Chris Hondros

123
Chris Hondros bigraphy, stories - American war photographer

Chris Hondros : biography

March 14, 1970 – April 20, 2011

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

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 injuring 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 was later flown to the United States for treatment in a Boston hospital. Hondros won dozens of international awards for the images. 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.

In an interview, Hondros stated:

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.

Hondros studied English literature at North Carolina State University where he also worked for the Technician, the campus newspaper. After graduating from State in 1993, Hondros moved to Athens, Ohio, and earned a Master’s degree at Ohio University School of Visual Communications. 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.

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.

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

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)

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. A source said that the group was traveling with rebel fighters. According to The New York Times, Hondros died from his injuries as a result of severe brain trauma.

Awards

Hondros’s images received many awards:

2003
  • World Press Photo, Amsterdam: Honorable Mention, Spot News
  • Overseas Press Club, New York: John Faber Award Overseas Press Club. Accessed April 20, 2011.
2004
  • Pulitzer Prize for Breaking News Photography: Nominated Finalist for his work in Liberia Accessed April 20, 2011.
  • Pictures of the Year International Competition, Missouri School of Journalism: 3rd Place and Honourable Mention, Conflict Pictures of the Year International, Missouri School of Journalism. Accessed April 20, 2011.
2005
  • World Press Photo, Amsterdam: Second Prize, Spot News
2006
  • Overseas Press Club, New York: Robert Capa Gold Medal for "exceptional courage and enterprise” in his work from Iraq Overseas Press Club. Accessed April 20, 2011.
2007
  • American Photo magazine: named "Hero of Photography" for his work in Iraq
  • Days Japan International Photojournalism Awards: First Place
2008
  • National Magazine Awards: nominee for his essay "A Window on Baghdad" National Magazine Awards, American Society of Magazine Editors. Accessed April 20, 2011.