Massoud Hossaini wins 2012 Pulitzer Prize for News Photography
Massoud Hossaini of Agence France-Presse received the 2012 Pulitzer Prize in Breaking News Photography, for his heartbreaking image of a 12-year old girl (Tarana Akbari) crying in fear after a suicide bomber’s attack during a crowded Ashura ceremony in Kabul. The bomber killed seven of the girl's family members, along more than 60 others.
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 organization, which was a cultural center funded by National Geographic photographer, Reza Deghati. In 2007, Hossaini joined the Agence France-Presse and has been covering the War on Terrorism since.
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