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1 of 50Jan. 3, 2013. Pakistani schoolgirls, who were displaced with their families from Pakistan's tribal areas due to fighting between militants and the army, chant prayers during a class to pay tribute for five female teachers and two aid workers who were killed by gunmen in Northwest Pakistan.Muhammed Muheisen—AP -
2 of 50Jan. 3, 2013. Pakistani schoolgirl, Sadia Mukhteya, 12, who was displaced with her family from Pakistan's tribal areas due to fighting between militants and the army, reads in front of the class during an English language class at a school on the outskirts of Islamabad.Muhammed Muheisen—AP -
3 of 50Jan. 4, 2013. A Pakistani woman stands outside her makeshift home in a slum during a foggy and cold morning in Islamabad.Muhammed Muheisen—AP -
4 of 50Jan. 31, 2013. Pakistani schoolgirls who were displaced with their families from Pakistan's tribal areas due to fighting between militants and the army listen to their teacher in a poor neighborhood on the outskirts of Islamabad.Muhammed Muheisen—AP -
5 of 50Jan. 9, 2013. Pakistani Anwar Ali, 13, center, and his brother Hamad, 8, sit around a fire to warm themselves from the cold, while waiting for customers to pose for a picture next to a snow statue they built on a roadside, in Murree, near Islamabad.Muhammed Muheisen—AP -
6 of 50Feb. 8, 2013. Pakistani children, who were displaced with their families by 2010 floods from a village in Pakistan's Sindh province, enjoy jumping on a trampoline in an Islamabad slum.Muhammed Muheisen—AP -
7 of 50Feb. 8, 2013. A Pakistani child sits on a wooden cart outside her family's makeshift home on the outskirts of Islamabad.Muhammed Muheisen—AP -
8 of 50Feb. 11, 2013. A Pakistani boy, left, shouts at children, not seen, while he and his sister stand outside their home on a wooden bridge over sewage and rubbish, in a Christian neighborhood in Islamabad. Christians, Hindus, Sikhs and other religious minorities make up about 5 percent of Pakistan's 180 million residents.Muhammed Muheisen—AP -
9 of 50Feb. 26, 2013. A dog looks at Pakistani Kushti wrestlers, right, reflected on a mirror, attend their daily training session in Lahore. Kushti, an Indo-Pakistani form of wrestling, is several thousand years old and is a national sport in Pakistan.Muhammed Muheisen—AP -
10 of 50March 21, 2013. An Afghan refugee boy, center, watches chickens feeding in a neighborhood on the outskirts of Islamabad. Pakistan hosts over 1.6 million registered Afghans, the largest and most protracted refugee population in the world, according to the U.N. refugee agency.Muhammed Muheisen—AP -
11 of 50March 22, 2013. An Afghan refugee girl carries her laundry on her head after washing it in a polluted stream on World Water Day in a poor neighborhood on the outskirts of Islamabad. The U.N. estimates that more than one in six people worldwide do not have access to 20-50 liters (5-13 gallons) of safe freshwater a day to ensure their basic needs for drinking, cooking and cleaning.Muhammed Muheisen—AP -
12 of 50March 26, 2013. Pakistani students of a madrassa, or Islamic school, recite verses of the holy Quran, in Islamabad.Muhammed Muheisen—AP -
13 of 50April 1, 2013. Pakistani children, who were displaced with their families by 2010 floods from Pakistan's Sindh province, play on a trampoline without paying, after the owner of the trampoline left the place due to a heavy rainfall, in a slum on the outskirts of Islamabad. Slums which are built on illegal lands have neither running water or sewage disposal.Muhammed Muheisen—AP -
14 of 50April 9, 2013. An Afghan refugee girl, center, uses her head scarf to cover her sleeping sister, while walking in an alley of a poor neighborhood on the outskirts of Islamabad.Muhammed Muheisen—AP -
15 of 50April 11, 2013. Pakistani daily laborer Wakeel Mohammed, 38, sits on a roadside with his daughter Halimah, 1, on his lap and his relative Khadijah, 7, right, near their home, in a poor neighborhood on the outskirts of Islamabad. Wakeel and his family fled Pakistan's tribal region of Mohmand Agency, due to fighting between the Taliban and the army, and took refuge in Islamabad.Muhammed Muheisen—AP -
16 of 50April 11, 2013. Afghan refugee children play around wooden carts left in a poor neighborhood on the outskirts of Islamabad.Muhammed Muheisen—AP -
17 of 50April 22, 2013. Afghan refugee boys, play a traditional fighting game, on the outskirts of Islamabad.Muhammed Muheisen—AP -
18 of 50May 15, 2013. An Afghan refugee, right, drinks water leaked from a water point on the outskirts of Islamabad.Muhammed Muheisen—AP -
19 of 50May 20, 2013. A Pakistani man, who fled his home with his family from Pakistan's tribal region of Mohmand Agency, due to fighting between the Taliban and the army, sleeps on the ground on a roadside, on the outskirts of Islamabad.Muhammed Muheisen—AP -
20 of 50June 10, 2013. A horse for rent stands next to his owner as he sleeps on a bed on a sidewalk in a street in Rawalpindi, Pakistan.Muhammed Muheisen—AP -
21 of 50June 11, 2013. An Afghan refugee, center, covers his face as he and others get caught in a sand storm at a poor neighborhood on the outskirts of Islamabad.Muhammed Muheisen—AP -
22 of 50June 12, 2013. Shimraz Younis, 10, prepares clay while working at a brick factory on World Day Against Child Labor, in the outskirts of Islamabad. Shimraz earns 200 Rupees ($2.03 USD) per day.Muhammed Muheisen—AP -
23 of 50June 14, 2013. Pakistani youths enjoy a ride at a makeshift entertainment park set up outside a shrine in Rawalpindi, Pakistan.Muhammed Muheisen—AP -
24 of 50June 17, 2013. Afghan refugee children swim in muddy water created from a broken water pipe on the outskirts of Islamabad.Muhammed Muheisen—AP -
25 of 50June 24, 2013. A Pakistani man and his two sons wash their goat by a polluted stream on the outskirts of Islamabad.Muhammed Muheisen—AP -
26 of 50July 1, 2013. South African children play in a public park in Soweto township on the outskirts of Johannesburg, South Africa.Muhammed Muheisen—AP -
27 of 50July 1, 2013. A group of South African girls enjoy skipping a rope in Soweto township, on the outskirts of Johannesburg, South Africa.Muhammed Muheisen—AP -
28 of 50July 4, 2013. South African children look at a fire which erupted in a field in Soweto township on the outskirts of Johannesburg.Muhammed Muheisen—AP -
29 of 50July 5, 2013. Children, a choir and other well-wishers hold balloons to release them to mark former South African President Nelson Mandela completing his 27th day in the hospital, correlating with the 27 years he spent in prison during the apartheid era, outside the Mediclinic Heart Hospital where he was being treated in Pretoria, South Africa.Muhammed Muheisen—AP -
30 of 50Aug. 27, 2013. Two Afghan children chat while sitting on a wooden bridge over a stream of rain water and sewage on the outskirts of Islamabad.Muhammed Muheisen—AP -
31 of 50Sept. 16, 2013. An Afghan refugee, her burka billowing, holds her daughter as she walks to her home through an alley of a poor neighborhood on the outskirts of Islamabad.Muhammed Muheisen—AP -
32 of 50Sept. 16, 2013. An Afghan refugee washes her laundry in a polluted stream in a poor neighborhood on the outskirts of Islamabad.Muhammed Muheisen—AP -
33 of 50Sept. 20, 2013. While waiting to travel with their family from Rawalpindi to Peshawar, Pakistani children sit on the window of a train, to escape the heat trapped inside the cabin, as temperatures reached 91.4 degrees Fahrenheit (33 degrees Celsius), at Rawalpindi railway station. The Urdu on the train reads, "Pakistan Railway."Muhammed Muheisen—AP -
34 of 50Sept. 22, 2013. Pakistani women grieve over the coffins of their relatives, who were killed in a suicide attack on a church in Peshawar.Muhammed Muheisen—AP -
35 of 50Sept. 22, 2013. A Pakistani girl who was injured in a suicide attack on a church lies in a hospital bed surrounded by relatives and nurses in Peshawar.Muhammed Muheisen—AP -
36 of 50Sept. 25, 2013. A Pakistani child lies in a bed outside his family's makeshift home as a dog rests, in a slum in Islamabad. Slums built on illegal lands have neither running water or sewage disposal.Muhammed Muheisen—AP -
37 of 50Oct. 7, 2013. An Afghan refugee boy wearing an empty bucket on his head waits his turn to fetch water from a hand pump, in a poor neighborhood on the outskirts of Islamabad.Muhammed Muheisen—AP -
38 of 50Oct. 9, 2013. Pakistani schoolboys look out the window of their classroom at other classmates chanting prayers to commemorate the anniversary of Malala's shooting by Taliban, at a school in Rawalpindi, Pakistan.Muhammed Muheisen—AP -
39 of 50Oct. 10, 2013. Afghan refugee children play on the ground in an alley of a poor neighborhood on the outskirts of Islamabad.Muhammed Muheisen—AP -
40 of 50Oct. 14, 2013. An Afghan refugee child sits on roadside in a poor neighborhood on the outskirts of Islamabad.Muhammed Muheisen—AP -
41 of 50Oct. 14, 2013. Pakistani schoolgirls, who were displaced with their families from Pakistan's tribal areas due to fighting between the Taliban and the army, sing with their teacher before starting their classes, at their makeshift school on the outskirts of Islamabad.Muhammed Muheisen—AP -
42 of 50Oct. 21, 2013. A Pakistani girl comforts her brother near her family's makeshift tent in a slum in Islamabad.Muhammed Muheisen—AP -
43 of 50Oct. 22, 2013. Pakistani women and children, collect water from a well on the outskirts of Islamabad.Muhammed Muheisen—AP -
44 of 50Oct. 22, 2013. A Pakistani woman walks back to her home through a brick factory carrying a bed on her head and holding a rooster on the outskirts of Islamabad.Muhammed Muheisen—AP -
45 of 50Oct. 23, 2013. An Afghan refugee child, looks behind her while walking back to her home in a poor neighborhood on the outskirts of Islamabad.Muhammed Muheisen—AP -
46 of 50Oct. 28, 2013. Pakistani students of a Madrassa, or Islamic school, read verses of the Quran, at a mosque in Islamabad. Islamic schools form an important function within the Pakistan educational system.Muhammed Muheisen—AP -
47 of 50Oct. 30, 2013. A monkey sits on the shoulder of an Afghan refugee surrounded by children, on the outskirts of Islamabad.Muhammed Muheisen—AP -
48 of 50Nov. 4, 2013. Pakistani children, survey woods from a burning field, which was used by fruit and vegetable sellers to store their wooden boxes, on the outskirts of Islamabad. According to the crowds at the site, the Capital Development Authority burned the field because it was used by the sellers to store their wooden boxes illegally.Muhammed Muheisen—AP -
49 of 50Nov. 7, 2013. Pakistani youth, Daniel Rahmat, 12, who works as a street barber, sits on his chair waiting for customers, on the outskirts of Islamabad.Muhammed Muheisen—AP -
50 of 50Nov. 21, 2013. Following her daily work with her parents at a brick factory, Pakistani Nagina Mohammed, 7, walks back to her home carrying coal over her head, that she collected to be used for heating and cooking, on the outskirts of Islamabad.Muhammed Muheisen—AP
While hundreds of dedicated photographers contribute tens of thousands of pictures to the world’s news wires each and every day, only the most exceptional photojournalists manage to routinely make pictures that offer fresh perspectives on the events that define our era. Established photographers like David Guttenfelder and Jerome Delay with the Associated Press and Goran Tomasevic with Reuters, as well as less-familiar names like Ali Ali with EPA and Mohammed Al-Shaikh with Agence-France Presse, have time and again produced outstanding work over the past 12 months.
But throughout the year, one name has stood out from the rest: Associated Press photographer Muhammed Muheisen. At-once authoritative and distinctive, Muheisen’s photographs have become indispensable for news outlets the world over; in fact, throughout 2013, Muheisen earned distinction as the photographer whose work appeared most often in LightBox’s Pictures of the Week feature.
Inspired by a spirit of humanism and driven by an appreciation of the ensuring power of the visual narrative, Muheisen’s work consistently surprises. For these and for so many other admirable qualities in his work, we are proud to name Islamabad-based Muhammed Muheisen as TIME’s choice for the Wire Photographer of the Year.
TIME asked Muheisen to keep a video diary, adding sound and motion to his photographic record of his travels and his assignments:
The 31-year-old Jordanian national, whose work we featured on LightBox earlier in the year, was part of the AP team of photographers awarded the 2013 Pulitzer Prize for Breaking News Photography for coverage of the civil war in Syria — the second Pulitzer Muheisen has received since joining the AP at the age of 19. Now the AP’s Chief Photographer in Pakistan, Muheisen is responsible for daily coverage of news and features in the region.
In 2013, he brought his singular talents to the streets of South Africa to document the uncertainties sparked by Nelson Mandela’s ailing health. He continued, meanwhile, to produce enchanting images of daily life in and around Islamabad, where he has been based for the past three years.
Even before he begins covering the day’s news, Muheisen — a photographer who clearly lives for his work — turns his eyes to the streets, searching for the telling moment in the city awakening around him. He rises early to catch the morning light trickling through the dusty slums on the outskirts of the city. Or he heads to a local school to make pictures of children as they play, work and study.
“I love the quietness of this hour,” he tells TIME, adding that he seeks out “scenes that carry a message of life or joy. It is not only my project, but my passion.”
Although many of the children he photographs are refugees, living on the edge of conflict, Muheisen’s images often capture the innocent cheer and simplicity of his subject’s life, all while managing to evade the countless photographic cliches that such scenes so often present. Born in Jerusalem, Muheisen is no stranger to conflict himself, and his later experiences covering wars in Iraq and Syria have reinforced his commitment to illuminating the lives — and the struggles — of his subjects.
“All the children of the world share something in common, wherever they are from,” he says. “An image of boys and girls skipping rope: that could happen anywhere in the world. Children are powerless, and I always do my best to let my image be their voice, and let my picture carry their voice to the outside world.”
Viewers everywhere are richer for Muheisen’s compassion, his devotion to his craft and his unwavering, unblinking engagement with the lives and the issues around him.
TIME’s previous wire photographers of the year:
2012: Marco Longari of AFP
2011: Pete Muller of the Associated Press
2010: Mauricio Lima of Agence-France Press
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