A child, face covered with soap, waits to unload drums of diesel at a jetty in the Niger Delta where illicitly refined fuel is sold on the black market to local filling stations. In many riverine communities throughout the Delta, the entire local economy revolves around the illicit diesel trade, and young children often work at the docks rather than going to school.Samuel James
Since 1948, the Overseas Press Club of America has recognized photographers and photojournalists for exceptional photographic reportage. On Wednesday night, the OPC will announce the four winners of the organization’s annual prizes.
The Robert Capa Gold Medal is awarded to a photographer producing “photographic reporting from abroad requiring exceptional courage and enterprise.” This year, Italian photojournalist Fabio Bucciarelli was recognized for Battle to Death, his project recording the harrowing battles in Aleppo in late 2012. “The battle for the conquest of Aleppo is a real massacre,” he told TIME. “It’s a pleasure to see my work recognized with such a significant prize, and see my name listed next to great photographers like James Nachtwey, Larry Burrow, Horst Faas and Eugene Smith. But the real pleasure is to spread what is going on in Syria and to have documented the lack of human rights in the country.” Associated Press photographer Manu Brabo was also recognized by the judges for his own work covering Syria’s civil war.
The Olivier Rebbot Award for “best photographic reporting from abroad in magazines or books” was given to Samuel James, highlighting The Water of My Land, a story on conflict over oil resources in the Niger Delta. Continuing to photograph the story even after it was initially published in Harper’s Magazine, James learned of the award while “waiting for sundown on a beach with a squad of oil thieves.”
The 2013 Feature Photography Award was awarded to Associated Press photographer Oded Balilty for his story, An Ultra-Orthodox Wedding.
The John Faber Award for “best photographic reporting from abroad in newspapers or news services” was given to Bernat Armangue for his photographs of the conflict in Gaza. “War is a strange universe full of extreme landscapes; also the best place to experience the best and the worst of every human being, starting by your own soul,” Armangue told TIME. “Winning the John Faber award was a total surprise. OPC has always been a reference of good journalism so winning the award has intensified my desire to keep doing what I know best: photojournalism.”
Founded by a group of foreign correspondents in 1939, The Overseas Press Club is an association of journalists working in the United States and around the world.
.A Free Syrian Army fighter mourns the death of his brother, killed during clashes with government forces.Fabio BucciarelliSyrian rebels observe as a comrade prepares himself to throw a homemade grenade towards an army position in the Al-Amariya district of the northern city of Aleppo.Fabio BucciarelliSmoke billows after shelling by Syrian regime forces in the Shaar neighbourhood of the northern city of Aleppo.Fabio Bucciarelli—AFPAn injured Syrian child is carried by volunteer doctors along a street in Shaar district.Fabio BucciarelliThe father of a Free Syrian Army (FSA) fighter mourns the death of his son after he has been killed during the clashes broke out in the northern city of Aleppo.Fabio BucciarelliA rebel fighter fires his Kalashnikov while his comrade loads his weapon on the rooftop of house during fighting against Syrian government forces in the Bab el-Adid district in Aleppo.Fabio BucciarelliSyrian men rescue a person who was trapped in the rubble of the Nur al-Shuhada mosque after it was shelled by forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on October 17, 2012 in the Shaar district of Aleppo.Fabio BucciarelliA Syrian woman is evacuated after being wounded in shelling by President Bashar al-Assad forces in the Shaar neighborhood of the northen city of Aleppo.
The Syrian civil war begins on April 2011 and the battle for the control of Aleppo, the most populated Syrian city, at the end of July 2012. According to the United Nations, more than 70,000 people have died in 2-years-old Syrian civil war.Fabio BucciarelliA wounded young Syrian sits on the back of a truck after an attack carried out by President Assad's forces on Shaar neighborhood. The truck is being used to carry victims and wounded people to the hospital. According to the United Nations, more than 70,000 people have died in Syria’s 2-years-old civil war.Fabio BucciarelliA Syrian man watching at the body of a man lying in a truck outside a hospital in the northern city of Aleppo.Fabio BucciarelliSyrian civilians escape form the battle broken out between Free Syrian Army and al-Assad forces in the Old City district of Aleppo.Fabio BucciarelliAn elderly woman carrying grocery bags crosses a street next to a long black cloth used to separate the area from Syrian government forces' sniper fire, in the Bab el-Adid district in Aleppo.Fabio BucciarelliIlluminated by a Nigerian oil company’s perpetually burning gas flare, boats loaded with drums of illicitly-refied diesel fuel line the river, awaiting their next journey to the creeks.Samuel JamesAt an illicit refinery in the Niger Delta, a worker sits on a wooden boat filled with crude oil. The surrounding community relies on this river water for bathing, drinking, and fishing.Samuel JamesA child, face covered with soap, waits to unload drums of diesel at a jetty in the Niger Delta where illicitly refined fuel is sold on the black market to local filling stations. In many riverine communities throughout the Delta, the entire local economy revolves around the illicit diesel trade, and young children often work at the docks rather than going to school.Samuel JamesAt an illicit refinery deep in the creeks of the Niger Delta, a worker discards boiling sludge, a byproduct of refining, in a pit in the jungle.Samuel JamesA woman takes a break from the rigorous labor of unloading diesel to nurse her small child. Behind her, a man siphons fuel from a large metal drum into a plastic jerrican.Samuel JamesA worker at an illegal refinery in the Niger Delta. The delta’s refinery workers labor in environmentally toxic conditions, and are under constant threat from government authorities and local militias trying to assert control over the bunkering trade. Nevertheless, diesel cooking remains significantly more lucrative than subsistence farming and fishing, and most assume these risks to lift their families out of abject poverty.Samuel JamesIn a dying swamp forest in the Niger Delta, a worker pours crude on a fire to begin the refining process. Entire camps can easily, and often do, explode when the fumes produced during the refining process catch fire. The workers cook under the cover of night to evade authorities tracking the smoke from their operations.Samuel JamesA child in the Niger Delta gathers firewood from land being cleared for farming and fuel production.Samuel JamesA makeshift refinery distils crude oil into diesel. Throughout the Niger Delta, rogue syndicates engaged in industrial-scale crude-oil theft, known locally as bunkering, sell stolen oil in remote creeks and swamps, where makeshift refineries, such as this one, distill it to diesel, then ship it downriver to be sold on the black market.Samuel JamesLarge swaths of the Niger Delta now exist as dead zones due to oil spillage and waste from local refineries. At this illicit refinery hidden deep within the brackish channels near the coast of the Atlantic, low tide reveals oil stains on the roots of dead and dying mangroves.Samuel JamesA woman carries a jerrican of diesel to her home in a village in the Niger Delta where she uses it to run her generator. Due to constant power outages, most Nigerians rely on privately-owned generators for electricity. This, in addition to the fact that Nigeria lacks functioning domestic fuel refineries, provides a ready market for low-cost, locally-refined fuel.Samuel JamesAn elderly woman journeys at dawn into a creek in the Niger Delta. She has made this trip nearly every day of her life, setting traps and catching fish to feed her family. Though certain tracts remain unspoiled, the oil and gas industry, both legal and illicit, has severely polluted much of the Delta’s fragile ecosystem—disrupting traditional livelihoods such as farming and fishing.Samuel JamesThis series chronicles the most recent escalation between Israel and Hamas in Gaza in November 2012.
Smoke rises after an Israeli forces strike in Gaza City, Sunday, Nov. 18, 2012.Bernat Armangue—APA Palestinian woman is helped after being injured during an Israeli forces strike on a soccer field next to her house in Gaza City, Monday, Nov. 19, 2012.Bernat Armangue—APA Palestinian man cries next the body of a dead relative in the morgue of Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, Sunday, Nov. 18, 2012.Bernat Armangue—APA broken wall-clock lays on the floor of a house that was damaged after an Israeli airstrike at Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh's office in Gaza City, Saturday, Nov. 17, 2012.Bernat Armangue—APPalestinians mourners cry during the funeral of Salem Paul Sweliem during his funeral in Gaza City, Tuesday, Nov. 20, 2012. According to the family, the 52 years old Greek Orthodox Christian carpenter was killed when Israel Air Force strike on a high-rise building, in which Ramez Harb, a senior figure in Islamic Jihad's military wing, was killed. Sweliem was in car when the strike took place flying shrapnel hit him and he died on his way to the hospital.Bernat Armangue—APA member of the Abdel Aal family is rescued after his family house collapsed during an Israeli forces strike in the Tufah neighbourhood, Gaza City, Sunday, Nov. 18, 2012.Bernat Armangue—APA Palestinian mourner cries during the funeral of Salem Paul Sweliem in Gaza City, Tuesday, Nov. 20, 2012. According to the family, the 52 years old Greek Orthodox Christian carpenter was killed when Israel Air Force strike on a high-rise building, in which Ramez Harb, a senior figure in Islamic Jihad's military wing, was killed. Sweliem was in car when the strike took place flying shrapnel hit him and he died on his way to the hospital.Bernat Armangue—APA crowd of Palestinians kick the dead body of another Palestinian man suspected of collaboration with Israel and previously executed, in Gaza City, Tuesday, Nov. 20, 2012. The man was one of six suspected collaborators who, according to witnesses, were killed in a main intersection by masked men who forced them to lie down in the street and shot them in the head. The Hamas military wing claimed responsibility.Bernat Armangue—APA Palestinian man cries next the dead bodies of four children in the morgue of Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, Sunday, Nov. 18, 2012.Bernat Armangue—APPalestinian schoolchildren walk between debris of a damaged school in Gaza City, Saturday, Nov. 24, 2012. Schools in Gaza opened for first time since Israel and the Hamas militant group agreed to a cease-fire to end eight days of the fiercest fighting in nearly four years. The school was damaged when Israeli forces struck on a nearby building.Bernat Armangue—APA Palestinian man kisses the hand of a dead relative in the morgue of Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, Nov. 18, 2012.Bernat Armangue—APThis series chronicles the traditional Ultra-Orthodox wedding between Chananya Yom Tov Lipa and Nechama Paarel Horowitz.
Ultra-Orthodox Jews gather for traditional Jewish wedding for Chananya Yom Tov Lipa, the great-grandson of the Rabbi of the Wiznitz Hasidic followers, in the Israeli town of Petah Tikva near Tel Aviv, Israel, Tuesday, Feb. 14, 2012.Oded Balilty—APUltra-Orthodox Jews gather for traditional Jewish wedding for Chananya Yom Tov Lipa, the great-grandson of the Rabbi of the Wiznitz Hasidic followers, in the ultra-Orthodox town of Bnei Brak near Tel Aviv, Israel, Tuesday, Feb. 14, 2012.Oded Balilty—APUltra-Orthodox Jews women seen behind curtain during a traditional Jewish wedding for Chananya Yom Tov Lipa, the great-grandson of the Rabbi of the Wiznitz Hasidic followers, in the Israeli town of Petah Tikva near Tel Aviv, Israel, Tuesday, Feb. 14, 2012. The curtain is used to separate men and women during the wedding.Oded Balilty—APUltra-Orthodox Jews gather for traditional Jewish wedding for Chananya Yom Tov Lipa, the great-grandson of the Rabbi of the Wiznitz Hasidic followers, in the ultra-Orthodox town of Bnei Brak near Tel Aviv, Israel, Tuesday, Feb. 14, 2012.Oded Balilty—APUltra-Orthodox Jewish bride Nechama Paarel Horowitz fullfill the Mitzvah tantz during her traditional Jewish wedding with Chananya Yom Tov Lipa, the great-grandson of the Rabbi of the Wiznitz Hasidic followers, in the Israeli town of Petah Tikva near Tel Aviv, Israel, Early Wednesday, Feb. 15, 2012. The Mitzvah tantz, in which family members and honored rabbis are invited to dance in front of the bride, often holding a gartel, and then dancing with the groom.Oded Balilty—APUltra-Orthodox Jews watch a traditional Jewish wedding ceremony for Nechama Paarel Horowitz and Chananya Yom Tov Lipa, the great-grandson of the Rabbi of the Wiznitz Hasidic followers, in the ultra-Orthodox town of Bnei Brak near Tel Aviv, Israel, Tuesday, Feb. 14, 2012.Oded Balilty—APAn Ultra-Orthodox Jewish man watches through binocular during a traditional Jewish wedding for Chananya Yom Tov Lipa, the great-grandson of the Rabbi of the Wiznitz Hasidic followers, in the Israeli town of Petah Tikva near Tel Aviv, Israel, Tuesday, Feb. 14, 2012.Oded Balilty—APUltra-Orthodox Jews gather for traditional Jewish wedding for Chananya Yom Tov Lipa, the great-grandson of the Rabbi of the Wiznitz Hasidic followers, in the ultra-Orthodox town of Bnei Brak near Tel Aviv, Israel, Tuesday, Feb. 14, 2012.Oded Balilty—APUltra-Orthodox Jews gather for traditional Jewish wedding for Chananya Yom Tov Lipa, the great-grandson of the Rabbi of the Wiznitz Hasidic followers, in the ultra-Orthodox town of Bnei Brak near Tel Aviv, Israel, Tuesday, Feb. 14, 2012.Oded Balilty—APUltra-Orthodox Jews gather for traditional Jewish wedding for Chananya Yom Tov Lipa, the great-grandson of the Rabbi of the Wiznitz Hasidic followers, in the Israeli town of Petah Tikva near Tel Aviv, Israel, Tuesday, Feb. 14, 2012. the curtain is used to separate men and women during the wedding.Oded Balilty—APUltra-Orthodox Jewish men crowd together as they all want to watch the sheva brachot ceremony two days after the traditional Jewish wedding for Chananya Yom Tov Lipa, the great-grandson of the Rabbi of the Wiznitz Hasidic followers, in the ultra-Orthodox town of Bnei Brak near Tel Aviv, Israel, Thursday, Feb. 16, 2012. The sheva brachot in hebrew on in english the seven blessing is a special Jewish wedding blessings.Oded Balilty—APUltra-Orthodox Jewish bride Nechama Paarel Horowitz fullfill the Mitzvah tantz during her traditional Jewish wedding with Chananya Yom Tov Lipa, the great-grandson of the Rabbi of the Wiznitz Hasidic followers, in the Israeli town of Petah Tikva near Tel Aviv, Israel, Early Wednesday, Feb. 15, 2012. The Mitzvah tantz, in which family members and honored rabbis are invited to dance in front of the bride, often holding a gartel, and then dancing with the groom.Oded Balilty—AP
