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02/13/2004
AP photographer Jean-Marc Bouju wins World Press Photo 2003
AMSTERDAM, Netherlands -- A picture of a hooded Iraqi war
prisoner holding his 4-year-old son at a U.S. detention camp,
by Associated Press Photographer Jean-Marc Bouju, won the
World Press Photo of the Year award Feb. 13.
The winning photo, made on March 31 in Najaf, was selected
from a record of more than 63,000 images by 4,176 photographers
from 124 countries.
In 2003, there was also a record 81 percent of entries taken
with digital cameras, as was the winning photo.
Prizes were awarded in 10 categories during 12 days of judging
in the Dutch capital. Bouju will receive the award and $12,700
at a ceremony in the Netherlands on April 25.
The 61 photographers who won World Press Photo prizes came
from 23 countries. The categories ranged from general news
to daily life and action sports. Their work will be displayed
around the world and published in book form.
Reuters photographers won the spot news singles and general
news categories. Ahmed Jadallah of the Palestinian territories
took first place in the spot news singles category with a
picture of a raid by Israeli forces in the Jabalya refugee
camp.
Another Reuters photographer, Dutchman Jerry Lampen, won the
general news singles category with an image of a woman mourning
her dead husband in Gaza. In spot news, Noel Quidu of France
won first place with a picture from Liberia for Newsweek,
taken while on assignment for the Gamma photo agency.
Frenchman Bouju spent nine weeks in Iraq in March and May
of last year for the AP. He was embedded with the U.S. 101st
Airborne Division, 3rd Brigade. An AP photographer since 1993,
he won or shared Pulitzer prizes for work in Africa in 1995
and 1999.
"It's taking me a few hours to realize it's real. I wanted
to win this prize. It's a big one," Bouju said in a telephone
interview from his home in California.
The photo was made during a rare moment of humanity in a war
zone, Bouju said, when a father who had been taken prisoner
by American troops was allowed to hold his 4-year-old son
who also was taken when the man was arrested.
The boy, Bouju said, was panicking and crying, so an American
soldier cut the plastic handcuffs off.
"My little girl was four at the time and I couldn't help
thinking what would she have thought in the same situation,"
he said. Bouju wasn't able to get the prisoner's name and
doesn't know where he or the child is now.
The father and son featured in the image are sitting side-by-side
behind coils of razor wire. The father has one hand over the
boy's forehead and his other arm hangs loosely at the boy's
waist. A small pair of sandals lies a few feet away in the
sand.
On that day, Bouju was only able to transmit one image to
his editors because of problems setting up a satellite link.
It was that photo that won the award.
Jim Colton of Sports Illustrated, one of nine renowned photographers
and photo editors on the jury, said Bouju's photo was his
instant choice of the 22 finalists.
"My immediate reaction was one of compassion," he
said. In addition to the photo being newsworthy it "brings
a new element, that of hope."
contact: Jack Stokes
212-621-1720
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