Times’ Carolyn Cole Honored for Bethlehem Siege Photos
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Photographs taken inside the besieged Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem by Los Angeles Times photographer Carolyn Cole have won first place in the people in the news category of the 2003 World Press Photo Contest.
Cole was the only photographer inside the church during the standoff between Israeli soldiers and Palestinian militants last spring. Some of her images were smuggled out and published by The Times during her nine days there.
Cole captured compelling images of Palestinian Muslims praying within the main sanctuary, friends comforting a dying comrade, and five Palestinians curiously looking through an opening of the church’s main entrance.
In the category of photo of the year, first prize went to Los Angeles-based photographer Eric Grigorian on Friday for his black-and-white image of a young boy clinging to his dead father’s pants after a devastating earthquake in Iran.
The contest received a record 53,597 entries, taken by 3,913 photographers from 118 countries.
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Carolyn Cole’s photos from inside the Church of the Nativity, along with an audio interview, are available at: www.latimes.com/nativity.
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