Outrage as photo of Hamas terrorists parading Shani Louk's body wins top award
By: nypost (New York Post)
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
A sickening image of Hamas terrorists parading a slain woman's nearly naked body through the streets of Gaza has been awarded a prestigious photo-of-the-year prize — sparking fierce outrage from those who slammed the win as "an outrageous desecration of Jewish life."
The grim photo featuring Shani Louk's body was among a collection of 20 images that helped the Associated Press secure first place in one of the Pictures of the Year International award categories earlier this month.
The awards, which are run by the Donald W. Reynolds Journalism Institute at the Missouri School of Journalism, are self-described as the world's oldest photojournalism competition.
News of the AP's win in the "Team Picture Story of the Year" category prompted widespread backlash on social media, with some slamming the accolade and the use of Louk's image as an "outrageous desecration of Jewish life."
3Family photo
"I am DISGUSTED, SHOCKED and ENRAGED that this @AP image of a murdered Shani Louk from October 7th was given picture of the year," one social media user posted on X. "This is the value of Israeli women to you?"
"This is just wrong and sick," another user raged of the award.
Louk, a 23-year-old German Israeli tattoo artist, was among the scores of innocent music festival-goers taken hostage when Hamas terrorists carried out their deadly Oct. 7 onslaught.
She quickly became one of the faces of the war after the shocking images of her lifeless body in the back of a pickup truck started going viral.
3POY
Israeli authorities later confirmed the young woman had been beheaded by her captors.
In announcing the AP's win, the award organizers posted the unblurred image of Louk's lifeless body on its Instagram page.
The photo, though, appears to have been deleted in the wake of the backlash.
As the outrage over the AP's award win mounted on social media, some users argued that the competition was dishonoring Louk's memory by dredging up the photo.
"The family of Oct 7 victim Shani Louk want her to be remembered alive & smiling. One of the world's biggest photojournalism prizes, ran by @RJI, trampled on their wishes, awarding an @AP photo of her mutilated body," one user wrote on X.
3AP
Another tweeted: "This is how we choose to remember the beautiful Shani Louk. We will not allow her memory to be trampled by the inhuman thugs celebrating the AP photo of her tragic murder."
Meanwhile, many took aim at Ali Mahmud, the freelance photojournalist who snapped the image, arguing he shouldn't be celebrated over such a tragedy.
Several Israeli American and American Nova survivors sued the AP last month for using freelance photojournalists believed to be "longstanding Hamas affiliates and full participants in the terrorist attack."
They are suing for damages under the Antiterrorism Act, according to the federal complaint filed in the Southern District of Florida.
"He is being celebrated for taking this photo of murder-rapist-terrorists with the brutalized and contorted body of Shani Louk," one X user noted.
Pictures of the Year International organizers told The Post the selection of photos in the category expressed "the greater emotions related to the ongoing conflict in Israel and Gaza."
"This year and every year, the photos in the competition are selected by a panel of professional journalists tasked with identifying compelling representations of the significant news events of the year," POY director, Lynden Steele, said in a statement.
"While we understand the reactions to the pictures, we also believe that photojournalism plays an important role in bringing attention to the harsh realities of war."
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An award for the photo? WTF?!?!?!
This is the era of the left.
We had Pulitzer Prizes go to people who posted lies and a Nobel Peace Prize go to somebody for simply being elected president.
Of course, we now have hit bottom with this.
This was the Pulitzer prize winner in 1968, did you have a problem with it then?
Many would disagree
I taught ROTC in a small, rural PA town. On the first day of deer season, hunters would drive up and down Main Street showing off their buck.
Different cultures different customs.
Their “culture” is vastly inferior.
You got that right.
It’s an award for the skill and artistry of photography, not for the picture that gave you a warm feeling inside. Many award-winning photographs have depicted death and suffering. It’s never a celebration of the subject.
What artistry though? It’s a picture of a bunch of assholes celebrating raping and killing a young woman who did nothing but try to enjoy a music festival. AP has lowered themselves immensely with giving an award for this photo.
It’s a photojournalism award. What are you expecting? A 4 year-old’s birthday party? Hot girls in bikinis? Fresh snow in the mountains?
As I have already pointed out, these are often difficult pictures to look at. Here is a look at the kind of thing I am talking about:
Eye-Opening Images of War and the Climate Crisis Top the 2023 World Press Photo Awards
What skill or artistry do you see in Ali Mahmud picture of Shani Louk’s broken, raped body being displayed like a trophy?
Why ask me? Am I handing out the award? See above post. Hope that helps.
Why not? I didn’t see any special skill or artistry and wondered if you did.
Maybe because you’re not a professional photojournalist? I’m not either, but I took a class in college. Also, I can work Google.
I mean we can talk about things like composition and lighting, and all that, but the main thing a photo like this is supposed to do is it tells a story. Because it’s news - in this case, about war - it’s usually a pretty upsetting story.
I thought of a classic example. Jacob Riis and his work for How the Other Half Lives . I have a copy of this book, which came out in 1890, I think (I didn’t buy it new when it came out). It revealed the horrible living conditions in the slums and tenements of New York City. The pictures can be upsetting to view.
And that was the point. These pictures so upset people that it inspired a lot of reforms.
Completely agree, good photojournalism may have the power to move people and make them understand a new narrative. Or it may be esthetically pleasing or like Capra’s falling soldier, captures what disappears in a split second.
i didn’t find the perhaps staged photo of a victim as having any of these attributes and was very surprised it won a award.
Think about it like this. This picture makes people mad, right?
But for this photo, would they give two shits about this poor woman? I mean you hear stories of atrocities, but a picture makes it real. Some people here think this picture glorifies Hamas, but in reality, it does the opposite. It increases empathy and sympathy for the Israeli people. Even though it might go against our initial impulses, this is a pro-Israel photograph.
I have thought more about it and I’ve changed my mind. I’ve thought about historical, iconic photos that I still remember, from the Civil War through to today. They are a reminder of a horror that otherwise might be forgotten. Fifty years from now, when people try to defend Hamas, it will be important to have this pictorial history.
Thanks for helping me think this through, past my initial reaction.
I wonder when the photographer was embedded with Hamas. Did he attend the horrorshow at the Re'im music festival or did he hookup back in Gaza as they started to beat Shani Louk to death?
In addition to the last photo the family has of Shani, the photo reminds us that it's dangerous it is to stand outside a pickup truck on the step board as it's travelling.
I’ve since read that a piece of her skull was found just outside the grounds of the festival so she had likely been raped and killed there, not in Gaza were the good citizens cheered and spat on her body.
Makes the question of when the photographer joined the celebration more important. It too bad they don’t do an award share for these awards, I would like to hear who he would have thanked for making the photo possible.
Hamas needs to be completely eradicated from the face of the earth.
This can not be repeated enough.
Maybe because I'm a Canadian, where capital punishment was abolished decades ago, I have always been against capital punishment, but because of what those monsters did to that absolutely gorgeous young woman, there are things I personally would EVEN PAY FOR THE OPPORTUNITY to do to them, but in keeping with this article's RED BOX RULES I wouldn't kill them because If "finishing the job" were done by a woman, it would prevent them from getting their 72 virgins to spend the rest of eternity with in The Garden of Allah.
Wow AP… you all know they beheaded her afterwards right? Probably after performing other unspeakable acts to the poor girls lifeless body. To give these vermin’s any sort of praise (of any kind) is morally reprehensible.
There is no level of torture that is unacceptable for those cocksuckers who perpetrated Oct 7.
Since they have since found her head back at the music festival, that is a falsehood that should not be repeated.
Maybe they did, maybe all they had to do was say that they did.
Again, it was the photo that won an award, not the animals in the truck.
Agree 100%, napalm comes immediately to my mind.
If it is any consolation to the offended, I read somewhere, and do hope it is true, that 3 maybe 4 of the 5 men shown in the photo are no longer among the living themselves.
I'm pretty certain there are playing cards with their pictures on them.