Last July, Magnum photographer Jerome Sessini was in eastern Ukraine when he heard that a plane had been brought down by a surface-to-air missile.
The French photographer was one of the first journalists on the scene. His heart-wrenching images showed how a field of sunflowers in the village of Torez had been transformed into the horrific resting place for 298 passengers.
For his coverage of the macabre landscape, published in TIME, the Overseas Press Club of America has awarded Sessini the Olivier Rebbot Award.
“I am pleasantly surprised,” the photographer told TIME ahead of today’s ceremony in New York. “I’m pleased for two reasons: one, because it’s a prestigious award and, two, because Gilles Peress is one of the former recipients of that prize, and he’s always been a model for me. He’s covered conflicts with a real analytical depth, which makes all the difference.”
Malaysia Airlines Ukraine Crash: Jerome Sessini Photographs
The body of a passenger aboard Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 that fell through the roof of a home near the crash site in Rasipnoye, Ukraine, July 18, 2014.Jerome Sessini—MagnumIgor Tiponov, 26, in the home where the corpse of a passenger aboard the fallen Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 fell through the bedroom roof in Rasipnoye, Ukraine, July 18, 2014.Jerome Sessini—MagnumMiners and rescuers scan the fields in search of bodies at the crash site of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 in Rasipnoye, Ukraine, July 18, 2014.Jerome Sessini—MagnumA bare patch in wheat field marks where a victim of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 fell after the passenger plane was shot down in Torez, Ukraine, July 18, 2014.Jerome Sessini—MagnumMiners and rescuers scan the fields in search of bodies at the crash site of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 in Rasipnoye, Ukraine, July 18, 2014.Jerome Sessini—MagnumA young victim of the Malaysia Airlines crash is covered with plastic, July 18, 2014.Jerome Sessini—MagnumThe wreckage of the Malaysian airliner carrying 298 people from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur after it crashed, near the town of Shaktarsk, in rebel-held east Ukraine, July 17, 2014.Jerome Sessini—MagnumLuggage at the crash site of the Malaysian airliner reportedly carrying 298 people from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, near the town of Shaktarsk, in rebel-held east Ukraine on July 17, 2014.Jerome Sessini—MagnumThe corpse of a passenger aboard the Malaysia Airlines flight that was shot down over Ukraine, Torez, Ukraine, July 17, 2014.Jerome Sessini—MagnumA firefighter and an armed man look at the remains and the corpses of passengers aboard Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 that was shot down over eastern Ukraine, July 17, 2014.Jerome Sessini—MagnumLocals at the crash site of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 carrying 298 passengers that was shot down near the village of Grabovo, eastern Ukraine, July 17, 2014.Jerome Sessini—MagnumFirefighters at the crash site of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 in Torez, eastern Ukraine, July 17, 2014.Jerome Sessini—MagnumThe remains of a passenger on board Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 that was shot over eastern Ukraine, July 17, 2014.Jerome Sessini—Magnum
Sessini spent most of 2014 in Ukraine, documenting the violent protests on Maidan Square in Kiev, the MH-17 plane crash, the unrecognized rebel-led referendum in Donetsk and the impact of war on local populations in eastern Ukraine.
“My process sounds a bit contradictory,” he said. “I start by covering a breaking news event and at some point, something happens in me and I have to cover that story in the long term. The two are indissociable. I need the urgency before I can change rhythm and take the necessary distance to the subject to produce a deeper body of work.”
Sessini was particularly attracted to the story in Ukraine because it visually stimulated him while holding a historical importance. “I’ll admit it, it was a mix of egoism and altruism,” he says. “The reason I decided to do long-term work in eastern Ukraine is because I felt the local population was the biggest loser of this war. They find themselves in the middle. They’ve been ostracized by the central government of Ukraine, and they are seen as the bad guys because Russia supports them.”
Sessini will be going back to eastern Ukraine in May.
The Overseas Press Club of America has also awarded photographers Bulent Kilic of Agence France-Presse and Rodrigo Abd of Associated Press with the John Faber Award and the Feature Photograph Award, respectively.
Kilic was named TIME’s 2014 Wire Photographer of the Year.
Wire Photographer of the Year 2014: Bulent Kilic
A militant of the Islamic State (IS) is seen just after an air strike on the Tilsehir hill near the Turkish border on Oct. 23, 2014, at Yumurtalik village, in Sanliurfa province, Turkey.Bulent Kilic – AFP/Getty ImagesA man kisses his rescued son on May 13, 2014 after an explosion in a coal mine in Manisa, TurkeyBulent Kilic – AFP/Getty ImagesProtesters burn as they stand behind barricades during clashes with police on Feb. 20, 2014 in Kiev, Ukraine.Bulent Kilic – AFP/Getty ImagesThis photo taken on July 26, 2014 shows flowers left by parents of an Australian victim of the Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 crash, laid on a piece of the plane, near the village of Hrabove (Grabovo), in the Donetsk region of Ukraine.Bulent Kilic – AFP/Getty ImagesA protester waves a black flag during clashes with riot police in Kadikoy, on the Anatolian side of Istanbul, on March 11, 2014. Bulent Kilic – AFP/Getty ImagesSyrian Kurds carry their belongings as they cross the border between Syria and Turkey in the southeastern town of Suruc in Sanliurfa province on Sept. 23, 2014..Bulent Kilic – AFP/Getty ImagesSyrian Kurds wait near the southeastern town of Suruc in the Sanliurfa province after crossing the border between Syria and Turkey on Oct. 2, 2014. Bulent Kilic – AFP/Getty ImagesSyrian Kurds cross the border between Syria and Turkey in the southeastern town of Suruc in Sanliurfa province on Sept. 23, 2014.Bulent Kilic – AFP/Getty ImagesA Kurdish woman runs away from a water cannon near the Syrian border after Turkish authorities temporarily closed the border in the southeastern town of Suruc in Sanliurfa province, on Sept. 22, 2014.Bulent Kilic – AFP/Getty ImagesSyrian Kurds go back to Syria at the Mursitpinar crossing gate in the southeastern town of Suruc in Sanliurfa province, on Sept. 24, 2014.Bulent Kilic – AFP/Getty ImagesMembers of the Syrian Kurdish Altay family try to spot their relative, Zamani Suruc, who is fighting Islamic State (IS) jihadists in the Syrian border town of Kobani on Oct. 20, 2014.Bulent Kilic – AFP/Getty ImagesA Syrian Kurdish woman wipes her eyes during a dust storm on a hill where she and others stand watching clashes between jihadists of the Islamic State (IS) and Kurdish fighters, at Swedi village in Sanliurfa province, Turkey, on Sept. 24, 2014.Bulent Kilic – AFP/Getty ImagesSyrian Kurds sit in a truck after crossing the Syrian-Turkish border in the southeastern town of Suruc in Sanliurfa province on Sept. 23, 2014. Bulent Kilic – AFP/Getty ImagesKurdish people mourn in a cemetery during the funeral of three Kurdish fighters Xahim Daban, Idris Ahmet and Mehmet Mustafa who died in clashes with the Islamic State (IS) in Suruc in the province of Sanliurfa on Oct. 21, 2014.Bulent Kilic – AFP/Getty ImagesMen carry a coffin at a cemetery in Suruc, in the province of Sanliurfa, on Oct. 23, 2014, during the funeral of three Kurdish fighters who died in clashes with the Islamic State (IS) in neighbouring Syria.Bulent Kilic – AFP/Getty ImagesAn injured miner comes out, carried by rescuers after an explosion in Manisa, Turkey, on May 13, 2014.Bulent Kilic – AFP/Getty ImagesAn injured miner comes out, carried by rescuers after an explosion in Manisa, Turkey, on May 13, 2014.Bulent Kilic – AFP/Getty ImagesBoots of miners are pictured in an outside building at a mine in Manisa on May 14, 2014.Bulent Kilic – AFP/Getty ImagesPeople mourn in a cemetery during the funeral ceremony of miners who died in an explosion on May 15, 2014, in the western town of Soma in the Manisa province, Turkey.Bulent Kilic – AFP/Getty ImagesDuygu Colak, reacts as she sits in front of her husband Ugur's grave during a funeral ceremony in the western town of Soma in the Manisa province on May 15, 2014.Bulent Kilic – AFP/Getty ImagesSyrian refugee boys swim in the Bosphorus on Aug. 8, 2014 at Kabatas in Istanbul, Turkey.Bulent Kilic – AFP/Getty ImagesSupporters of Turkey's Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan hold a giant Turkish flag during an election rally in Istanbul March 23, 2014.Bulent Kilic – AFP/Getty ImagesA young girl is pictured after she was wounded during clashes between riot-police and prostestors after the funeral of Berkin Elvan, the 15-year-old boy who died from injuries suffered during last year's anti-government protests, in Istanbul on March 12, 2014.Bulent Kilic – AFP/Getty ImagesThe coffin of Berkin Elvan is carried on March 11, 2014, in Istanbul, Turkey. Berkin Elvan, who had been in a coma since June 2013 after being struck in the head by a gas canister during a police crackdown on protesters, died on March 11.Bulent Kilic – AFP/Getty ImagesKurdish boys play in a field on Oct. 25, 2014, near the Syria border in the southeastern village of Yumurtalik, Sanliurfa province, Turkey.Bulent Kilic – AFP/Getty ImagesA scarecrow like mock anti-government protestor is pictured on a barricade between protestors and government forces on Feb. 21, 2014 in Kiev, Ukraine.Bulent Kilic – AFP/Getty ImagesProtesters build a barricade early in the morning on Feb. 21, 2014 at the Independent square in Kiev, Ukraine.Bulent Kilic – AFP/Getty ImagesA protester holds an Ukranian national flag from a burned building during a face-off against police on Feb. 20, 2014 in Kiev, Ukraine.Bulent Kilic – AFP/Getty ImagesAn alleged sniper (C) and member of the pro-government forces is beaten by anti-government protestors in Kiev, Ukraine, on Feb. 22, 2014. Bulent Kilic – AFP/Getty ImagesPeople carry a coffin of a man who was killed during clashes, as they gather on Independence Square in Kiev, Ukraine, on Feb. 22, 2014.Bulent Kilic – AFP/Getty ImagesAn anti-government protestor waits at the entrance of Independence square in Kiev, Ukraine, on Feb. 23, 2014. Bulent Kilic – AFP/Getty ImagesPeople hold a large crucifix during a procession on Independence square in Kiev, Ukraine, on Feb. 25, 2014.Bulent Kilic – AFP/Getty ImagesCrosses and flowers left by people near a makeshift memorial in homage to anti-government protesters killed in the clashes with riot police on Independence Square in Kiev, Ukraine, on Feb. 24, 2014. Bulent Kilic – AFP/Getty ImagesWomen hold pictures of protesters who were killed in clashes with police during demonstrations in Kiev, Ukraine, on Feb. 26, 2014.Bulent Kilic – AFP/Getty ImagesWomen walk in front of the Dinamo Kiev's stadium on Feb. 25, 2014, in Kiev.Bulent Kilic – AFP/Getty ImagesAn Ukrainian girl cries as she stands on the road with her luggage after she left her home near the village of Hrabove (Grabovo), around 80km east of Donetsk, Ukraine, on Aug. 2, 2014. Bulent Kilic – AFP/Getty ImagesBodies of crew members lie next to a destroyed Ukrainian tank in the northern outskirts of the city of Donetsk, Ukraine, on July 22, 2014. Bulent Kilic – AFP/Getty ImagesUkrainian children take cover under trees as a jet fighter flies over in the village of Hrabove (Grabovo), around 80km east of Donetsk, Ukraine, on Aug. 2, 2014.Bulent Kilic – AFP/Getty ImagesMilitants of Islamic State (IS) are seen during an air strike on a hill near the Turkish border on Oct. 23, 2014.Bulent Kilic – AFP/Getty ImagesA Turkish couple shares a romantic sunset on a ferry on the Bosphorus, in Istanbul, Turkey, on Oct. 17, 2014.Bulent Kilic—AFP/Getty Images
