18 October 2015•Update: 20 October 2015
NEW YORK
Anadolu Agency photographer Mohammed Elshamy has won the Chris Hondros Fund award for his coverage of some of the world's worst humanitarian crises.
The award, which was established to honor Pulitzer nominated photojournalist Chris Hondros, who was killed in 2011 while covering the civil war in Libya, came with a $2,500 to support Elshamy's work.
Elshamy, 21, said he felt a great honor by receiving an award named after a colleague who died while on assignment.
"It encourages me to do more work in Africa, the Middle East and wherever I can go," he said.
Since he began working for Anadolu Agency in 2012, Elshamy has served in a number of countries including Egypt, South Sudan and Nigeria, as well as Sierra Leone and Liberia, which were ravaged by an Ebola epidemic noted for its unprecedented magnitude.
Most recently, he covered the plight of refugees along Hungary's border with Croatia, which was one of the major frontlines of the latest crisis.
Regarding his future plans, Elshamy said: "I plan to continue doing my job, trying to show the sorrow of people wherever it is."
Elshamy's work has featured in the New York Times, TIME, The Guardian, CNN, The Huffington Post, Aljazeera, Business Week, The Financial Times, Le Figaro, NBC and others.
He is currently based in Istanbul.
The Chris Hondros Fund was created to honor the legacy of Getty Images photojournalist and two-time Pulitzer finalist Chris Hondros, who was killed April 20, 2011, in a mortar attack in Misrata, Libya.
The fund aims to advance the work of photojournalists and to raise awareness for the dangers facing those reporting from conflict areas.
