Winner of award honoring AP photographer accustomed to risk

Winner of award honoring AP photographer accustomed to risk

WASHINGTON (AP) — This year's recipient of an award named for an Associated Press photographer who was killed in Afghanistan is a photojournalist who's accustomed to working in isolated and dangerous conditions.

A native of Germany, she was killed on assignment when an Afghan police commander walked up to the car she was in and opened fire.

The package Ohanesian submitted for the prize included five photographs taken during a trip to Sudan's western region of Darfur in early 2015.

The conflict between the Sudanese government and rebel forces in Darfur has been ongoing since 2003, leading to the deaths of 300,000 people and allegations of crimes against humanity.

While violence and deaths have decreased in the past few years as 2.5 million Darfuris have been relocated to camps for internally displaced people, clashes still take place, and Ohanesian felt it was important to show the toll of that conflict.

Because the government makes it nearly impossible to access.

Ohanesian spends a large portion of her time arranging the logistics of her arduous trips into conflict zones.

While she's received several awards over the past few years, she says yes to almost every assignment that comes her way, and she had to self-fund her trips to Darfur and other dangerous regions.