Goran Tomasevic wins another award for combat photography

Reuters photographer Goran Tomasevic (photo)​, has added another trophy to his collection - Photographer of the Year awarded by the Frontline Club, a London-based centre for journalists who cover conflict.

The award, which recognises an outstanding body of work or series of contributions over a one-year period, is for his photo essay titled “18 days with the Syrian rebels”. Awards judge Lee Anderson described the images as “unparalleled combat photography”.

Tomasevic wrote of his decision to travel to Syria to capture the events on the ground: “When a big story like this shows up, I believe my job is to go there and produce pictures. I gave up going to cover the Olympics. It was two days before my trip to London and I changed my ticket and went to Syria instead… Pictures must show the reality of the war in Syria and that’s why I wanted to be as close as I could to the fighters, to the very front line to show exactly what they are doing, their emotions, how they run and fire weapons and also how they react to incoming shells. There is a certain amount of risk and you need to take all necessary precautions but if you want to tell the true story, you have to be there.”

Most recently, Tomasevic’s coverage of the Libyan uprising earned him top honours including an award in the Photo District News Photo Annual and the Grand Prize - as well as a Gold Award for War and Disaster Stories and an Award of Excellence for War and Disaster Single - in the China International Press Photo Contest.

Born in Belgrade in 1969, Tomasevic began work for Reuters as a freelance photographer in 1996 during the anti-Milosevic demonstrations. He was based in Baghdad during the Iraq conflict and is now a senior Reuters photographer in Egypt. He was Reuters Photographer of the Year in 2003 and 2005. ■