Daniel Berehulak, St Louis Post-Dispatch Win Photo Pulitzer Prizes

April 20, 2015 3:42 PM EDT

Daniel Berehulak, a photographer with Getty Images Reportage, has won the coveted Pulitzer Prize in Feature Photography for his extensive coverage of the Ebola outbreak in West Africa.

The Pulitzer Prize committee called Berehulak’s images “gripping” and “courageous.”

Berehulak, who covered the outbreak for the New York Times, was in Liberia and Sierra Leone for more than 14 weeks in 2014. “Most media outlets have people that stay here for around five to 10 days,” Berehulak told TIME last year. “Editors are extremely nervous — there’s a lot of pressure and a lot of restrictions.”

The finalists in the Feature Photography category were Bulent Kilic of Agence France-Presse “for his compelling photographs of Kurds fleeing ISIS attacks in small Kurdish towns on the Syrian-Turkish border,” the Pulitzer committee said in a statement, and Bob Owen, Jerry Lara and Lisa Krantz of the San Antonio Express-News “for chilling photographs that document the hard road Central American migrants must follow to seek refuge in the U.S.”

Read How a Photographer is Covering Ebola’s Deadly Spread

See How a Photographer is Covering Ebola's Deadly Spread

Members of a Liberian Red Cross burial team, under contract from the Liberian Ministry of Health, remove the body of a suspected Ebola victim Lorpu David, 30 on Sept. 18, 2014 in the Gurley street community in central Monrovia, Liberia. — Members of a Liberian Red Cross burial team, under contract from the Liberian Ministry of Health, remove the body of suspected Ebola victim Lorpu David, 30, on Sept. 18, 2014, in the Gurley street community in central Monrovia, Liberia.Daniel Berehulak—The New York Times/Redux

Members of a Liberian Red Cross burial team, remove the body of woman, a woman, 75, a suspected Ebola victim on Sept. 18, 2014 in Monrovia, Liberia. — Members of a Liberian Red Cross burial team, remove the body of woman, 75, a suspected Ebola victim on Sept. 18, 2014 in Monrovia, Liberia. Daniel Berehulak—The New York Times/Redux

A burial team collects the body of a 75-year-old woman in a neighborhood called PHP in Monrovia, Liberia, Sept. 18, 2014. Daniel Berehulak—The New York Times/Redux

A resident of the West Point neighborhood covers his nose as a burial team departed with a body in Monrovia, Liberia, Sept. 17, 2014. — A resident of the West Point neighborhood covers his nose as a burial team leaves with a body in Monrovia, Liberia, Sept. 17, 2014. Daniel Berehulak—The New York Times/Redux

Members of a burial team from the Liberian Red Cross under contract from the Liberian Ministry of Health remove the body of a man, a suspected Ebola victim from a home in Matadi on Sept. 17, 2014 in Monrovia, Liberia. — Members of a burial team from the Liberian Red Cross remove the body of a man, a suspected Ebola victim, from a home in Matadi on Sept. 17, 2014 in Monrovia, Liberia. Daniel Berehulak—The New York Times/Redux

A member of a Liberian Red Cross burial team is disinfected, with chlorine sprayed on by a colleague, after having removed the body of a man, a suspected Ebola victim from his home on Sept. 6, 2014 in Monrovia, Liberia. — A member of a Liberian Red Cross burial team is disinfected, with chlorine sprayed on by a colleague, after having removed the body of a man, a suspected Ebola victim, on Sept. 6, 2014 in Monrovia, Liberia. Daniel Berehulak—The New York Times/Reportage by Getty Images

Residents look on as the body of a man suspected of dying from Ebola lies in a busy street, after it was reportedly dragged there to draw attention of burial teams following days of failed attempts by his family to have his body picked up, in Monrovia, Liberia, Sept. 15, 2014. — Residents look on as the body of a man suspected of dying from Ebola lies in a busy street after it was reportedly dragged there to draw the attention of burial teams. For several days, his family had asked for the body to be picked up, to no avail. Monrovia, Liberia, Sept. 15, 2014. Daniel Berehulak—The New York Times/Redux

Friends and relatives weep as a burial team removes the body of a 75-year-old woman who neighbors insisted died of a stroke, in a neighborhood called PHP in Monrovia, Liberia, Sept. 18, 2014. — Friends and relatives weep as a burial team removes the body of a 75-year-old woman. Her neighbors insisted she had died of a stroke. Monrovia, Liberia, Sept. 18, 2014.Daniel Berehulak—The New York Times/Redux

Eric Gweah, 25, grieves as he watches members of a Red Cross burial team carry the body his father, Ofori Gweah, 62, a suspected Ebola victim, in a riverside area called Rock Spring Valley in central Monrovia, Liberia, Sept. 18, 2014.Daniel Berehulak—The New York Times/Redux

Residents discuss an Ebola awareness campaign in Monrovia, Liberia, Aug. 30, 2014. Daniel Berehulak—The New York Times/Redux

Residents of the West Point neighborhood attend church after a 10-day quarantine was lifted in Monrovia, Liberia, Aug. 31, 2014. Daniel Berehulak—The New York Times/Redux

James Dorbor, 8, suspected to have Ebola, lays on the ground as his father Edward tried to get the boy to drink coconut water as, they wait for James to be admitted into the JFK Ebola treatment centre on Sept. 5, 2014 in Monrovia, Liberia. — James Dorbor, 8, suspected to have Ebola, lays on the ground as his father Edward tried to get the boy to drink coconut water. They waited for James to be admitted into the JFK Ebola treatment center on Sept. 5, 2014 in Monrovia, Liberia. Daniel Berehulak—The New York Times/Reportage by Getty Images

James Dorbor, 8, suspected to have Ebola, lays on the ground motionless and appeared to have died, as his father Edward Dorbor reacts in believeing the boy is dead, however the boy survived for a few more hours before passign away in the JFK Ebola treatment centre on Sept. 5, 2014 in Monrovia, Liberia. — Edward Dorbor reacts after believing that his son, James Dorbor, 8, had died. However, the boy survived for a few additional hours before dying at the JFK Ebola treatment center on Sept. 5, 2014 in Monrovia, Liberia. Daniel Berehulak—The New York Times/Reportage by Getty Images

Medical staff carry James Dorbor, 8, suspected of having Ebola, into a treatment facility in Monrovia, Liberia, Sept. 5, 2014. — Medical staff rush into the treatment facility, carrying James Dorbor, 8, suspected of having Ebola. Since the health workers weren't wearing the appropriate protection against Ebola, they positioned James' body in a way to limit exposure to the deadly virus. Monrovia, Liberia, Sept. 5, 2014. Daniel Berehulak—The New York Times/Redux

A relative grieves as a Liberian Red Cross burial team, dress themselves in full protective clothing, prior to removing the body of a suspected Ebola victim, Ofori Gweah, 62, on Sept. 18, 2014 in central Monrovia, Liberia. — A relative grieves as members of a Liberian Red Cross burial team dress themselves in full protective clothing prior to removing the body of suspected Ebola victim, Ofori Gweah, 62, on Sept. 18, 2014 in central Monrovia, Liberia.Daniel Berehulak—The New York Times/Redux

Medical staff spray down a small plastic bag containing the blood sample of Hawa Konneh, 9, a suspected Ebola victim, as she lays on the dirt wrapped in a shawl in front of the Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) Ebola treatment centre, as her mother Masogbe sits near to her prior to Hawa's passing away on Sept. 4, 2014 in Monrovia, Liberia. — Medical staff spray down a small plastic bag containing the blood sample of Hawa Konneh, 9, a suspected Ebola victim, as she lays on the dirt wrapped in a shawl in front of the Doctors Without Borders (MSF) Ebola treatment center, as her mother, Masogbe, sits near to her prior to Hawa's passing away on Sept. 4, 2014 in Monrovia, Liberia. Daniel Berehulak—The New York Times/Reportage by Getty Images

Marvin Gweah, 28, is overcome by emotion as members of a Liberian Red Cross burial team, carry away the body of his father, Ofori Gweah, 62, a suspected Ebola victim, on Sept. 18, 2014 in central Monrovia, Liberia. — Marvin Gweah, 28, is overcome by emotion as members of a Liberian Red Cross burial team carry away the body of his father, Ofori Gweah, 62, a suspected Ebola victim, on Sept. 18, 2014 in central Monrovia, Liberia. Daniel Berehulak—The New York Times/Reportage by Getty Images

In the Breaking News category, the Pulitzer Prize went to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch’s photo staff for “powerful images of the despair and anger in Ferguson, Mo., stunning photojournalism that served the community while informing the country,” the committee said.

Joseph Putlizer created the St. Louis Post-Dispatch from the 1878 merger of the St. Louis Dispatch and the St. Louis Evening Post.

“When all the world’s media leaves, this is still our neighborhood,” the newspaper’s director of photography Lynden Steele told TIME last year. “We have to work knowing that what we do now will come back to us a month from now. We have to be able to stand by what we’re doing now because we’re going to be in that neighborhood weeks, months, years from now.”

Read Inside Ferguson With Photographers From the St. Louis Post-Dispatch