A presentation by Mr Massoud Hossaini, former photojournalist with AFP and 2012 Pulitzer Prize winner for Breaking News Photography

Massoud Hossaini was born in Kabul in 1981 during the occupation by the Soviet Union. His family fled Afghanistan to Iran when he was six-months old after his father, a supporter of the opposition to the occupation was arrested by the communist regime. Hossaini finished high school in 1996 when the “Reformists Movement” was born in Iran, and he joined them as a political activist. As an activist, Hossaini realized that it was important to record events he was witnessing. He chose photography. The dangers of of carrying a camera in the streets of Tehran forced Hossaini to travel to Masshad, a city he had traveled through when fleeing Afghanistan, to photograph Afghan refugees. After the 9/11 attacks and after the U.S. War on the Taliban, Hossaini returned to Afghanistan in the beginning of 2002 and joined the Aina organisation which was a cultural center funded by National Geographic photographer, Reza Deghati. He furthered his photographic education under award-winning photographer Manoocher Deghati, and was soon being hired for professional assignments. In 2007, Hossaini joined the Agence France-Presse and covered the War on Terrorism. He left Afghanistan in August 2021 following the collapse of the Afghan government and now works as a freelance photographer.

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