The Stunning Work of a Pulitzer-Winning Photographer Killed by the Taliban

Jul 18, 2023

An exhausted Rohingya refugee woman touches the shore after crossing the Bangladesh-Myanmar border by boat through the Bay of Bengal, 2017.

In 2021, while on assignment for Reuters news agency in Afghanistan, Pulitzer-winning photographer Danish Siddiqui was killed after the Afghani special forces he was with came under fire by the Taliban.

His untimely death serves as a reminder of the dangers journalists and photographers face when heading into a live war zone.

Siddiqui’s photos have now been collated into a new book that showcases the photos he captured in his native country of India and beyond.

A man feeds seagulls on a beach. — A man feeds seagulls on a beach along the Arabian Sea in Mumbai, India, 2016.

Maharashtrian women dressed in traditional costumes attend celebrations to mark the Gudi Padwa festival in Mumbai, 2015.

A girl plays with street dogs. — Shazia, a six year-old-girl, plays with street dogs on bamboo sticks at a timber market in Mumbai, 2014.

Cinema goers watch Bollywood movie *Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge* (The Big Hearted Will Take the Bride) in a theater in Mumbai, 2010.

Questions remain over precisely what happened to Siddiqui, but grim reports over his fate include his body being mutilated by the Taliban who allegedly displayed it in a town center.

A Reuters investigation found that Siddiqui was left behind by retreating Afghan forces after some confusion. A commander believed the photographer and two other soldiers were safely on a convoy when they were convalescing in a mosque.

The New York Times said they had seen multiple photographs of Siddiqui’s body that show nearly a dozen bullet wounds and tire marks on his face and chest.

The Taliban have denied any wrongdoing, saying that they were under orders to treat bodies with respect. Sidiqqui’s death happened during the chaotic withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan which allowed the Taliban to take back control of the country.

Participants take part in Queer Azaadi, an event promoting gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender rights in Mumbai, 2010.

A man performs Mallakhamb (gymnast’s pole) during a practice session at a playground in Mumbai, 2010.

Devotees pray after taking a holy dip at Sangam, the confluence of the Ganges, Yamuna, and Saraswati rivers, during “Kumbh Mela”, or the Pitcher Festival, in Prayagraj, 2019.

A Hindu holy man wears a mask before the procession for taking a dip in the Ganges river — A Naga Sadhu, or Hindu holy man wears a mask before the procession for taking a dip in the Ganges river during Shahi Snan at “Kumbh Mela”, or the Pitcher Festival, amidst the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), 2021.

A woman with a breathing problem receives oxygen support for free in her car at a Gurudwara (Sikh temple) in Ghaziabad, India, 2021.

An Afghan boy works at a construction site as a U.S. Army soldier of 3/1 AD Task Force Bulldog takes position during a joint patrol with Afghan National Army (ANA) in a village in Kherwar district in Logar province, eastern Afghanistan, 2012.

Afghan women clad in burqa walk up a hill at the old part of Kabul, 2012.

Portrait of Danish Siddiqui. | Berna Paraera.

Siddiqui won two Pulitzer prizes; the first one, in 2018, was for his role documenting the Rohingya refugee crisis. And in 2022, he was awarded the price posthumously for his images of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Danish Siddiqui is publised by Kehrer Verlag and is avaialble to purchase here.

Image credits: All photos by Danish Siddiqui/Reuters (unless otherwise stated).