In February of 2022 Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the unprovoked and brutal invasion of Ukraine. Putin doesn't see Ukraine as a sovereign nation but rather a part of a greater Russian empire. Cities across the country are under merciless artillery and missile attacks. Civilians are frequently targeted and killed.
Black smoke rises above Odesa, once a playground for Russian oligarchs, families bury their dead, internally displaced people receive food handouts as others board buses for destinations many miles from their homes. The war carries on into a second year as does the misery
Michael Robinson Chávez, a two-time Pulitzer Prize winning photographer for The Washington Post, became seduced by photography while traveling through Peru in 1988. A native Californian and half Peruvian, he previously worked with the Associated Press, The Boston Globe and The Los Angeles Times.
Robinson Chávez has covered assignments in over 75 countries including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the collapse of Venezuela, violence in Mexico, the Egyptian revolution, gold mining in Peru and the 2006 Hezbollah/Israeli war.
Awards Pulitzer Prize Public Service Award, team entry, 2022
Pulitzer Prize for Explanatory Journalism, team entry, 2020
3x winner of the Robert F. Kennedy Award for Photojournalism
International Photographer of the Year, Pictures of the Year, 2020
2x winner Photographer of the Year, Northern Short Course
2x winner Ben Bradlee Award for Courage in Journalism
Scripps Howard Award for Photojournalism
Scripps Howard Award Finalist for Environmental Reporting
Alumnus of the Year, San Francisco State University
2x winner Photographer of the Year, White House News Photographer Association
Daily News Photography, Visa Pour l'Image, Perpignan, France
Pollux Prize for Documentary Photography
