Diana Zeyneb Alhindawi is a photographer, videographer, and writer whose work focuses on regions affected by conflict, social unrest, and humanitarian crises. She is based in Brooklyn, New York, and spends extended periods working in Nairobi, Bucharest, and Baghdad.

Her work has been published by outlets including The New York Times (newspaper and magazine), The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, Bloomberg News, CNN, and Le Monde, and commissioned by international organizations such as UNICEF, Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières, the International Committee of the Red Cross, International Medical Corps, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

Alhindawi’s recognitions include LensCulture’s Top 50 Emerging Talents (2014); the ICRC Humanitarian Visa d’Or Award (2015) for her coverage of the Minova Rape Trial—the most significant mass rape trial to date in the Democratic Republic of the Congo; and PDN’s 30 New and Emerging Photographers to Watch (2018). Her images documenting the war in Darfur—where she is among a small number of international journalists to have entered the region since the current conflict began in April 2023, and the only one to have reported from inside its borders over multiple days—were included in American Photography 41 (2025).

Her work is informed by a multicultural background and lived experience of displacement. Born in rural Romania to a Romanian mother and Iraqi father, Alhindawi became a refugee in childhood—first displaced to the former Yugoslavia before resettling in Canada. These formative experiences led her to pursue careers in humanitarian aid and human rights prior to transitioning to photography.

She previously held management and research roles with organizations including the United Nations Development Programme, Save the Children, and Oxfam, working on the ground in conflict- and disaster-affected regions. In 2013, she shifted her professional focus fully to photography.

Alhindawi holds dual Bachelor of Arts degrees in Economics and Neuroscience from The Johns Hopkins University and has completed all but her thesis toward a Master’s degree in International Development at American University’s School of International Service.

She speaks English, Romanian, Spanish, and French.