University Children's Hospital Zurich wins PR Image Award 2022

"This year's winning images show touching moments and tell moving stories - and they do so with a great deal of creativity and a high level of craftsmanship," says Eljub Ramic, Managing Director of News Aktuell Switzerland. "Many of the award-winning motifs address important topics of our time - whether social commitment, climate crisis or digitalization. They make us think, smile or marvel - and prove that great emotions are the most important drivers for successful PR photography."

The photo of the University Children's Hospital Zurich with the title "Thank you in the operating room!" convinced the jury and the public alike and achieved the best overall rating for Switzerland. It also took first place in the Stories & Campaigns category.

This year, for the first time, two photos could be awarded as the best PR pictures of the year for Germany due to a tie in points: the picture "Erwacht: die Heide blüht" (Awakened: the heath is blooming) from Lüneburger Heide and the picture "#durchatmen" (Breathe through #) from the fire department in Cologne. The best PR picture of the year from Austria is the photo "Zurück in die Tagesstruktur" ("Back to the day structure") from the Jugend am Werk association.

A total of around 450 images were submitted for this year's PR Image Award. In a first step, a jury of experts from the field of communications and media selected 60 images for a shortlist. Subsequently, the professional public of communication experts voted on the images with more than 42,000 votes. The public vote and the votes of the expert jury jointly decided on the winners.

At the awards ceremony, the first three places from the six categories Lifestyle, NGO Photo, Social Media Photo, Stories & Campaigns, Travel and Portrait were awarded, as well as the winning images for Switzerland, Germany and Austria.

After a break of two years due to the Corona, the festive awards ceremony took place again in the presence of a smaller group of invited guests in the ballroom of Le Méridien in Hamburg. The evening was hosted by radio presenter and journalist Alicia Alvarez.

PR image of the year 2022 Switzerland

"Thank you in the operating room!" for University Children's Hospital Zurich by Barbora Prekopová

PR images of the year 2022 Germany (2 winners)

"#durchatmen" for fire department Cologne by Lars Jäger

"Awakened: the heath blooms" for Lüneburg Heath by Thorsten Link

PR image of the year 2022 Austria

"Back to the day structure" for Jugend am Werk by Kollektiv Fischka

Lifestyle category

1st place: "Digitized" for Videmi (DE) by René Rogowski

2nd place: "Selfie in Chinatown" for Philippines Department of Tourism (DE) by Per-Andre Hoffmann

3rd place: "Change of Perspectives" for Aid by Trade Foundation (DE) by Martin J. Kielmann

Category NGO photo

1st place: "Herzenswunsch" for Give Children a Hand (CH) by Sven Germann

2nd place: "Betroffenheit" for DRK Landesverband Sachsen (DE) by Kai Kranich

3rd place: "Farewell" for Dein-Sternenkind Stiftung (DE) by Kai Gebel

Category social media photo

1st place: "If the grass is greener on the other side..." for Festspielhaus Management (DE) by Tanja Petrasek

2nd place: "#immerfüreuchda" for fire department Cologne (DE) by Jan Ohmen

3rd place: "Caroliner Wetterschacht" for World Heritage Foundation in the Harz Mountains - Upper Harz Mining Museum (DE) by Stefan Sobotta

Category Stories & Campaigns (two 2nd and two 3rd places)

1st place (Picture of the Year Switzerland): "Thank you in the operating room!" for University Children's Hospital Zurich (CH) by Barbora Prekopová

2nd place: "Atelier erleben by Pia Hertel" for Audio Service (DE) by Pia Hertel

2nd place: "World Water Day 2022 at Zurich HB" for Robeco (CH) by Geri Krischker

3rd place: "No longer in balance" for Deutsche Stiftung Denkmalschutz (DE) by Roland Rossner

3rd place (Picture of the Year Austria): "Back to the day structure" for Jugend am Werk (AT) by Kollektiv Fischka.

Travel category

1st place: "2021" for CabriO Stanserhorn-Bahn (CH) by Thomas Staub Fotography

2nd place (Picture of the year Germany): "Awakened: the heath is blooming" for Lüneburger Heide (DE) by Thorsten Link

3rd place: "Sleeping in the rock in Pfronten" by Piroth Kommunikation for Pfronten Tourismus (DE), photo: Erwin Reiter

Portrait category

1st place (Picture of the Year Germany): "#durchatmen" for Fire Brigade Cologne by Lars Jäger

2nd place: "Don't look away!" for University Children's Hospital Zurich (CH) by Nina Chen

3rd place: "The fight goes on" for University Children's Hospital Zurich (CH) by Barbora Prekopová

All award-winning images are available on the Website of the PR Image Award published.