The Associated Press announced that it has appointed its first female Director of Photography, photojournalist Lucy Nicholson. Nicholson will take over from J. David Ake in May of this year.

Nicholson is an award-winning photo-journalist who formed part of the 2019 Pulitzer Prize-winning team who won the award for their coverage of migrants travelling to the US.

“Lucy is an exceptionally talented photojournalist and newsroom leader…[and] has a truly unique range of expertise and skill,” says the press release from AP.

Nicholson joins the AP from Reuters, where she led the agency’s photography in Europe, overseeing 190 staff and freelance photographers in 50 countries. She led photo coverage of major news stories such as the Ukraine war.

She has also covered many major sporting events, including eight Olympics, NFL Super Bowls, and 16 NBA finals.

According to Petapixel, Nicholson has worked on developing the Content Authenticity Initiative (CAI). In today’s age of AI, this is becoming more and more of a concern, particularly regarding fake news and the potential disruption that can cause.

“Disinformation, up until now, has had abstract effects on our lives as photojournalists. In the last year in particular, it’s had very tangible effects on journalists’ physical safety,” Nicholson said during a CAI presentation in April 2023.

[via associated press]