About | Adnan Abidi

Adnan Abidi observes the world with a provincial eye, a frame he creates to display emotions from his vantage point. Academics and textbooks never caught his fascination. At one point, Adnan’s parents wanted to set for him a tiny grocery shop; but instead of passively observing the world pass by, Adnan busied himself in collecting photography books and fashion magazines for his sisters from a public library. When young Adnan Abidi looked at a picture of legendary photographer S. Paul with awe, little did he know that decades later he would himself become a two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning photojournalist.

Fashion photography enamored him as he flipped through the pages of fashion magazines, and yet it incited in him a curiosity for “a world of contradictions.” While growing up in a city like Delhi, he saw around him everything from those glamorous faces in glossy pages to mundane faces. Adnan’s father secured him an internship at a photography firm where he was expected to make tea, mop the floor, and work as a dark-room assistant. His father eventually dipped into his pension fund and bought him a Nikon FM2 film camera. Since then, Adnan and his camera have become a witness to the world around him. Adnan understands the process of life and death, never betraying the respect for boundaries. He says his life is “dull," but it's his work that makes his story interesting.

In a career spanning over 20 years, he has worked with several leading news agencies such as the Pan-Asia News Agency (PANA), the Indo Photo News, and the Press Trust of India before joining Reuters in 2005. He has since then been working for the international agency, covering a gamut of subjects ranging from breaking news, politics, natural disasters, economics, and sports to spot and feature news stories.

Awards and Recognition

Adnan’s reportage on the Rohingya exodus won him a team Pulitzer Prize in Feature Photography in 2018. The following year, his coverage of Hong Kong citizens protesting the infringement of their civil liberties while defending autonomy from China earned him the 2020 team Pulitzer Prize in Breaking News Photography.

Copyright

The electronic transmission, reproduction, download, distribution, storage, retrieval, printing or any other kind of use of the content of this website is prohibited without the prior consent. Copyright of all the images resides with the photographer and Thomson Reuters.

Adnan Abidi observes the world with a provincial eye, a frame he creates to display emotions from his vantage point. Academics and textbooks never caught his fascination. At one point, Adnan’s parents wanted to set for him a tiny grocery shop, but instead of passively observing the world pass by; Adnan busied himself in collecting photography books and fashion magazines for his sisters from a public library. When young Adnan Abidi looked at a picture of legendary photographer S Paul with awe, little did he know that decades later he would himself become two-time Pulitzer Award-winning photojournalist

Fashion photography enamoured him as he flipped through the pages of fashion magazines and yet it incited in him a curiosity for 'a world of contradictions.' From those glamorous faces in glossy pages to mundane faces he saw around him while growing up in a city like Delhi. Adnan’s father secured him an internship at a photography firm where he was expected to make tea, mop the floor and work as a dark-room assistant. His father eventually dipped into his pension fund and bought him a Nikon FM2 film camera. Since then, Adnan and his camera have become a witness to the world around him. Adnan understands the process of life and death while respecting boundaries. He says his life is “dull," but it's his work that makes his story interesting.

In a career spanning over 20 years, he worked with several leading news agencies such as the Pan-Asia News Agency (PANA), the Indo Photo News and Press Trust of India before joining Reuters in 2005. He has since then been working for the international agency, covering a gamut of subjects ranging from breaking news, politics, natural disasters, economics and sports to spot and feature news stories.

Awards and Recognition

Adnan’s reportage on the Rohingya exodus of 2017 and later the student revolution during the Hong Kong protests of 2019 earned him two Pulitzer Awards in 2018 and 2020, respectively. Today, his pictures regularly feed the cover pages of leading international publications such as The New York Times, the International Herald Tribune, The Guardian, The Wall Street Journal, The Independent, The Globe and Mail, and the Time magazine to name a few.

ADNAN ABIDI