A Pulitzer Prize-nominated Ohio University alumnus died today during an attack in Libya, where the photojournalist was covering fighting between rebels and government forces, according to The New York Times.
Chris Hondros, 41, a 2006 graduate of the School of Visual Communication's master's program, suffered an "irreversable and unsurviveable head wound," said Terry Eiler, director of OU's VisCom school. Don Winslow, editor of the National Press Photographer's Association who is communicating with a surgeon in Libya, informed Eiler of Hondros' condition.
Hondros spent several hours in a coma before he died, The New York Times reported.
Tim Hetherington, co-director of the Oscar-nominated documentary "Restrepo," was killed during the same attack in Misrata, and two other photographers were injured. Michael Christopher Brown, another OU alumnus, suffered "light shrapnel wounds," Eiler said.
Hondros was a senior staff photographer for Getty Images, according to his website. He was a Pulitzer-prize finalist and has also covered wars in Afghanistan, Iraq and Liberia.
"This is a terrible day for photojournalism," Eiler said. "Good, young talent was lost."
Hondros was scheduled to speak at OU's VisCom Alumni Day last week, but canceled 10 days before the event because he "felt like he had to get back to (Libya)," Eiler said.
Eiler last heard from Hondros at the beginning of April, he said.
"The biggest issue is the instability of things in the world and whether I have to go back to the Middle East," Hondros said in an email to Eiler.
In another email to Eiler, Hondros said he would be "headed to Libya sooner rather than later," and asked if he could coordinate a visit to OU once he returned.
Hondros first entered the VisCom school in 1995 and completed his coursework by 1997, but did not finish his master's project until 2006, Eiler said.
"As with all of us who teach in VisCom ... we work very closely with our students. Hondros was in with a very exciting group of young talent," Eiler said. "... He was very driven, mid-career and really concerned with covering candid events and being a good visual journalist."
The ongoing conflict in Libya involves government forces loyal to Col. Moammar Qaddafi and rebels seeking to depose him. The rebel-held city has been under continuous shelling by government troops, the Associated Press reported.
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