Life and Death in 7 frames

• Prize
  Silver in Editorial/Conflict
• Photographer
  Tracey Shelton

ALEPPO, Syria — Their names were Issa, Ahmed and Sheik Mahmoud Qasim. They were fathers, brothers, sons; a student, a teacher and a labourer. In an instant, they were all killed by tank fire. They are not alone. The Syrian conflict has now dragged on for 5 years and cost the lives of hundreds of thousands of people. The dead represent all kinds — civilians, rebel fighters, regime soldiers and officials, aid workers, activists, journalists. Headlines that track the numbers of dead are easy to pass over when they are so frequent. Rarely do we stop to think about what those numbers represent. This photo series shows three faces behind the numbers. At first, four men laugh and joke with each other, then — in an instant — only one emerges from the cloud of smoke and debris. Perhaps the most poignant fact is that following their death, nothing changed. Everyday, new people replace the fallen in a battle that continues with what seems like no end in sight.

• Biography
  I have worked as a multimedia journalist in Australia, the Middle East and Asia covering conflict, politics and human rights violations since 2005. My articles, photographs and videos have been published globally, receiving 18 international awards. I reported exclusively on Gaddafi’s capture and death in Libya which sparked a UN inquiry, broke news of the Yazidi crisis in Iraq as Islamic State attacked, killed and kidnapped them and gained wide acclaim for my photography in war-torn Syria. I am currently based in Melbourne, Australia, working as a world producer and reporter for the ABC.
• Awards
  George Polk Award: Video news reporting for the series INSIDE SYRIA-2013 George Foster Peabody Award: Video news series for GlobalPost's On Location-2011 ISSTD: Broadcast news and articles on complex trauma and incestuous child abuse-2019 Overseas Press Club: Breaking news coverage – Gaddafi’s capture and death-2012 One World Media: International Journalist of the Year finalist-2014 Edward R Murrow: Excellence in video journalism for GlobalPost's On Location-2012 Lucie Awards: International Photographer of the Year finalist-2015 POYi Pictures of the Year International: Award of Excellence in Multimedia-2013 MIFA Moscow International Photo Awards: Science photo series-2017 Conflict photo series-2015 IPA International Photography Awards: International Moving Images Photographer of the Year-2015 Conflict Photography series-2015 Conflict photography series-2014 The Webby Awards: Experimental online film or video series –2014 TIFA Tokyo International Photo Awards: Gold medal/Documentary-2016 Silver medal/Editorial photo series-2016 Academic Awards: Vice Chancellor’s Award-2013 Student’s prize-2013 Governor’s Prize-2012 IFRA World Association of Newspapers: Cross media award-2009 SOPA Society of Publishers in Asia award: Excellence in News Photography-2008