It is a great pleasure and a profound honor to share that journalist Lucia Steinwender and I have been awarded the prestigious Recherchepreis Osteuropa 2026.
Our project focuses on a critical question: Do German car manufacturers take responsibility for the people who make their cars?
In Serbia, tens of thousands of workers, mostly women on assembly lines, produce components for German car brands. They work under intense health pressure, for low wages, and with limited labor rights. As a photographer, my goal was to visually capture their everyday reality and the human side of global supply chains.
The Recherchepreis Osteuropa supports deep, cross-border journalism focused on social change and marginalized groups. I am grateful to the jury and the organizations Renovabis e.V., Diakonie Württemberg, and n-ost for recognizing the importance of this topic and supporting our work.
Looking forward to attend the official award ceremony on 4 November 2026 at the Catholic Academy in Berlin.
You can read more about the award on the official Recherchepreis Osteuropa website.