The 2012 Pulitzer Photography Prize Winners

Pultizer Breaking News Photography

For a distinguished example of breaking news photography in black and white or color, which may consist of a photograph or photographs, Ten thousand dollars ($10,000).

Awarded to Massoud Hossaini of Agence France-Presse for his heartbreaking image of a girl crying in fear after a suicide bomber’s attack at a crowded shrine in Kabul.

Tarana Akbari, 12, screams in fear moments after a suicide bomber detonated a bomb in a crowd at the Abul Fazel Shrine in Kabul on December 06, 2011. 'When I could stand up, I saw that everybody was around me on the ground, really bloody. I was really, really scared,' said the Tarana, whose name means 'melody' in English. Out of 17 women and children from her family who went to a riverside shrine in Kabul that day to mark the Shiite holy day of Ashura, seven died including her seven-year-old brother Shoaib. More than 70 people lost their lives in all, and at least nine other members of Tarana's family were wounded. The blasts has prompted fears that Afghanistan could see the sort of sectarian violence that has pitched Shiite against Sunni Muslims in Iraq and Pakistan. The attack was the deadliest strike on the capital in three years. President Hamid Karzai said this was the first time insurgents had struck on such an important religious day. The Taliban condemned the attack, which some official viewed as sectarian. On the same day, a second bomber attacked in the northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif. Karzai said on December 11 that a total of 80 people were killed in both attacks. Published December 7, 2011

Massoud Hossaini was born in Kabul on December 10, 1981, during the occupation by the Soviet Union. His family fled Afghanistan to Iran when he was six-months old after his father, a supporter of the opposition to the occupation was arrested by the communist regime. Hossaini finished high school in 1996 when the “Reformists Movement” was born in Iran, and he joined them as a political activist. As an activist, Hossaini realized that it was important to record events he was witnessing. He chose photography. The dangers of of carrying a camera in the streets of Tehran forced Hossaini to travel to Masshad, a city he had traveled through when fleeing Afghanistan, to photograph Afghan refugees. After the 9/11 attacks and after the U.S. War on the Taliban, Hossaini returned to Afghanistan in the beginning of 2002 and joined Aina org. which was a cultural center funded by National Geographic photographer, Reza Deghati. He furthered his photographic education under award-winning photographer Manoocher Deghati, and was soon being hired for professional assignments. In 2007, Hossaini joined the Agence France-Presse and has been covering the War on Terrorism since.

Feature Photography

For a distinguished example of feature photography in black and white or color, which may consist of a photograph or photographs, Ten thousand dollars ($10,000).

Awarded to Craig F. Walker of The Denver Post, for his compassionate chronicle of an honorably discharged veteran, home from Iraq and struggling with a severe case of post-traumatic stress, images that enable viewers to better grasp a national issue.

Welcome Home, The Story of Scott Ostrom

In today's community of Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans, one in five suffer from post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) or major depression. Brian Scott Ostrom is one of them. After serving four years as a reconnaissance marine and deploying twice to Iraq, Scott, now 27, returned home to the U.S. with a severe case of PTSD. "The most important part of my life already happened. The most devastating. The chance to come home in a box. Nothing is ever going to compare to what I've done, so I'm struggling to be at peace with that," Scott said. He attributes his PTSD to his second deployment to Iraq, where he served seven months in Fallujah with the 2nd Reconnaissance Battalion. "It was the most brutal time of my life," he said. "I didn't realize it because I was living it. It was a part of me." Since his discharge, Scott has struggled with daily life, from finding and keeping employment to maintaining healthy relationships. But most of all, he's struggled to overcome his brutal and haunting memories of Iraq. Nearly five years later, Scott remains conflicted by the war. Though he is proud of his service and cares greatly for his fellow Marines, he still carries guilt for things he did and didn't do fighting a war he no longer believes in.

Brian Scott Ostrom cups his hand over his mouth as he tries to calm a panic attack at his apartment in Boulder, Colo. Scott says it's been hard to find meaning in his life since 2007, when he was honorably discharged from the United States Marine Corps. (Craig F. Walker, The Denver Post - December 29, 2011)

Scott counts the stitches in his wrist a few days after he attempted suicide. Scott said many times he should have died overseas, and during a fight with his girlfriend, she agreed. 'I just grabbed a pair of scissors tried jabbing them into my neck, but they were closed,' Scott said. 'So I grabbed a nice kitchen knife and cut my wrists.' He said he believes every combat vet struggling with PTSD has a contingency plan. 'Every one of us has a suicide plan. We all know how to kill, and we all have a plan to kill ourselves.' (Craig F. Walker, The Denver Post - December 29, 2011)

Scott is comforted by a friend during an argument with his girlfriend over the phone. Sitting on the bed, he started crying. He said the anxiety he experienced that day was brought on by her moving all of her belongings out. Scott said she also took his anti-anxiety and sleep medication. 'I'm not going to be able to sleep tonight - I'm not going to get over this panic attack. (Craig F. Walker, The Denver Post - December 29, 2011)

Scott looks over his military service records and weeps after being told his apartment application had been turned down. The leasing manager said he couldn't allow Scott to move in because of an assault charge on his background check. Though Scott had his honorable discharge papers and his good-conduct medal, Scott said they meant nothing. 'I'm not a criminal. You would think this would be worth something. It should be. It's not, though.' (Craig F. Walker, TheDenver Post - December 29, 2011)

to see more photographs on Scott click the below link

pulitzer.org

Since the Sept. 11, 2001, Denver Post staff photojournalist Craig F. Walker has covered some of the most important threads of the terror attacks in New York and Washington, D.C., fixing a compassionate lens on the men, women and children tangled then, and now, in the continuing story of geopolitical conflict. He chronicled the aftermath of the collapse of the World Trade Center towers in New York, the war in Afghanistan in 2001 and 2002, the inauguration of Afghan President Hamid Karzai in 2001, and the deployment of American troops in Kuwait in 2003, and in Iraq in 2005 and 2009.

In 2009, his photo essay "Ian Fisher: American Soldier" won the grand prize in Editor & Publisher's Photos of the Year competition. His honors also include a first-place National Headliners Award in 2002 for a portfolio of work. Walker was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Feature Photographer in 2010 as well as the American Society of News Editor Community Photojournalism award, and the Sidney Hillman Foundation prize for Photojournalism and third place Photographer of the Year from the Pictures of the Year International competition.

Walker came to the Post in 1998 from the Berkshire Eagle in Pittsfield, Mass., where, he chronicled the final six months in the life of a woman with AIDS. He began his career in Massachusetts, at the Marlborough Enterprise.

Courtesy:Pultizer