PETALING JAYA, May 10 : Malaysian-born Los Angeles Times photojournalist, Marcus Yam, won the Pulitzer Prize under the breaking news photography category.
During the fall of Kabul, Afghanistan, to Taliban fighters last summer, he took breathtaking and never-see-before pictures that touched the hearts of many.
“A journalist with a warrior’s courage and a poet’s heart, Yam delivered pictures of unspeakable tragedy,” said the Los Angeles Times on Monday (May 9).
They added that Yam was able to take the photos despite being mistreated by one of the insurgents, being in close proximity with the fighters and he also overcame the technical hurdles of transmitting images out of a war zone.
The judges described his work as “raw and urgent images of the US departure from Afghanistan that captured the human costs of the historic change in the country” which was why he was awarded the Pulitzer Prize.
Yam decided to share the award with four other photographers from Getty Images.
Additionally, the four won the Pulitzer Prize for their comprehensive photos of the Jan 6, 2021 attack on the US Capitol.
Yam’s editors said they employed a journalist that’s “almost radical open-mindedness” to capture scenes that exemplify the withdrawal of the United States’ 20-year occupation of Afghanistan.
Since 1942, his award was the 49th Pulitzer Prize for the Times, including six gold medals for public service.
“You were out there doing amazing things and what you have done with the photography and the images were so important for the world as the word ‘genocide’ really needs to be said. Your pictorial brings it home,” expressed Times owner and executive chairman Dr Patrick Soon-Shiong with great joy.
Yam, 38, was born and raised in Kuala Lumpur. Before joining the Times in 2014, he was an aerospace engineer.
Additionally, he was previously recognized among others with an Emmy Award for news and documentary, Scripps Howard Visual Journalism Award, World Press Photo Award, Dart Award for Trauma Coverage, and Picture of the Year International’s Newspaper Photographer of the Year Award. – TVS
