This is the stunning image of a Royal Marine carrying a terrified child to safety while under fire in Afghanistan which won a Royal Navy photographer a prestigious award.

The picture, taken by Leading Airman Photographer Alistair Macleod, won the star prize at the annual Royal Navy Photographic Competition.

Impact shots of troops in action are constantly in demand by newspapers, and the Royal Navy trains a number of specialist photographers whose job is to supply such images.

Paul Delmar, head of Norton College Sheffield’s press photography and photo-journalism courses, was part of the judging panel for this year’s awards which also included Reuters picture editor David Viggers and BBC world news editor Anthony Massey.

The judges studied hundreds of pictures taken all over the globe by Royal Navy photographers, and by students at the Defence School of Photography in Portsmouth.

Some of the students had undergone specialised short-course training with Paul at Norton College.

Paul said of the winning picture: “This one had everything — a fantastic piece of work.”

He added: “The judging was not easy. There were over 400 pictures, many of them startling images, from recruitment shots and breathtaking landscapes to aerial shots and impact photographs of troops in action.”

Comments

Max Freeway (16/06/2008 15:16:15)
My understanding is that this young Marine was not under fire when the picture was taken. Quite to opposite, he was sitting in an outpost relaxing when he saw the girl and her sister being brought to the base by their uncle. He jumped up and carried the child to the sick bay.
Ask any of his colleagues and they will tell you. It was hardly a tale of heroism – more a case of recognising the little girl needed urgent attention so carried her the few yards to the bay.
There’s no doubting that this is a high impact picture though.

MICHAEL TROTTER (16/07/2008 11:56:07)
Ref. Max Freeway’s comment. do you know what you are talking about? A hero is a hero wether he has walked two paces,100 miles or jumped through hoops of fire, and as far as tarnishing the good name of our gallent service men and women who are doing a job that you cannot even begin to comprehend, well frankly i find your comment offensive. Come on jump on board and get behind our boys and girls who are out there risking there lives for US……

David Blackburn (25/07/2008 17:48:25)
Spot on Michael, Max doesn’t have a clue. The guys & girls out there (I include the photographer in this)are prepared to make the ultimate sacrifice. Has Max been out there?

P J McCool (22/09/2008 23:25:20)
Oh. It’s on google. Must be so then.

Jem Bo (02/10/2008 22:19:31)
the kid probably needs help precisely because nato forces are at war in Afghanistan – pull ’em out now and the civilians might be able to live a normal life

Unhappysnapper (06/11/2008 10:05:14)
I don’t think this picture is anything special. The composition isn’t very good as the photographer is higher than the subject and shooting down on them, it would have been better at eye level. Remember the picture of a fireman carrying a baby out of the rubble of the Oaklahoma bombing? That was the same kind of picture but it worked better as the photographer was better positioned to get the shot. The subject of this picture is still very strong BUT the photographer’s viewpoint is wrong.

Marko (07/11/2008 21:36:20)
Agree with Unhappysnapper, the picture is nothing special, viewpoint too high, nothing to add to pic in background. Take my hat off to all the servicemen/women serving out there though!