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The story behind the Pulitzer picture
Reuters Bangkok senior photographer Adrees Latif tells how he took the pictures which won him a Pulitzer Prize. The pictures were taken in Myanmar during the protests in September last year and include the photo of Japanese video journalist Kenji Nagai being shot.
“Tipped off by protests against soaring fuel prices, I landed in Yangon on 23 September, 2007, with some old clothes, a Canon 5D camera, two fixed lenses and a laptop.
For the next four days, I went to Shwedagon Pagoda, two-three kilometres from the centre of town and waited for the monks who had been gathering there daily at noon.
Since I was at the same pagoda every day, dozens of people, including monks, asked me who I was and what I was doing. As the ruling military regime is notoriously secretive, my replies were guarded.
Barefoot in maroon robes, and ringed by civilians, the monks chanted and prayed before starting their two-kilometre march to the Sule Pagoda in downtown Yangon. Each day their numbers grew, from hundreds to thousands.
By 27 September, the city had become packed with troops. Soldiers and government agents stood at street corners.
Finding the Shwedagon Pagoda sealed off, I went to the middle of town to find groups of young people taunting soldiers at Sule.
Within minutes, the crowd swelled from hundreds to a few thousand. The soldiers threw barbed wire coils across the roads.
Knowing that hundreds of people were gunned down in similar circumstances in a 1988 uprising, I climbed an old crosswalk directly overhead, to get to one of the few spots offering a clear view.
Below me, protesters were singing and waving flags; to the side, young men were thrusting their pelvises at the soldiers.
At about 1.30pm local time, two dark green, open-top army trucks approached, followed by dozens more packed with riot police. They were hit by a barrage of water bottles, fruit and abuse from the crowd.
I had already locked on my 135mm lens and set my camera shutter speed to 1000, aperture to F/7.1 and ISO at 800. With the camera on manual, I wanted to stop any movement while offering as much depth-of-field as possible.
Two minutes later, the shooting started. My eye caught a person flying backwards through the air. Instinctively, I started photographing, capturing four frames of the man on his back.
The entry point of the bullet is clear in the first frame, with a soldier in flip flops standing over the man and pointing a rifle. In the second frame, the man is reaching over to try and film.
More shots rang out. I flinched before getting off two more frames – one of the man pointing the camera at the soldier, and one of his face contorted in pain.
Beyond him, the crowd scattered before the advancing soldier. The whole incident, which went on to reverberate around the world, was over in two seconds.
I kept low on the bridge, capturing some more images from among a crowd taking cover. However, with soldiers firing shots and smoke grenades below, I had to get off the bridge.
With adrenaline pumping through my body, I put my camera in my bag and followed the protests for another hour and a half. Feeling the demonstration had lost its strength, I made my way back to my hotel via backstreets and along a railway line.
My initial caption read: “An injured man tries to photograph after police and military officials fired upon and then charged a crowd of thousands protesting in Yangon’s city center September 27, 2007.” Initially, I thought he was merely trampled. I had no idea he was dead.
Two of the frames showed the man’s face. A few hours later his colleagues in Japan had identified him as Japanese video journalist Kenji Nagai.
The images dominated front pages across the U.S. and the world. Mourners at Nagai’s funeral in Japan clutched the picture, which played a role in the public outrage that prompted Tokyo to scale back aid to the ruling military junta.”
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The Wall
congratulations adrees, you have done a great gob. Burma need more people like you hope your work will be a great example to young Burmese.I use to be one of the expatriates in Rangoon in late 90’s.
posted by Naeem Ahmed
Canada
congratulations adrees, you have done a great gob. Burma need more people like you. hope your work will be a great example to young Burmese.I use to be one of the expatriates in Rangoon in late 90’s.
posted by Naeem Ahmed
Canada
Adrees,
Never late to wish you all the best, and who else deserve more than our Nepal team to congratulate on your win ..it was us more exited and proud to tell people that we had the person who won the Pulitzer with us as a team in Nepal. Once again our congratulations and thank you for dragging into the “best of the best” ..most of the pictures there were taken by you.
regards
Shruti,Deepa and Gopal
Sir,with this photograph you wrote in image how human being is so agressive towards human being.A photo will not stop the war but it can help people to think how cruel it is for the world.If it happens that the soldier who shot the Videojournalist look at this photo,he will never forgive himself.Congratulations for your courage.George,Mauritius island,Indian Ocean
That is a shock. No good. We dont want it. But it happened. Nice photo.
Congratulations Adrees!! I’m currently in my final year studying photography and I’m doing one of my final essays on your courageous and powerful photographs, and discussing the power these images have given to the Burmese people the rest of the world. Thank-you. You are such an inspiration!!
…Adrees não fazia idéia de que aquele homem caído morrerria momentos mais tarde. Duas das fotos, distribuídas ao mundo pela agência Reuters, mostravam seu rosto e poucas horas mais tarde colegas japoneses identificaram o homem como sendo o repórter cinematográfico japonês Kenji Nagai.
A imagem de Nagai filmando mesmo após ter sido baleado dominou inúmeras capas de jornais e revistas internacionais e muito além de conter o drama do assassinato de um jornalista inocente, a foto comunica o drama de um povo inteiro, milhões de pessoas que sobrevivem na pobreza sob a mão pesada de governantes que se mantém no poder há décadas, prendem, executam, promovem o trabalho forçado, recrutam crianças para a guerra, proíbem a comunicação com o mundo externo e cometem toda sorte de injustiças impunemente…
http://www.agenciaraizes.com/oficina/200 8/05/06/11000-s/
Adrees, I do not believe that someone’s tragedy should benefit someone else in any possible way. The fact that a journalist wins a prize over the photo of someone who got shot just comes to show how we are losing our humanity for other gains, such as a Pulitzer Prize.
Just take a look at the comments posted congratulating you on your technique and talent. I am sure the relatives of the dead man felt the same when they saw this photo…..
Nothing personal and I hope no offense taken.
I am researching on photoreporters in Paris and I feel proud of your work. I work with a Canon too. Impressed by your work! Do you cover events in Pakistan or not?
Frankly I’m disgusted. A real photographer who was right at the scene died. That should be the story. Now this tele snapshot makes YOU profit. I don’t imply you did anything bad, but honestly, you have absolutely no moral qualms about it?
Lazaros, Sean,
I think we shoul avoid this kind of maniqueist aproach you have expressed. Adrees should be recognized and why not congratulate him by the simple fact that he was there in Myanmar, wich is a dangerous destination for journalists. He was there doing his job, playing an inportant role in society while reporting this tragedy that seems to be more common in that country we can imagine it. It’s clear he was not there for a pulitzer prize and it’s not about disrespecting Nagai’s family or memory, I think it’s about an image that brought Nagai’s personal tragedy to public, bringing attention to a whole people tragedy. It’s easy to criticize when we where not there, but if we think for a moment we would realize that Adrees could have also be the target of that shot and many people in his place would have ran away. Nagai, in the image is shown trying to keep reporting even when he was traped by that soldier, and it’s valuable to ask about the power and courage that made him stood straight, even then and Adrees can tell us about this power that in the end protect us of “losing our humanity”, as you said…
thank you
Hi Adrees Latif.
Congratulations to you and your family. Well done. Hope to see you soon in karachi Best regards
zia Mazhar Photographer in karachi Pakistan
Hi Adrees Latif.
Congratulations to you and your family. Well done. Hope to see you soon in karachi Best regards
zia Mazhar Photographer in karachi Pakistan
ziamazhar@hotmail.com
0092-333-2386689
what a skill!
Adrees,
I’ve followed your pictures since our stint in Iraq. This is an amazing photograph. Congratulations on the recognition.
-Wytt
[...] http://blogs.reuters.com/photo/2008/04/0 7/the-story-behind-the-pictures/ [...]
thank you
[...] case you are interested here is the story behind Laatif’s award winning photograph Posted by hunterskipworth Filed in [...]
Salaam sir, Congratulations to you and your family. well done we really proud on you.
thank your so much..
I think as I read stories like this I come see that there are people in the world that are human. Like Kenji, when I saw this picture. It told a story of a man who loved be a journalist even if it mean his own death. We should not think of how he died by how this man lived.
Journalist was his life and adventure. My prayers are for his family.
Dear Latif,
The moment I processed your pic for our website. I was saying to my editor this is the photo of the year. Great Job my freind.
Mohsin Abbas
former staff The Hamilton Spectator Canada
I will look forward to have your email conatct.
I went to high school with Adrees, he is and has always been an amazing photographer!! As well Adrees is a completely generous and kind person. His success comes from his drive and amazing talent… He deserves all that he has accomplished..
- Rico
[...] The story behind the Pulitzer picture Read the photographers story behind this years pulitzer prize winning photo (tags: photography photojournalism) [...]
Thank you
thanl you admin very macth…
Adrees,
If you still get this, it’s Dai. Are you and C well? So very proud of you when it happened and now I can tell you finally. One day, I’ll tell you a story and why I knew there was Pulitzer in store. You’ll laugh at me, like you always did when I shared one of my ditzy tales.