San Jose State’s School of Journalism and Mass Communications granted the William Randolph Hearst award to Pulitzer Prize-winning photojournalist Massoud Hossaini Monday afternoon for his bravery in capturing powerful images of life and war in Afghanistan.
Halima Kazem-Stojanovic, Afghan American investigative journalist and professor in journalism and justice studies, hosted the ceremony and presentation on Zoom.
While Kazem-Stojanovic presented from campus, Hossaini received the award and shared his work and experiences from his home in the Netherlands, where he’s been since the day Kabul, Afghanistan fell to the Taliban on Aug. 15.
“Historically, [the Hearst award] event has always excited and inspired the minds of future generations of communicators and challenged them to always be at their best, what matters the most,” Kazem-Stojanovic said during the presentation. “Our honored guest today embraces those values and has spent two decades creating compelling and powerful images in Afghanistan for Western news organizations.”
Hossaini spoke about photojournalism’s power to communicate the horrific realities and conditions of war and the toll capturing scenes of carnage and destruction has on photojournalists.
“[Photojournalism] records history and shares human experiences,” Hossaini said during the event. “As one of the photojournalist branches, war photography plays an important role: to reflect the truth on the ground for the public who needs to act or decide.”
During the last 20 years, Hossaini has photographed a changing and turbulent Afghanistan and witnessed the deaths of friends and colleagues.
He was injured 11 times in the process by shockwaves and shrapnel from the explosions that claimed the lives of those around him.
“War photographers always face life's threats and violence during their duty, [post-traumatic stress disorder] and rights violation by their news companies,” Hossaini said. “To record the truth and evidence, a war photographer needs to attend in the frontline, where the risk to lose their lives is much higher.”
Hossaini shared a collection of his work during the event.
Many of the photographs hadn’t been previously shared or published and others included Hossaini’s renowned work including the photo for which he won the Pulitzer Prize in breaking news photojournalism, “The Girl in Green.”
Throughout his photographs, stoic children dressed in colorful traditional Afghan clothing are juxtaposed with the violence of war, which is constant in their lives.
Among Hossaini’s work are photographs he said were shot while he recovered from the shock of an explosion, injured and realized the colleagues who had been standing nearer to the source of the explosion were dead.
“The Girl In Green” was taken when Hossaini sought to photograph a little girl in an emerald-green salwar kameez, a long tunic paired with loose-fitting, cuffed pants, attending a religious gathering at Abul Fazel shrine in Kabul on the day of Ashura, the tenth day of the first month of the Islamic calendar.
Though Ashura is a holy day for all Muslims, it’s especially significant to Shia Muslims, a religious minority in Afghanistan, as it commemorates the anniversary of the murder of Hussain Ibn Ali, a revered social justice figure and the grandson of Islam’s prophet Muhammad.
A suicide bomber caused an explosion that killed more than 50 people and injured 100 more according to a Dec. 6, 2011 BBC article.
Hossaini said he was injured and snapped the photo of Tarana Akbari, age 12, standing above the body of her dead baby brother, her salwar kameez stained with blood, screaming for help.
He referenced Vietnamese-American photojournalist Nick Ut’s famous Vietnam War photo of the “Napalm Girl” that depicted a child fleeing a napalm bombing as her clothes burned away.
Hossaini said just as Ut’s photograph was credited with helping to end the war, he hoped that his photographs, especially of the girl in green, would bring an end to the suffering in Afghanistan.
“But I was from Afghanistan. I didn't have any power in the world,” Hossaini said. “And I couldn't do anything for that girl. I tried my best but just imagine right now.”
Reviewing the photos now is difficult for Hossaini, and he gets emotional seeing them. He said he’s concerned for the welfare of those who were alive in the photo, especially for Tarana.
Hossaini said just as Ut cared for and developed a lasting relationship with Phan Thi Kim Phuc, the “Napalm Girl,” he wishes he could have done more to help Tarana but today he doesn’t know where she is or if she is alive.
He said now that the Taliban has taken control of Afghanistan, he’s worried how Tarana will be treated as a girl and knows she will likely not have access to an education.
“I really wanted to help this girl. I really wanted to find some opportunity that this girl [could] get more educated and do something against war,” Hossaini said. “But unfortunately, it didn't happen.”
He said he hopes to one day return to Afghanistan and until then, he will continue to document the realities and violence of war in other parts of the world.
