THOSE WHO SAVE LIVES

• Prize
• Photographer
  JM Lopez, Spain

The new death threat in Aleppo comes from the sky in the
shape of barrels full of TNT. They are launched from helicopters
of the regime and they can reduce a building of five floors to
rubble and dust. These “home-made bombs” are cheaper than a
missile or a conventional rocket but their destructive power is
much higher. With a daily average of more than 25 barrel
bombs, the city of Aleppo pays the price for so much cruelty
and destruction with collapsed buildings, debris and casualties.

One day Al-Assad’s Army destroyed a whole block with a Scud
missile in the neighborhood of Ard Al-Hamra killing a lot of
people trapped under rubble because there wasn’t any
specialized rescue team. That day The White Helmets were
created with the aim of being the first ones to arrive and save as
many lives as possible. Since then 135 people work in shifts of
24 hours 7 days a week in five different places inside the city of
Aleppo.

Equipments are given by a British NGO but they are not enough,
sometimes it took them more than one week to recover all the
bodies under the rubble because it is something almost
impossible to do with the tools they have, even so they continue
on the front line trying to save as many lives as possible
although the number of lost souls is higher. The dramatic
situation in Aleppo remains silenced. There is no interest in
telling what happens here, Syria is not trendy.

• Awards
  2015 - Shortlisted Sony World Photography Awards Lifestyle Category 2014 - 3rd Place Px3 Prix de la Photographie Paris Press Category - Gold Medal Px3 Prix de la Photographie Press/General News. - Silver Medal Px3 Prix de la Photographie Press/War. - 1st Place People’s Choice Awards Press/War. - Two Honorable Mention International Photography Awards (IPA) Editorial Category. - Winner PDN Photo Annual Award. 2013 - 1st Place International Photography Awards (IPA) Editorial General News. - Four Honorable Mention International Photography Awards (IPA) Editorial Category. - Selected La Quatrième Image Exhibition, Paris. 2012 - Nominated Magnum Foundation Emergency Fund. - 3rd Place International Photography Awards (IPA) Editorial General News. - Shortlisted Vienna International Photo Awards for Documentary Photography. 2011 - 2nd Place UNICEF Photo of the Year Award. - Award-winning ANI-Pix Palace, Visa Pour L’Image, Perpignan. 2010 - Finalist International Prize of Photojournalism City of Gijon. - Finalist Roberto Villagraz Scholarship. - Finalist International Prize Caja España B/N Photography. 2006 - Honorable Mention Albarracin Photo Festival Scholarship. - Finalist International Prize of Photojournalism City of Gijon. 2005 - Finalist International Prize of Photojournalism City of Gijon. 2003 - 1st Place Fujifilm Euro Press Photo Awards, National Feature Category. 2000 - Finalist Francisco Cossio Award of Journalism, Photography Category.