversation. They are a member of the African Photojournalism Database (APJD) and African Women Photograph, and in 2023, received the global Fujifilm GFX Grant for their powerful project on femicide in South Africa. More recently, Jodi has been freelancing for international media outlets, continuing to focus on long-term projects that amplify voices too often left out of the mainstream. They are increasingly drawn to ‘post stories’ – those that examine the lingering impact of historical and ongoing events. Through this lens, Jodi invites viewers to reconsider what they think they know, while opening up room for more compassionate and nuanced perspectives.

On receiving news of winning the award, Jodi Winwogel says:

“I feel absolutely honoured to be receiving the Marilyn Stafford FotoReportage Award 2025. Thank you so much to the entire jury for believing in my project. This recognition means the world to me. With this award, I’ll be able to continue and complete my work at Cissie Gool House – while also letting the community know that their courage, resistance, and stories are being acknowledged on a global stage. I’m incredibly grateful for this opportunity and I’m looking forward to deepening and expanding the project with this support.”

 

Life Under Occupation: Inside Cissie Gool House & Cape Town’s Housing Crisis documents daily life inside a former public hospital in Cape Town that has been occupied since 2017 by over 1,500 people resisting displacement. Transformed into a self-organised community, the occupation responds directly to Cape Town’s deepening housing crisis. Life Under Occupation focuses on the strength, dignity, and mutual care that residents build in a space marked by legal uncertainty. Rather than framing the occupation as a protest alone, the work highlights it as a solution – an act of urban resistance and survival led by working-class families. By partnering with housing justice organisations, the images will support local advocacy and public education, contributing to wider efforts to rethink housing policy and urban belonging. The project is both personal and political – an act of visual solidarity aimed at shifting narratives and creating space for more inclusive, people-led futures.

 

A child runs down one of the long hallways of Cissie Gool House.

 

 

Reyana Kube (23) sits on her bed before heading to her night shift. She has called Cissie Gool House home for the past seven years.

 

 

 

Mariana Louw (55) sews a piece of clothing while sitting on the bed she shares with her two sons. She has lived in the occupation for seven years.
Children play in the hallway of Cissie Gool House.
A resident helps prepare a room for a woman and her children. She has been with the occupation since the beginning and was offered the larger space through a collective community decision.
Jadewin Khan (16), left, and Clinton Puti (18), right, pose in one of the building’s corridors.

 

 

 

HONOURABLE MENTIONS

 

Andrea Hernández Briceño has been awarded an Honourable Mention for her work

‘FIRE BECOMES SPIRIT’

 

 

Andrea Hernández Briceño is a Venezuelan journalist, visual storyteller, Magnum Foundation fellow, TEDx speaker and National Geographic explorer based in Caracas. She tells representative stories about gender, environment and social phenomena that put the dignity of participants in the centre of the narrative while using different formats and a perceptive approach to magic. She was awarded the Women Photograph grant in 2024 and two POY Latams (2023). Hernández Briceño co-founded the women’s collective Ayün Fotógrafas. She teaches the Ojo Pelao and MiraVzla free workshops, making photography education more accessible in her country. She believes in the importance of creating alliances with communities through horizontal practices that combine education and storytelling initiatives. Her work explores narratives that search for humanity in the space between seemingly opposing ideas as a direct result of growing up, documenting and resisting in Venezuela, a place of deep contradictions.

 

 

FIRE BECOMES SPIRIT

From a bird’s view, the Venezuelan Amazon rainforest looks like scratched skin. For decades it has been dug and broken by the booming mining industry. At the beginning of the gold fever, many indigenous communities resisted, but in the aftermath of transculturation and violence perpetrated upon them by authorities and different groups that operate in the area, most have joined the mining efforts. But the leader of the Huöttöja people that inhabit this territory, shaman Jattupa, has a vision for the future: the only way to save humanity is to demarcate and protect the Cataniapo river in the Venezuelan Amazon rainforest and exchange knowledge. This exchange has taken the form of workshops that centre around the power of photography and how this tool that has mostly been used to exploit them can be yielded to dismantle the colonising gaze.

A light shines upon the tip of the communal home “churuata” in the Amazonas state, Venezuela. In the Huöttöja worldview, this branch functions as an antenna that connects the earth with the spiritual realm. The “churuata” is the place where shaman Jattupa tells the stories that conform the Huöttöja way of life, looking at humans not as separate from nature but as an extension of it.
The Orinoco river flows towards the east of the Amazonas state, Venezuela, September 23, 2024. Its waters have been deeply contaminated by mining activities in the area.

 

Anya Tsaruk has been awarded an Honourable Mention for her work

‘I HOPE YOUR FAMILY IS SAFE’

 

 

Anya Tsaruk is a Ukrainian photographer based in Berlin. Following the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, her work now focuses on the themes of identity, trauma, migration, and community. Through photography, she aims to raise awareness about the war in her homeland and honour the resilience and strength of people impacted by it. Anya has a BA in Culture and Media Management from Jagiellonian University (2016-2019), Kraków and has won numerous awards including The Photography Foundation Awards – Portraits & People, winner 2025, Nikon Fotobus Grant winner, first place 2024, The Ukrainian Association of Professional Photographers grant winner 2024, The V&A Parasol Foundation Prize for Women in Photography winner 2023.

 

 

I HOPE YOUR FAMILY IS SAFE

I Hope Your Family is Safe is a project about my loved ones living in Ukraine, inspired by the well-meaning but unsettling phrase often said to me by foreigners. The work explores the layered and uncertain meaning of ‘safety’ in a country in war. The project challenges mainstream representations of contemporary Ukraine, offering a narrative grounded in love, hope, and resilience. Through it, I aim to contribute a piece to the mosaic of Ukrainian identity — my vision of Ukraine, one that reflects my people’s bravery, vulnerability, defiance, and desire for freedom. With a tender and intimate approach, I hope to challenge the ‘othering’ of people at war and evoke empathy that is rooted not in pity, but in shared human experiences.

 

My friends Nastya and Pavlo during his short vacation away from the frontline.

 

Kamila shows her award for the best actress in the play “The Snow Queen”.

 

 

 

Greta Rico has been awarded an Honourable Mention for her work

‘CARING IN THE FACE OF ABSENCE’

 

 

Greta Rico is a Mexican visual artist, journalist and feminist educator focused on issues of gender, climate change, and food. Her work focuses on exploring new social representations in contemporary visual culture. Through her projects she reflects on the care economy, coloniality and the social trauma of current phenomena. Greta is a Leica Partner, she is also a member of the Advisory Committee of Women Photograph, a co-founder of Rosa Chillante and a proud member of Diversify Photo, Foto Féminas, Photographers Without Borders and Femgrafía. She has a Master’s Degree in Feminist Studies and is part of She Source, a panel of experts on gender issues from the Women’s Media Center. Since 2024, Greta has been part of the National System of Art Creators in Mexico, her documentary projects have received grants such as the Leica Women Photo Project Grant, the Bertha Challenge Fellowship, the Women Photograph Grant, the National Geographic COVID-19 Reporting Grant and the Bob and Diane Fund Fellowship among other awards and recognitions.

 

 

CARING IN THE FACE OF ABSENCE

Ximena, 16, has suffered nightly anxiety attacks since she was eight. Nicole has lived with stress-induced dermatitis for six years. What they share is a deep wound: both lost their mothers to femicide. In Mexico, this crime takes the lives of ten women every day, according to UN Women, yet its impact – especially on the children left behind – remains largely unseen. Caring in the Face of Absence is a visual investigation into the aftermath of femicide. Through collaborative portraits with families, I incorporate pink motifs to reclaim the pink crosses of Ciudad Juárez – symbols of impunity and loss. Using an aesthetic of tenderness, pink becomes a thread that weaves together trans-generational trauma, emotional scars, and the resilience of orphaned children and their caregivers. In a country where narratives often re-victimise through hyper-violent imagery, this project seeks restorative justice: it is about listening, accompanying a healing process, and inviting society to be part of it. When using the right methodologies – even in a setting of systemic impunity – artistic practices can foster empathy, visibility, and change.

 

Since 2016, when Campira was murdered, Alexa and Vladimir were left in the care of their grandmother Margarita who, despite arthritis, pain and the lack of a job, is now responsible for their care. Due to the lack of economic resources, Margarita and her grandchildren still live in the same house where Campira’s feminicide occurred in Mexico City.

 

Campira was murdered in 2016 in Mexico City. When her femicide occurred, Margarita, her mother stopped knitting this pink sweater that was going to be for her. As part of the family’s healing process, a few months ago, Margarita decided to finish her daughter’s sweater.

 

 

SYLVIA JARRUS has been awarded an Honourable Mention for her work

‘ROOTS & RESLIENCE’

 

Sylvia Jarrus is an American freelance photojournalist and photo editor based in Detroit, Michigan. She’s a passionate visual storyteller, dedicated to visually exploring social justice issues, and documenting stories of historically under-represented communities revealing the intimate connections that bind people together. She is dedicated to creating a collaborative, solution-focused approach to photojournalism and hopes her work inspires empathy and understanding from the viewers. Her images have been published in major publications including The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, TIME, Teen Vogue, Ford, National Geographic, NPR and others.

 

 

 

ROOTS & RESILIENCE

Through intimate, warm portraits and documentary moments on digital and medium-format film, Sylvia Jarrus documents the vital work of Black birth workers emphasising themes of family and their impact on maternal health in Detroit, Michigan. Black women are disproportionately affected by the city’s alarming maternal health disparities. A recent study conducted by the Michigan Maternal Mortality Surveillance Committee (MMMS) found that Black women are 4.5 times more likely than white women to die during childbirth, and Detroit’s maternal death rate is three times higher than the national average. Doulas are one integral part of a solution for safer birthing experiences for Black women, by providing essential emotional support to the mothers and family during prenatal, labor, and postpartum phases, reducing stress, improving health literacy, decreasing existing health and racial disparities, and integrating a sense of family and community. Jarrus captures the interconnected lives of Black mothers, and their families and how the dedication of their birth workers impacts their birthing experiences.

 

Doula, Bree Stallings fans Courtney Berge, 37, through the peak of her labor and delivery of her fourth child, Giuliana, a seven-pound baby girl on April 15, 2025 in Royal Oak, Mich. As a doula, Stallings not only cares for the mother during labor and delivery but also performs home visits for pregnant mothers during their pre-natal and postpartum phases.

 

Durand Cheatem, a first-time dad waits to hold his newborn baby Mason while waiting in the recovery room for his girlfriend Tennette Mitchell, 28, after her C-section on April 22, 2025 in Detroit, Mich.

 

 Nina Emett, FotoDocument founder, Curator, Photographer, MSFA juror, says:

“It was very difficult for the jurors to select the Marilyn Stafford FotoReportage Award 2025 Winner & Honourable Mentions – the shortlist was incredibly strong and we honestly wanted to award everyone on it! Jodi Windvogel’s work stood out because the images are raw, emotional, and powerful – together they tell a creative and compelling story of vulnerable, dignified people taking power into their own hands. We would like to heartily thank Nikon once again for their continued support – we look forward to celebrating ten years in 2026!”

 

Julian Harvie, Marketing Director for Nikon Northern Europe, says:

“We are deeply moved and inspired by the winner and honourable mentions of this year’s Marilyn Stafford FotoReportage Award. Jodi Windvogel’s ‘Life Under Occupation: Inside Cissie Gool House & Cape Town’s Housing Crisis’ is a testament to the power of photography to highlight both resilience and hope in the face of adversity. Through thoughtful storytelling, Jodi invites us to reconsider our understanding of community, belonging, and dignity. Nikon is proud to support her important work, and to invest in all those who use their lens to illuminate vital issues and spark meaningful conversation.” 

 

Andrea Bruce, Photojournalist, Co-owner NOOR Photo Agency, Nikon Ambassador, MSFA juror, says: “The winner and each honorable mention showed a connection to the people and topic they covered that outweighed style or technical skills. This is something more difficult to obtain and so appreciated. I can’t wait to see where Jodi takes her story and career, I know it will be full of purpose and care.” 

 

Neo Ntsoma, Photojournalist, Founder of Neo Ntsoma Productions, MSFA juror, says:

“What stood out to me about Jodi’s entry is the way she captures the strength and unity of the people at Cissie Gool House in a truly inspiring and dignified manner. By recognising her project, we’re highlighting the impact of her storytelling, which challenges dominant narratives and showcases community resilience and resourcefulness. With more dedication and additional resources made possible by the MSFA grant, Jodi’s project has the potential to spark important conversations on issues of representation and help shift biased perceptions about the global South. I’m confident she’ll achieve her objectives.”

 

THANK YOU TO EVERY PHOTOGRAPHER WHO APPLIED – WE HONOUR YOUR INCREDIBLE WORK AND THE TIME YOU DEDICATE TO MAKING THE WORLD A BETTER PLACE.

THE FOTODOCUMENT TEAM