A U.S. soldier of 2-12 Infantry 4BCT-4ID Task Force Mountain Warrior takes a break during a night mission near Honaker Miracle camp at the Pesh valley of Kunar Province August 12, 2009.
Marooned flood victims try to grab onto the side bars of a hovering army helicopter which arrived to distribute food supplies in the Muzaffargarh district of Pakistan's Punjab province in this August 7, 2010 file photo. Pakistanis desperate to get out of flooded villages threw themselves at helicopters as more heavy rain was expected to intensify both suffering and anger with the government. The disaster killed more than 1,600 people and disrupted the lives of 12 million. REUTERS/Adrees Latif/Files
Bucharest's residents protect themselves from the crossfire during clashes in the Republican square in Bucharest December in this 23, 1989 file photo. Charles Platiau: On December 22 1989, my mind was still full of memories of covering the fall of the Berlin Wall. I was ready to celebrate Christmas with my family, but the Romanian communist dictator Nicolae Ceausescu changed my plans.
My boss and I were watching Ceausescu leave Bucharest by helicopter live on TV. I rushed to the airport and was lucky to board a flight chartered by the Medecins du Monde humanitarian organisation. We landed at in Bulgaria and took a taxi to the Romanian border. Luckily the border was not closed and I hitch-hiked a ride to the capital on a truck. At noon I simply took the metro to arrive in downtown Bucharest in the middle of heavy gunfire. No helmet, no bullet proof jacket, only the enthusiasm of youth and the joy of witnessing a historical event: a revolution.
With my 300 mm 2.8 and an extender, I shot residents protecting themselves in the crossfire between an army tank and pro-Ceausescu troops during clashes in Republican square. No time for more pictures, just enough time to process and send a lone color print to reach Sunday newspaper deadlines.There were only two phone lines at the hotel, and scores of reporters arriving to file their stories. I kept the phone line open and did not hang up for 10 days in order to transmit pictures and stories.
The picture made the front page of most international papers. It was not the best picture of the revolution but one of the first color pictures to hit the media market. It reminds me how hard it was to get around with cases of heavy equipment (80 kg of gear including an enlarger, photo paper, a transmitter, a typewriter). REUTERS/Charles Platiau/Files
Staff members stand in a meeting room at Lehman Brothers offices in the financial district of Canary Wharf in London in this September 11, 2008 file photo.
Kevin Coombs: This is a very simple story. This photo was shot from the fourth floor newsroom at our offices in Canary Wharf, the heart of London's financial district. I was working on the pictures desk when I noticed three or four journalists looking out of the window. This is a busy newsroom and people don't hang around staring out the window so I immediately grabbed my camera and ran across to see what was happening and spotted the Lehman employees.
I knew Lehman was struggling and I knew that was the Lehman Brothers building. As I was shooting the picture I was really thinking about how best to stop the reflections as I was shooting through thick glass. The people lining up is what struck me first but I did not realise the significance of it until I walked back over to the desk and checked our systems which showed the Lehman share price dipping. It became obvious that this was a crisis meeting and at that point I knew this was an important picture.
The picture has been used over and over to illustrate the beginning of the global financial crash. For me to shoot one of my most used pictures from our newsroom window is quite bizarre, but it proves you only see good pictures when you look around and have your camera ready at all times. REUTERS/Kevin Coombs/Files
A Turkish riot policeman uses tear gas as people protest against the destruction of trees in a park brought about by a pedestrian project, in Taksim Square in central Istanbul in this May 28, 2013 file photo.
Osman Orsal: I was covering protests in Istanbul which began as a demonstration against government plans to demolish a small park in central Taksim square but evolved into one the biggest anti-government protests in over a decade.
I was standing between the protesters and the police as the police began firing tear gas at a close distance. The crowd started to run in different directions, causing chaos. I started shooting and the lady in the red dress was standing right at the front.
The picture depicts the somewhat unequal struggle between the police and the protesters by showing a police officer firing tear gas from such a close distance towards a woman who had little room to defend herself.
How popular this image became has actually made me proud. It was described as "iconic" by politicians, artists, writers and ordinary citizens. I have won around a dozen awards and I was and still am humbled by people's appreciation of my work over this picture. REUTERS/Osman Orsal/Files
The Northern Lights are seen above the ash plume of Iceland's Eyjafjallajokull volcano in the evening in this April 22, 2010 file photo.
Lucas Jackson: The ash cloud brought the greatest disruption to European air travel since World War Two, and the only way to get to Iceland was to fly from North America. I travelled overnight, arriving at Keflavik airport at 6:30 a.m. on April 17.
In a rented car I drove east towards the ash plume on the horizon. The scale of the assignment had begun to sink in, and I realized it would require careful thinking, rather than instant reaction.
For images of the eruption itself I was dependent on the weather.
The plume would be invisible if it was overcast, and if the wind died the ash would turn to a haze. For a photograph of lightning flashing inside the ash cloud I had to wait for several hours on a washed-out road, and physically hold my shutter open for more than two minutes.
To show vehicle-size chunks of lava exploding out of the volcano I had to drive through eight different rivers and up a mountain to angle a 300 mm lens at the crater. On my last evening I was blessed with a show from the Aurora Borealis (Northern Lights) while lava illuminated the ash plume from below.
I will always remember this assignment fondly. I feel lucky to have been able to document the eruption so others could share in the amazement - watching Mother Nature negate centuries of human technology and progress with one of the most beautiful sights on earth. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson/Files
Opponents of Israel's disengagement plan from Gaza scream as they speak with a special evacuation policeman after the forces took over the roof top of the synagogue in the Jewish Gaza Strip settlement of Kfar Darom in Gush Katif settlements bloc in this August 18, 2005 file photo.
Nir Elias: One of the most hardcore spots of "resistance" against the forces coming to evacuate the settlers was this settlement called Kfar Darom. The settlers and many of their supporters were barricaded on the roof of the synagogue and the picture was taken after special forces came to take them down in containers lifted by cranes.
Before it happened I spent a week getting to know the people so that I could get their permission to go with them onto the roof.
I think the power of this picture is that this situation is quite bizarre as on one hand it shows the boiling point of something that had been building up for months and was supposed to explode but on the other there was no violence at all; just some strange moments because at the end of the day there was very much of a feeling of brotherhood on both sides.
It was quite a challenge to get close enough to the people for them to let me go up to the roof with them. I spent a week in a tent on the outskirts of the settlement winning their trust. The forces were trying to break up the people on the roof by shooting coloured water cannons at them, hence the colours on their faces. The only way the people on the roof were taken down was one by one and hand in hand. REUTERS/Nir Elias/Files
An Albanian man carries a child to a US Marine CH53 Super Stallion helicopter as it lands at Golame beach near the port of Durres, in this March 16, 1997 file picture.
Yannis Behrakis: I was covering the unrest in Albania following the pyramid scheme failures. Albanian civilians had lost $1.2 billion and Albania descended into civil disorder and violence. The government was toppled and 2,000 people were killed.
My late colleague Kurt Schork and I were the only members of the press staying in a hotel where the armed owner protected us from bandits who would rob every journalist who dared to come alone to cover the story. The owner insisted on placing Kalashnikovs and hand grenades in the closets of our rooms "to protect ourselves if needed," as he said.
On March 16 we drove to Golame beach where two U.S. helicopters had landed, kicking off a blizzard of sand as hundreds of desperate Albanians gathered in the area, hoping to get a lift out of the country. Blinded by the sand I shot a few pictures when an Albanian man holding his child ran towards the helicopter. About a dozen U.S. Marines jumped off the Super Stallion and pointed their M-16 assault rifles at the Albanians.
The man with the child was begging the soldiers to let him in onboard. The Marines were clearly surprised by the crowd and asked me what was going on, and if I saw any foreigners trying to leave. I explained that these people were just desperate and wanted to leave Albania, and that they thought the helicopters were there to take them to safety. The situation was getting out of control and a few warning shots were fired and people were beaten back with rifle butts.
The fact that we decided to take the risk and stay in Durres paid off. Papers all over the world ran these pictures on their front pages. REUTERS/Yannis Behrakis/Files
Sgt. William Olas Bee, a U.S. Marine from the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit, has a close call after Taliban fighters opened fire near Garmser in Helmand Province of Afghanistan May in this 18, 2008 file photo. Goran Tomasevic: If I hadn't already been pointing the camera at the Marine when the bullet hit the wall, there is no way I would have been able to react quickly enough to take those pictures.
Moments earlier I had been lazing around in Afghanistan's blistering desert heat, fending off waves of giant ants, wondering when I might get to test my new 24 mm lens.
Gunshots rang out from beyond the perimeter of the compound the U.S. Marines were guarding in the district of Garmser, a Taliban stronghold in Helmand province, the biggest opium-producing region on the planet.
I grabbed my boots and cameras and ran to look. The Marines had spotted some Taliban moving around the compound some 200 meters away. I took a quick look over the wall but couldn't see any Taliban. Then the gunfire began again. The Marines opened up with heavy machine guns. The Taliban answered back with single shots.
I thought I'd better go back and put some trousers on. I also grabbed my flak jacket, helmet and some water. As soon as I got outside the firing erupted again.
Sergeant William Bee was there with his M-16 rifle. He stood up and aimed his rifle over the wall. Suddenly it seemed to explode from an incoming round and Bee was down.
I dropped my cameras and jumped towards him. I felt his head and neck expecting to find blood, but there was none. He was breathing, but unconscious.
I picked up my cameras and shot a few more pictures, then went back to see how Bee was doing. When I found him, he was grinning from ear to ear. It was his lucky day. He hadn't been hit or seriously hurt. REUTERS/Goran Tomasevic/Files
Petrol sprays on the Formula One racing car of Netherland's Jas Verstappen seconds before the car and the crew of Benetton Ford caught on fire during refueling at the German F-1 Grand Prix in Hockenheim in this July 31, 1994 file photo.
Joachim Herrmann: I was covering the F1 race in Hockenheim, Germany and was one of the photographers on the pit wall during the race.
Benetton's Jas Verstappen's team had problems while refueling his car: petrol was spraying all over the place before the car caught fire. The fire was extinguished quickly and the driver suffered minor injuries.
It was the first time such an accident had occurred and I got all the right moments: the spraying petrol, the fire, the driver getting out of the car. I used a Canon with a 2.8 70/200 mm lens.
The picture got wide, global play and it is one of the pictures I am known for. People still mention it in conversation, even though it was taken in 1994.
It was challenging not to overshoot because on film you only have 36 frames. I was not sure how many frames I still had, so I had to shoot frame by frame and get all on that one roll of film. What's more, I couldn't return to the pit wall after leaving, which meant I had to find a way to ship my film to my editor - it worked perfectly with the help of an official. REUTERS/Joachim Herrmann/Files
A man clings to the top of a vehicle before being rescued by the U.S. Coast Guard from the flooded streets of New Orleans, in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, in Louisiana in this September 4, 2005 file photo.
Robert Galbraith: I arrived in New Orleans three days after the hurricane struck, and was flown via a Coast Guard four-seat airplane from Alexander, Louisiana to the U.S. Coast Guard Station in New Orleans.
Unable to see anything other than the death and destruction visible through the open door, we began circling and descending and suddenly I saw a man, dressed in khakis, tennis shoes and shirtless, looking desperately toward us from the top of the van in rising flood water. With the helicopter rotating closer, he rolled to his side and clung to the top of the vehicle.
Moments later a rescue swimmer loaded him into a basket and he was raised into the helicopter. We then flew to Louis Armstrong Airport, where he was placed on a stretcher and provided medical attention.
It was odd to see someone, six days after the hurricane struck, sitting on top of the van, a tall can of Budweiser beer and a broom nearby, visible in other pictures that were filed. When he entered the helicopter, he asked of my camera "What's that?"
The story had a major impact on me personally. I've covered many disasters - massive fires, floods, riots, earthquakes - but Hurricane Katrina was beyond category in what I had previously experienced. When I returned home I was in the process of moving, and didn't watch television or connect my telephone for a couple of months. REUTERS/Robert Galbraith/Files
A would-be immigrant crawls on the beach after his arrival on a makeshift boat on the Gran Tarajal beach in Spain's Canary Island of Fuerteventura in this May 5, 2006 file photo.
Juan Medina: I heard about a makeshift boat carrying migrants from Africa was on its way to the beach at Gran Tarajal, south of the island of Fuerteventura so I rushed there.
When I arrived, the migrants, who risk their lives trying to reach European soil in flimsy boats, were being treated by members of the Spanish Red Cross who were providing them with clothes and water. They were exhausted from their perilous journey.
The strength of this image is that it shows the contrasts in our society: on one side of the photograph you have people who seem to be enjoying the sun on the beach and on the other a man crawling through the sand after risking his life at sea.
It was challenging to show as clearly as possible the inhumane conditions African migrants must endure in order to reach Europe. But there are also many things that this image doesn't show but that are very important in explaining why these people risk so much. For example, we don't get to see the suffering and solitude they endure after leaving their families behind.
I believe images that tell the stories of the migrants should affect everyone. Nobody should be immune to the plight of these people. REUTERS/Juan Medina/Files
An opposition supporter holds up a laptop showing images of celebrations in Cairo's Tahrir Square, after Egypt's President Hosni Mubarak resigned in this February 11, 2011 file photo.
Dylan Martinez: I was lucky enough to be sent to Egypt in 2011 for what became known as the Facebook Revolution. Thousands of Egyptians had taken to the streets to demand the end of President Hosni Mubarak's 30-year rule.
When I arrived in Egypt, customs officials at the airport confiscated almost all of my kit but after over four hours of discussions, one customs official took pity on me. He let me keep a Nikon D700 and a 50mm lens.
There are some days that stay with you forever. The day I took this picture was one of those. After two weeks of almost no sleep, one arrest and even a beating by opponents of the revolution, I was happy to be in Tahrir Square the moment the news broke that Mubarak had stepped down.
The problem for me was that the news broke at after dusk. As the euphoria rolled around the square, some jumped in jubilation while others shed tears of joy. The scene was incredible but I was frustrated: It was so dark that I could not capture much of the action. I was seeing history but unable to get the picture.
Then I spotted this man holding a laptop and chanting "Facebook! Facebook!" like a football supporter. Nice moment. I was just relieved he did it in a pool of light. REUTERS/Dylan Martinez/Files
The bomb damaged area of the City of London is seen in this April 24, 1993 file photo after two blasts ripped through the buildings in the area. Dozens of people were injured in the blast caused by IRA bombs. REUTERS/Andre Camara/Files
U.S. President Ronald Reagan (R) shakes hands at his first meeting with Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev to sign an arms treaty in Geneva, in this November 19, 1985 file photo. The two leaders met for the first time to hold talks on international diplomatic relations and the arms race. REUTERS/Denis Paquin/Files
A man rinses soot from his face at the scene of a gas pipeline explosion near Nigeria's commercial capital Lagos in this December 26, 2006 file photo. Up to 500 people were burned alive when fuel from a vandalised pipeline exploded in Nigeria's largest city. Hundreds of residents of the Abule Egba district went to scoop fuel using plastic containers after thieves punctured the underground pipeline overnight to siphon fuel into a road tanker, locals said. REUTERS/Akintunde Akinleye/Files
U.S. President George W. Bush hands back a crying baby that was handed to him from the crowd as he arrived for an outdoor dinner with German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Trinwillershagen, Germany, July 13, 2006. REUTERS/Jim Bourg
Frantic Kurdish refugees struggle for a loaf of bread during a humanitarian aid distribution at the Iraqi-Turkish border in this April 5, 1991 file photo.
Yannis Behrakis: At the end of the first Iraq war about 1.5 million Kurds were fleeing in panic trying to escape from forces loyal to Saddam Hussein. About 600,000 of them fled to Turkey but half of them were stranded in the mountains at the Iraqi-Turkish border.
I hitch-hiked a ride on a tractor pulling a cart full of bread to feed the stranded Kurdish refugees atop the snow capped mountains at the border.
As the tractor made its way slowly through the dangerous dirt road, it was attacked by hundreds of hungry refugees who fought against each other and the aid workers. The men I was riding with tried in vain to stop the refugees from taking the bread but the refugees were absolutely desperate and the aid workers gave up.
Getting up the mountain to cover the story was extremely difficult. I remember leaving the hotel every morning at 4 am in order to reach the bottom of the mountain two-and-a-half hours later. Then I hitchhiked my way on either a tractor carrying bread or on a snow-removal vehicle clearing the road. Once, my hands were so cold they stuck to the snow-removing vehicle.
Pictures like this put pressure on the Turkish government to allow proper humanitarian aid to reach the refugees. It also alerted the international community about the tragic events in this part of the world and received very good play in what was the biggest story in the world at the time.
It was the first time I was covering a humanitarian crisis and I was stunned with the cruelty some people demonstrated towards unprotected humans. I also understood that photojournalism is a very strong medium that can make a difference and help people in need.
Nelson Mandela, accompanied by his wife Winnie, walks out of the Victor Verster prison near Cape Town after spending 27 years in apartheid jails in this February 11, 1990 file photo. REUTERS/Ulli Michel/Files
Sprinter Ben Johnson wins the gold medal in the 100m sprint at the Seoul Olympics in this September 24, 1988 file photo. Behind him are (L to R) Calvin Smith, Linford Christie and Carl Lewis. Johnson later lost the medal when he tested positive for steroids. REUTERS/Gary Hershorn/files
Palestinians try to run away from Israeli soldiers firing teargas during Palestinian-Israeli clashes in the southern Gaza Strip town of Khan Younis in this October 20, 2000 file photo. REUTERS/Reinhard Krause/Files
Soviet Leader Mikhail Gorbachev (L) congratulates East German Leader Erich Honecker with a kiss after Honecker's re-election as General Secretary of the Communist Party Congress in East Berlin in this April 21, 1986 file photo. REUTERS/Stringer/Files
The fingers of malnourished one-year-old Alassa Galisou are pressed against the lips of his mother Fatou Ousseini at an emergency feeding clinic in the town of Tahoua in northwestern Niger, in this August 1, 2005 file photo. One of Niger's worst droughts in living memory destroyed much of October 2005's crop, leaving an estimated 3.6 million people short of food, including tens of thousands of starving children who could die without urgent assistance. REUTERS/Finbarr O'Reilly/Files
Displaced people from the minority Yazidi sect, fleeing violence from forces loyal to the Islamic State in Sinjar town, walk towards the Syrian border on the outskirts of Sinjar mountain near the Syrian border town of Elierbeh of Al-Hasakah Governorate in this August 11, 2014. REUTERS/Rodi Said/File Photo - RTX2GIWQ
Rebel fighters jump away from shrapnel during heavy shelling by forces loyal to Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi near Bin Jawad in this March 6, 2011 file photo. Rebels in east Libya had regrouped and advanced on Bin Jawad after forces loyal to Muammar Gaddafi ambushed rebel fighters and ejected them from the town earlier in the day. REUTERS/Goran Tomasevic/Files
A young Rwandan refugee who travelled from Bukavu with several thousand others shivers in the early morning in this November 30, 1996 file photo before getting back on the road to the border. He was part of a group of some 20,000 refugees, many suffering from disease and malnutrition, who had made their way into Goma after being on the road for over one month. REUTERS/Corinne Dufka/Files
Officials in protective gear check for signs of radiation on children who are from the evacuation area near the Fukushima Daini nuclear plant in Koriyama in this March 13, 2011 file photo. The biggest earthquake to hit Japan on record struck the northeast coast, triggering a 10-metre tsunami that swept away everything in its path, including houses, ships, cars and farm buildings on fire and caused the meltdown of the Fukushima nuclear power plant. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon/Files
U.S. President Bill Clinton (C) looks on as Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin (L) and Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) leader Yasser Arafat shake hands after the signing of the Israeli-PLO peace accord at the White House in this September 13, 1993 file photo. REUTERS/Gary Hershorn/Files
A man holds a giant pencil as he takes part in a Hundreds of thousands of French citizens solidarity march (Marche Republicaine) in the streets of Paris January 11, 2015. French citizens will be joined by dozens of foreign leaders, among them Arab and Muslim representatives, in a march on Sunday in an unprecedented tribute to this week's victims following the shootings by gunmen at the offices of the satirical weekly newspaper Charlie Hebdo, the killing of a police woman in Montrouge, and the hostage taking at a kosher supermarket at the Porte de Vincennes. REUTERS/Stephane Mahe
China's national flag is raised during the opening ceremony of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games at the National Stadium in this August 8, 2008 file photo. REUTERS/Jerry Lampen/Files
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