03/06/2026
✨ Each year, the Judges of the European Press Prize present the Special Award to one striking project that defies categories and disciplines. This year, the European Press Prize 2026 Special Award goes to “Killing for the photo” by Barbara Matejčić, published by in Croatia and .srbija in Serbia.
In 1993, during the Bosnian War, a photographer from Belgrade documented an ex*****on at extraordinarily close range. The photographs were distributed worldwide by Reuters and went on to win the World Press Photo award. They became part of the visual record of the war. But for three decades, the disturbing questions at the heart of those images remained largely unexplored.
How could a photographer capture a murder from such proximity, across so many frames? Did the presence of the camera shape what happened?
’s investigation turns towards these questions with extraordinary precision and courage. Drawing on nearly thirty first-hand sources as well as court files and war crimes documentation, she re-examines an image that had long been celebrated for its journalistic significance, while confronting the ethical questions left outside the frame.
The piece is a powerful work about war, photography, responsibility and the role of the witness. It does not allow an iconic image to remain detached from the life that was taken, the conditions in which it was captured, or the consequences of how violence is documented and remembered.
The Judges called it “a fascinating story that turns many previously unturned stones” and “a fantastic piece of reporting with perfect dramaturgy.”
Congratulations to Barbara Matejčić on this exceptional achievement! “Killing for the photo” is journalism of rare depth that compels us to look again at what we thought we understood.
