Chris Hondros

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Chris Hondros
Born March 14, 1970
New York City, New York, United States
Died April 20, 2011(2011-04-20) (aged 41)
Misrata, Libya
Occupation Photojournalist

Chris Hondros (March 14, 1970 – April 20, 2011) was an American Pulitzer Prize-nominated war photographer.

Biography

Chris Hondros was born in New York City to immigrant Greek and German parents who were child refugees after World War II. He spent most of his childhood in Fayetteville, North Carolina, where he graduated from Terry Sanford High School in 1988.[1]

Hondros studied English literature at North Carolina State University where he also worked for the Technician, the campus newspaper.[2] After graduating from State in 1993, Hondros moved to Athens, Ohio, and earned a Master's degree at Ohio University School of Visual Communications.[1] He began his career at the Troy Daily News in Ohio as an intern and later chief photographer before returning to Fayetteville in 1996 to begin a career with the The Fayetteville Observer and to be close to his father who died of cancer in 2000.[1][2]

Hondros left his job at The Fayetteville Observer in 1998 to return to New York and concentrate on international reporting. From his base in New York, Hondros worked in most of the world's major conflict zones since the late 1990s, including Kosovo, Angola, Sierra Leone, Afghanistan, Kashmir, the West Bank, Iraq, and Liberia.[2]

Following the September 11 attacks, Hondros took photos at ground zero.[2] Hondros also followed Sen. John Kerry's presidential campaign in 2004.[2] His work included disasters such as Hurricane Katrina and the 2010 Haiti earthquake.[2]

His work appeared as the covers of magazines such as Newsweek and the Economist, and on the front pages of The New York Times, the Washington Post, and the Los Angeles Times.

His photography was featured in the documentary film, "Liberia: A Fragile Peace." (2006)

Iraq photos

Hondros's images from Iraq, especially a January 2005 picture series detailing the shooting of an Iraqi family by U.S. troops, were published extensively and garnered worldwide acclaim and criticism.

On January 18, 2005, an Iraqi family was traveling in a car which failed to stop at a U.S. checkpoint in Tal Afar. Thinking it was a suicide bomber, U.S. troops opened fire, killing both parents and paralyzing one of their five children sitting in the back seat. As a result of the worldwide interest in his case generated by Hondros's pictures, the boy, Rakan Hassan, was later flown to the United States for treatment in a Boston hospital, but was murdered in a bombing by insurgents shortly after his return: Boston Globe: "The end of Rakan's war".

Hondros won dozens of international awards for the images.[3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10] One of his pictures of this tragedy is likely to become "one of the few photos from the Iraq war that could stand out in history" according to Liam Kennedy, a professor at University College Dublin.[11]

In an interview, Hondros stated:

“ Almost every soldier in Iraq has been involved in some sort of incident like that or another, I would say. Their attitude about it was grim, but it wasn’t the end of their world. It was, “Well, kind of wished they’d stopped. We fired warning shots. Damn, I don’t know why the hell they didn’t stop. What’re you doing later, you want to play Nintendo? Okay.” Just a day’s work for them. That stuff happens in Iraq a lot.[10] ”

Awards

Hondros's images received many awards:

2003
2004
2005
  • World Press Photo, Amsterdam: Second Prize, Spot News[16]
2006
2007
  • American Photo magazine: named "Hero of Photography" for his work in Iraq[citation needed]
  • Days Japan International Photojournalism Awards: First Place[citation needed]
2008

Libya and death

It was reported on April 20, 2011, that Hondros had been fatally wounded in a mortar attack by government forces in Misrata while covering the 2011 Libyan civil war. Photojournalist Tim Hetherington was also killed in the attack, which wounded two other photographers.[19] A source said that the group was traveling with rebel fighters.[20] According to The New York Times, Hondros died from his injuries as a result of severe brain trauma.[21]

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Hasty, Kim (2011-04-21). "Photojournalist Hondros killed in Libya; former Observer staffer". The Fayetteville Observer. Retrieved 2011-04-23. 
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 Woolverton, Paul (2011-04-22). "Chris Hondros: The human cost of war". The Fayetteville Observer. Retrieved 2011-04-23. 
  3. ↑ "Checkpoints test US troops' rules". BBC. 2005-03-08. Retrieved 2009-12-31. 
  4. ↑ "The Best of Photo Journalism 2006 > Still Photography Winners > International News Picture Story 1st Place". National Press Photographers Association. 
  5. ↑ "In pictures: Shooting in Tal Afar". BBC. January 2005. Retrieved 2009-12-31. 
  6. ↑ Hider, James (January 21, 2005). "One Night in Iraq: Chris Hondros Witnesses A Shooting After Nightfall". The Times Online (London). 
  7. ↑ "Chris Hondros Wins OPC's Robert Capa Gold Medal Award". The Stock Photo Industry Press Release Cemetery. April 19, 2006. 
  8. ↑ "The Photographers". Getty Images. 
  9. ↑ "The Photographers Award Winning Work By Chris Hondros". Getty Images. 
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 Hondros, Chris. "The Continuing Story". Colombia Journalism Review. 
  11. ↑ "Face That Screamed War’s Pain Looks Back, 6 Hard Years Later". The New York Times. May 7, 2011. 
  12. ↑ "Christopher Hondros, 2003". World Press Photo. Retrieved April 20, 2011. 
  13. ↑ The John Faber Award 2003. Overseas Press Club. Accessed April 20, 2011.
  14. ↑ The Pulitzer Prizes: 2004, Breaking News Photography. Accessed April 20, 2011.
  15. ↑ Winners' List, 61st Annual Pictures of the Year International Competition. Pictures of the Year International, Missouri School of Journalism. Accessed April 20, 2011.
  16. ↑ "Christopher Hondros, 2005. World Press Photo. Accessed April 20, 2011". Archive.worldpressphoto.org. 2005-01-18. Retrieved 2011-04-22. 
  17. ↑ Robert Capa Gold Medal, 2005. Overseas Press Club. Accessed April 20, 2011.
  18. ↑ 2008 Nominees. National Magazine Awards, American Society of Magazine Editors. Accessed April 20, 2011.
  19. ↑ "IndieWire Reports "Restrepo" Director Tim Hetherington Killed In Libya". 
  20. ↑ "Two photographers killed in Libya". CNN. April 21, 2011. Retrieved April 21, 2011. 
  21. ↑ Chivers, C.J. (April 20, 2011). "‘Restrepo’ Director and a Photographer Killed in Libya". The New York Times (Benghazi, Libya). Retrieved April 20, 2011. 

External links

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