Tomás Munita: 2013 Recipient of the Chris Hondros Fund Award

3 minute read

Shared human experience.

That was the driving force behind photojournalist Chris Hondros’ work. Moments of humanity, brought into the light and into the consciousness of the greater public. His images — whether made within the baked-clay walls of a compound in Basra, the mold-blanketed alleys of post-Katrina New Orleans or the quiet glades of a snow-covered Central Park — reflected an innate desire to photograph the human world he saw unfolding around him. His work was deeply empathetic, a quality that allowed him to tell stories that lingered in viewers’ minds long after the page was turned. And Hondros’ staff position at Getty Images amplified his reach — his photos sent on the wire to thousands of publications around the world, with the potential to reach literally billions of eyes.

In April 2011, in the very midst of doing the hard, important work that he loved, Hondros’ life was cut short by a mortar round.

The Chris Hondros Fund, established in his name by his fiancée Christina Piaia and close friends, aims to “continue and preserve Hondros’ distinctive abilities to bring shared human experiences into the public eye.” Now in its second year, the Fund offers financial support to photographers who work in the same vein that Hondros did — with empathy, dedication and humility.

“This award recognizes and supports photojournalists who bring the news stories of our time into view,” says Piaia.

Today, the fund, in conjunction with Getty Images, gave Chilean photographer Tomás Munita the $20,000 award, citing his “fierce commitment to photojournalism and endless drive to tell a story.” Munita’s portfolio of work, shot in a wide variety of settings and locales, reflects a strong and nuanced grasp of the human condition. His photographs of refugees in Afghanistan, prisoners in El Salvador and daily life in Cuba all demonstrate just how in touch Munita is with the currents (and undercurrents) of life.

“I would like to express my gratitude,” Munita told TIME. “[This award] is not just a recognition. It is the means to keep working on personal projects, which I am definitely going to do.”

Photographer Bryan Denton was selected as a finalist for the 2013 award; the committee cited Denton’s “rare ability to capture both the complexities and daily life of those living in conflict and its aftermath with an unyielding commitment and intellectual curiosity.”

Previously, on the first anniversary of Hondros’ death after he was killed in Libya in 2011, the fund awarded $20,000 to NOOR photographer Andrea Bruce. Emerging photographer Dominic Bracco received a $5000 runner-up award.


Tomás Munita is a freelance photographer based in Santiago, Chile. He previously photographed Church and State: The Role of Religion in Cuba for TIME.

For more information on the Chris Hondros Fund, visit ChrisHondrosFund.org.


Four brothers from the Morales family in the room where they have to share two beds with their mother. Centro Havana. July 27, 2011.Tomás Munita
El Malecon, Havana, Cuba. July 28, 2011.Tomás Munita
The Capitolio Nacional, Havana. Cuba. October 2012.Tomás Munita
Street scene in Havana, Cuba. October 31, 2012.Tomás Munita
Munita,Tomas - Replacement number for 10117206A
Members of a village go to collect bananas and sweet potatoes to bring back to a farm in the forests. All the food they bring to the village is later shared among every villager. Tsiquireni, Ene River, Peru. April 2012.Tomás Munita
Women collect bananas from their farm in Tsiquireni, Ene River, Peru. April 2012.Tomás Munita
Munita,Tomas  - PERMANENT FOREIGN DESK ASSIGN
Fighters from the Free Syrian Army in Sakba, in the outskirts of Damascus. January 27, 2012.Tomás Munita
Munita,Tomas  - PERMANENT FOREIGN DESK ASSIGN
A wounded fighter from the Free Syrian Army is taken from an hospital into Sabka, a town under control of the Free Syrian Army. January 27, 2012.Tomás Munita
Munita,Tomas  - PERMANENT FOREIGN DESK ASSIGN
A fighter from the Free Syrian Army is helped after he was hit by sniper fire from the government Army in Rankous. January 28, 2012.Tomás Munita
Demonstrators beat one of two infiltrated security officers caught during a funeral of a fighter from the Free Syrian Army shot in combat with security forces, in Sakba. January 27, 2012.Tomás Munita
Rajah Kazah, one of the few civilians still in the town cries at her house, in Rankous, around 30km north of Damascus, Syria.Tomás Munita
Afghans cut meat to prepare food for devotes coming to celebrate the Prophet Mohammed's birthday, as beggars wait outside for meat, in the Ziarat-e-Abulfazil shrine in Kabul. April 21, 2005. Tomás Munita
A religious festival inside the Church of Chiu Chiu, Atacama Desert, Chile. 2009. Tomás Munita
Porters wait for a sack of guano to carry, Guañape Norte Island in the coast off Peru, May 2008. Photo/Tomas Munita
Porters wait for a sack of guano to carry on Guañape Norte Island off the coast of Peru. May 2008. Tomás Munita
A porter receives a sack of guano of around 50kg to carry it down the hill, on top of GuaÒape Norte Island in the coast off Peru, May 2008.  The daily task for porters is to carry around 125 sacks of 50kg an average distance of 50mt per worker, so each porter carries 6.25 tons a day. Photo/Tomas Munita
A porter receives a sack of guano, around 50kg, to carry down the hill. May 2008.Tomás Munita
Munita,Tomas - Replacement number for 10117206A
Policemen search several young men, looking for weapons or tattoos identifying them as member of a gang, in an neighborhood know to be a gang hotspot in El Salvador. San Salvador. August 14, 2012.Tomás Munita
Gang members of Mara 18 at Centro Penal Quetzaltepeque, El Salvador. August 16, 2012.Tomás Munita
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Prisoners in San Salvador. August 14, 2012.Tomás Munita
Wendy Maritza Rodriguez, 38, (left) reacts after she recognizes the body of her adopted son at the morgue of the Insituto Medico Legal of San Salvador, El Salvador. August 15, 2012.Tomás Munita
Edwin Leonel Hueso, 23, a member of Mara 18, in prison for four years at Centro Penal Quetzaltepeque, in the outskirts of San Salvador, El Salvador. August 16, 2012.Tomás Munita
Afghan refugees light a fire with plastic and rubbish next to their tents in a junk dump in Kabul. Nov. 23, 2005. Tomás Munita
Lost Harvest
Clemencia Aymane, age 79, takes her flock home at the end of the day next to the shrunken Loa River in Taira, Atacama desert, Chile. August 2010. Tomás Munita

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