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Heidi Levine (born 1961–1962) is an American freelance photojournalist who has worked for the Associated Press, Sipa Press, and The Washington Post. She has spent much of her career covering the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

Early life and education

Levine was born and raised in Boston, Massachusetts. Her father was passionate about photography, and bought Levine her first camera; they would walk around Boston taking pictures. Her first interest in the field was to photograph under-privileged areas of Boston and New York. At the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, she was the school paper photographer. In 1983 during a school break, at age 21, she went to Israel to work for six weeks at a kibbutz. While there, she applied to the Associated Press and received a job offer. Figuring that working as a photojournalist would be educationally better than college journalism classes, she took the offer, and in 1983 started her photojournalism career in Israel as a staffer.

Career

Working at A.P. in Israel gave Levine experience in many facets of the field, including editing, lab activities, and interacting with subscribers. She reports difficulty breaking into the field as a woman, describing it as a "boys club." In 1991, she joined the Sipa Press Photo Agency. Based in Israel, most of her coverage has been the violence in Israel, Gaza and the West Bank. She has covered conflicts in Afghanistan, Kosovo, Iraq, Lebanon, Libya, and Syria on assignment. She has also covered topics such as female feticide in India, the COVID-19 pandemic, and the Syrian refugee crisis.

In February 2022, she went to Ukraine on assignment for The Washington Post. While there covering the Russian invasion of Ukraine, she photographed and commented on the aftermath of the Bucha massacre. She noted that "most of the images took could never be published because they're too shocking."

As of October, 2024, Levine is covering the Israel-Hamas war. She has described covering the Israeli–Palestinian conflict as "very, very personal" and intimate.

Her pictures have been published in many outlets, including The Washington Post, The New York Times, Stern, National Geographic, Paris Match, L'Express, Newsweek, Time, The New York Times Magazine, The Sunday Times Magazine, Forbes, and The Globe and Mail.

Humanitarian focus

She feels that the power of photography can make a difference by raising awareness and evoking empathy for those affected by conflicts and crises. She has the "ability to capture the essence of conflicts and their impact on people's lives." She has "depth of compassion for the people she encounters," and "a passion for bearing witness."

Awards

• 1997 First prize at the International Scoop and Journalism Festival in Angers, France, for her work in Hebron.
• 2015 Bayeux Award for war correspondents, for her photo series titled "Healing and Resilience in Gaza"
• 2015UNICEF Photo of the year award
• 2015 Anja Niedringhaus Courage in Photojournalism Award, for her work in Gaza
• 2021 Picture of the Year Award of Excellence
• 2022 Local Testimony, First Prize Breaking News award for her coverage titled "Violence in Lod"
• 2023 International Women's Media Foundation award for courage in journalism, as part of the "Women of The Washington Post Reporting on Ukraine"

Personal

Levine has lived in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, and has three children. In Jerusalem, she lived in a mixed neighborhood to expose her children to people of different backgrounds. Her work away from home and in danger zones has led to some disappointments among her children, family and friends. She has had to make compromises that would not allow her "to be the best photographer wished to be."

References

1. ^ Chetcuti, Kristina (2013-10-18). "We never learn from history". Times of Malta. Retrieved 2024-12-17.
2. ^ Burke, Pamela (2013-06-26). "Interview: Combat Photojournalist Heidi Levine On Covering Deadly War Zones". The Women's Eye. Retrieved 2024-12-16.
3. ^ "Heidi Levine". IWMF. Retrieved 2024-12-17.
4. "Award-winner Heidi Levine's images of Gaza – in pictures". the Guardian. 2015-03-25. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2024-12-17.
5. Krever, Mick (2015-06-25). "The breathtaking war photographs of Heidi Levine". CNN. Retrieved 2024-12-17.
6. ^ "Heidi Levine, Award-winning Photojournalist". Radio Esfarad (in Spanish). Retrieved 2024-12-17.
7. "Women of The Washington Post Reporting on Ukraine". IWMF. Retrieved 2024-12-17.
8. "In photos: The war in Ukraine one month on".
9. "'I could go on and on' Photojournalist Heidi Levine on what she saw in Bucha in the days after its liberation". Meduza. Retrieved 2024-12-17.
10. Levine, Heidi (2022-04-10). "'What I've seen in Bucha': photojournalist shares experience". The Guam Daily Post. Retrieved 2024-12-17.
11. "Israelis still at war pause to remember attacks of a year ago". Washington Post, October 7, 2024; Retrieved 2024–12–17.
12. "Israeli reservists fight in Gaza but question what comes after the war". Stars and Stripes. Retrieved 2024-12-17.
13. Berand, Doug (2015-07-17). "Bearing witness". Vantage. Retrieved December 18, 2014.
14. ^ "The Human Cost of the Israeli-Palestinian Crisis in Photos". ELLE. 2021-05-21. Retrieved 2024-12-17.
15. Sim, David (2015-03-24). "Powerful photos by Heidi Levine, winner of the Anja Niedringhaus Courage in Photojournalism Award". International Business Times UK. Retrieved 2024-12-18.
16. Antunes, Jose (2024-09-19). "Bayeux award for war correspondents is back for the 31st time". Seriously Photography. Retrieved 2024-12-17.
17. Roué, Damien (2015-10-13). "Heidi Levine remporte le Trophée Photo et le Prix du Public aux rencontres des correspondents de guerre à Bayeux". Phototrend (in French). Retrieved 2024-12-17.
18. "UNICEF Photo of the Year 2015 - Press Release". www.unicef.de. Retrieved 2024-12-17.
19. "Honoring the courage of women photojournalists". Associated Press. Retrieved 2024-12-17.
20. "Pictures of the Year | 78th Annual Competition | Winners List". www.poy.org. Retrieved 2024-12-18.
21. "IWMF Announces 2023 Courage in Journalism Award Winners". IWMF. Retrieved 2024-12-17.
22. "Jerusalem-based photographer wins award for courage". The Times of Israel. Associated Press. 2015-06-25. Retrieved 2024-12-17.
23. Burke, Pamela (2013-07-24). "INTERVIEW: Heidi Levine–War Photographer and Working Mom, Part TWO". The Women's Eye. Retrieved 2024-12-16.

• 20th-century births
• Living people
• 20th-century American journalists
• 20th-century American photographers
• 20th-century American women journalists
• 20th-century American women photographers
• 21st-century American journalists
• 21st-century American photographers
• 21st-century American women journalists
• 21st-century American women photographers
• American expatriates in Israel
• American expatriates in Ukraine
• American photojournalists
• American war photographers
• American women photojournalists
• Associated Press photographers
• People from Boston
• Photographers from Massachusetts
• University of Massachusetts Amherst people
• War correspondents of the Russo-Ukrainian War
• The Washington Post people
• People from Jerusalem