'An image must make you feel something – anger, anguish, grief,' says Iraqi-American photographer Salwan Georges at Xposure

  Pulitzer Prize–winning photojournalist Salwan Georges brought a deeply personal perspective to global conflict reporting during a session at the Xposure International Photography Festival (2026), tracing themes of war and homecoming through some of his most recognised images.

Speaking to moderator Aidan Sullivan, Founder and CEO of Verbatim Photo, in a session titled Crossing Borders: Stories from a Fractured World, the Iraqi-American photographer reflected on growing up in Iraq and Syria before his family was forced to flee in search of safety — an experience that continues to shape his approach to ethical, human-centred visual storytelling. 

“This is a country that was taken away from me at a young age,” said Georges, recalling Iraq. 

In 2023, he returned for the first time in 25 years to complete a family documentary project he had begun years earlier using an iPhone. 

“To be able to photograph there was one of the proudest moments of my career,” he said, describing the return as “finding a time machine”, revisiting childhood spaces while confronting the loss of family members killed during decades of conflict.

 The conversation moved across Georges’ frontline assignments for The Washington Post, including coverage of the conflict in Ukraine and reporting from Syria. Throughout, raqi-American raqi-American “You have to feel something from an image — anger, anguish, grief,” he said. “If you’re not feeling anything, you have to try harder.” 

Georges also discussed his work documenting the fentanyl crisis in the United States and Mexico, where his reporting examined the intersections of addiction, inequality and policy failure. He noted that sustained visual documentation helped move the issue beyond statistics. “After the story was published, it was raised in Congress,” he said, pointing to the tangible impact of long-term reporting. 

Salwan Georges

Moderator Sullivan traced Georges’ career path from photographing Arab-American communities in Detroit, following the kidnapping and killing of a cousin in Iraq, to joining The Washington Post in 2017. 

Georges said his background allows him to work across cultures even without shared language. “I don’t need to speak Ukrainian to communicate with Ukrainians,” he said, reflecting on his work in Ukraine. “We have a shared human language.” 

The discussion concluded with Georges’ reflections on returning to Syria following the fall of the Assad regime, documenting a country suspended between devastation and fragile hope. “There is hope,” he said, acknowledging both renewal and the emotional cost of looking back. 

Georges was awarded a Pulitzer Prize in 2020 as part of a Washington Post staff entry examining climate change around the world. 

Attached Images: 

1| Salwan Georges during a live interview titled “Crossing Borders: Stories From A Fractured World” 

3-2| General images during the live interview titled “Crossing Borders: Stories From A Fractured World” at Xposure International Photography Festival 2026 

4| From Salwan Georges’ “The Syria I Found Again” at Xposure International Photography Festival 2026