This year's Pulitzer Prizes have just been announced. The one South Asia connection I see is that the Breaking News Photography prize has gone to Pakistan-born and Bangkok-based photojournalist Adrees Latif of Reuters.
He won for his photo of a Japanese videographer being attacked in Myanmar (see below).
From the citation:
For a distinguished example of breaking news photography in black and white or color, which may consist of a photograph or photographs, a sequence or an album, in print or online or both, Ten thousand dollars ($10,000).
Awarded to Adrees Latif of Reuters for his dramatic photograph of a Japanese videographer, sprawled on the pavement, fatally wounded during a street demonstration in Myanmar.
Also nominated as finalists in this category were: Mahmud Hams of Agence France-Presse for his picture of a missile, caught in mid-air, as it falls on a target in the Gaza Strip while young Palestinians scramble for safety, and the Los Angeles Times Staff for its powerful and often unpredictable photos that captured wildfires devastating California.
From his biography:
Born in Lahore, Pakistan on July 21, 1973, Adrees Latif lived in Saudi Arabia before immigrating with his family to Texas in 1980. Latif worked as a staff photographer for The Houston Post from 1993 to 1996 before joining Reuters. Latif graduated from the University of Houston in 1999 with a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism. Latif has worked for Reuters in Houston, Los Angeles before moving to Bangkok in 2003 where he covers news across Asia.
See excellent coverage of Latif, including lots of photos by him, at Pakistaniat.
See the full list of winners and finalist in this PDF or on Pulitzer.org.
Manish Vij of Ultrabrown reports:
Fiction winner "Oscar Wao" by Junot Diaz has several desi refs.
http://www.ultrabrown.com/posts/revenge-of-the-dominican-nerds
See SAJA's collection of South Asia and the Pulitzer Prize over the years:
http://www.saja.org/resources/pulitzers.html
And SAJAforum's coverage of the 2007 awards ceremony.
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