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<\/p>\n\n\n\nDaniel Etter could have rested on his laurels after this award. In 2016, the German photojournalist and his colleagues received the prestigious American Pulitzer Prize in the \u201eBreaking News Photography\u201c category. His photograph of an Iraqi father breaking down in tears on the beach of the Greek island of Kos after being rescued became world-famous.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But Etter didn't rest on his laurels; he wanted to find out how the distressed man and his family fared on their onward journey through Europe. And he wanted to restore truth to the image, which had been instrumentalized and partly deliberately misinterpreted on the internet, with his research. For the reportage \u201eA Short Dream,\u201c published in the magazine of the S\u00fcddeutsche Zeitung, Etter was awarded the Hansel-Mieth Prize 2017 on Wednesday evening.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201ePoignant and honest,\u201c said Fellbach's mayor, Gabriele Zull, to the well over two hundred guests at the celebration in Fellbach's town hall, as the reporter described the family's journey. They had reached the dream of their lives \u2013 Germany \u2013 but were torn between leaving and staying, ultimately returning because the grandmother in Iraq was dying. It was a depiction not in black and white, but nuanced and in shades of gray, a story that \u201eraises more questions than it answers.\u201c.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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The photographer also questions himself and his work. Etter's reportage is not limited to recounting family history. He also addresses the impact of his famous photograph on the family, even to the hesitant question: \u201eDo they still want to see me?\u201c As he grew closer to his subjects, so did his doubts about whether he was engaging in voyeurism, \u201eturning personal destinies into journalistic stories.\u201c.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A story full of barbs, inviting reflection on the role of reporters. How he sees his role today, Etter was asked in the subsequent discussion. He doesn't think the family's path would have been different had he not taken the photo. \u201eIt wasn't just a personal moment, but a geopolitical one.\u201c That the photo later makes the family man \u201etired\u201c because it evokes bad memories, because it appears on the internet in completely wrong contexts, and because media fame has its downsides \u2013 he has to live with the dilemma, said Etter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n