# Amir Hamja

Mohammad Amir Hamza, professionally known as Amir Hamja, is a Bangladeshi photographer and journalist based in New York. Amir Hamja was a photographer for The New York Times and a member of the 2023-24 Times Fellowship class, a program for journalists early in their careers. He left The Times in May 2024.
His works have appeared in Bloomberg, National Geographic, The Wall Street Journal, The Guardian, and The Washington Post, among others. He served as the official photographer of the Emmy-winning Netflix show Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj.
Hamja's photographs have appeared in the front page of The New York Times multiple times, as well as of The Wall Street Journal.

## Early life and education

Amir Hamja was born in 1992 in Chattogram, Bangladesh. He pursued a degree in pharmacy at the University of Science and Technology Chattogram (USTC), graduating in 2014. During his studies, Hamja developed an interest in photography, beginning amateur photography in 2012.

## Career

   Amir Hamja is an Arabic name. Amir means "prince," "commander" or "ruler." And Hamja (Hamza) means "strong" and "steadfast" and refers to the Islamic Prophet Muhammad's Uncle "Hamza," who was a skilled fighter and commander. I prefer using "J" instead of "Z" in Hamja, as it's more suitable with my native language, Bengali "হামজা." To avoid confusion, I don't use Mohammad as a first name in my byline (or any other online presence), as it is a very common first name among Muslims.
In 2016, Hamja's photographs from the Shakrain Festival in Old Dhaka caught the attention of Bangladeshi filmmaker Piplu Khan. This led to Hamja's first professional photography job, working on a documentary about BRAC founder Fazle Hasan Abed. During that time, he also worked on the biographical film about the Prime Minister of Bangladesh, Hasina: A Daughter's Tale. He subsequently earned a scholarship from the International Center of Photography in New York, from where he graduated in 2018.
Hamja has worked on the Netflix series Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj as the official photographer of the show.

### The New York Times

Hamja's photography during the 2020 George Floyd protests in New York City drew the interest of media outlets, leading to his first assignments with The New York Times. Eventually, he was appointed as an official photographer for the publication in June 2023. His work mostly covers style, fashion, and movies segment.
Since 2022, Hamja has worked on a series of stories for The New York Times titled "A Risky Wager," which explores "how online sports betting has taken America by storm." This series has been published in a five-part format, with Hamja's photography accompanying the investigative reports from renowned journalists such as Eric Lipton and Kenneth Vogel.
In 2024, Hamja covered the 96th Academy Awards for The New York Times.

#### The Year in Pictures

In 2021, one photograph by Hamja was featured in "The Year in Pictures 2021" by The New York Times. In 2023, Hamja's three photographs were featured in the selection.

### Others

Before being employed by The New York Times Hamja worked as a photojournalist for media outlets including Vogue, Bloomberg News, The Wall Street Journal, and The Guardian, working with Brendan Fraser, Novak Djokovic, Mira Nair, Loudon Wainwright III, Quentin Tarantino, among others.

## Awards

| Year | Award | Organization |
| 2015 | Third place, Bangladesh National Award, Sony World Photography Awards | World Photography Organisation |
| 2016 | First prize, EyeEm 'People and Places' Photography Competition | EyeEm |
| 2017 | Winner, Bangladesh National Award, Sony World Photography Award | World Photography Organisation |
| 2018 | Second Place, 'The World We Live In' | Pied à Terre, France |
| 2023 | Young Guns 21 Winner | The One Club |