Iran War Photographer Wins French Prize

Iranian war photographer Hassan Ghaedi has won the second prize in the photo category of the 23rd Bayeux Calvados Festival in France.

The award ceremony, which honored the work of war correspondents, took place last week and the winners received their trophies, Mehr News Agency reported.

Ghaedi’s photo series titled ‘War in Iraq: Operation Al-Bashir’ shot in April this year, won the second prize while ‘The Prosecuted’ by Reuters photographer Yannis Behrakis, on the refugees off the coasts of Greece, was recognized winner by the jury.

As Ghaedi said, the photographer’s courageous presence in the line of fire, showing the suffering of soldiers in combat, were among the features of his work that the jury pointed out while selecting his series for the award.

The liberation operation in al-Bashir region in southern Kirkuk in northern Iraq, was a success as the Iraqi security forces backed by para-military fighters managed to finally liberate by April-end the al-Bashir area, where mostly Shia Muslims reside, which was occupied by the so-called Islamic State terrorists for two years.

The international jury was presided over by the French journalist Jean-Claude Guillebaud. “Since I was part of the jury that selected this year’s nominees, I was aware that the choice of the international jury would be a particularly difficult one in the light of the quality of the articles and reports in competition. The final result is absolutely astounding. I am all the more appreciative of this award because it rewards war correspondents of all media,” he said.

In the 2016 edition, 50 war correspondents competed in the categories: photo, print, radio, television, grand format television, young reporter (photo), web journalism and video image.