A photo of a truck with the half-naked body of Israeli Shani Louk, abducted and killed by Hamas, features in the “Team Picture Story of the Year”:
Poyipics is the oldest photojournalism competition in the world. Their Pictures of the Year International award began as a photographic contest in 1944 by Cliff Edom at the Missouri School of Journalism in Columbia, Missouri.
This year Poyipics awarded the winner to The Associated Press in the category “Team Picture Story of the Year” for their article “War between Israel and Hamas” in which they do not even mention the name of Shani Louk, nor even not that she was raped and massacred by Hamas terrorists in front of a delirious crowd.
From the Jerusalem Post:
A freelance photojournalist, Ali Mahmud, contributed to the Associated Press (AP) winning first place for the Team Picture Story of the Year last week for taking a photo of Shani Louk's half-naked corpse as Hamas terrorists were driving it away on October 7, alluding to the photographer's knowledge of the attack beforehand.
According to the Pictures of the Year program's website, the category "recognizes the collaborative effort of a photography staff covering a single topic or news story. It is a narrative picture story that consists of images taken as part of a team effort to cover a single issue or news story."
Other photos, mostly attributed to other photographers on behalf of the Associated Press, were snapped of destroyed or damaged buildings in Gaza, injured or dead Palestinians, Israelis mourning at funerals or fleeing from rocket attacks. However, many of these photos allude to photographer's previous knowledge and possible involvement of the massive attack launched on Israeli soil – in order to get the "shot of a lifetime."
The program posted news about the AP's victory, alongside Mahmoud's photo of Louk on Instagram, where they came under immense criticism from users. Louk's name is not mentioned anywhere in the program's Instagram post.
"There is a dead body of a partially unclothed human being, a young woman who was brutally murdered and probably raped. This cannot be real. Please remove this photo," one user wrote, while another said "She has a name. Shani Louk. Her family specifically requested that we remember her laughing and living. Take this down and show some respect. If you want to post our Shani, find a photo she consented to."
Mahmud, who took the photo of Louk, had his name mentioned in an earlier report when parents of Louk and other Nova massacre victims sued AP and Reuters last month for their employment of photojournalists who accompanied the terrorists on their pogrom and contended that AP ignored close connections the photographers had to terrorist organizations, to which they said: "we have not seen any evidence – including in the lawsuit – that the freelance journalists who contributed to our coverage did."
Awards for photos of people celebrating murdered Jews. These are dark times.
Update:
This is how Shani Louk's family asked for her to be remembered. Smiling and alive.
The biggest photojournalism competition in the world decided to trample on the family's wishes in favor of giving a photo of Shani's mutilated body a prestigious award. She wasn't even named in… pic.twitter.com/y4L4R35bdA
— Hen Mazzig (@HenMazzig) March 28, 2024
Mick Hartley 
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