Photographer Jonathan Alpeyrie recounts Syrian hostage ordeal

On 29 April, Jonathan Alpeyrie, a French-American photographer, was abducted in Syria. Eighty-one days later, he was sold for $450,000 and returned to Paris. He recounts his ordeal to Le Journal de la Photographie and Paris Match.

Jonathan Alpeyrie was on his third trip to Syria when, on 29 April, he fell into a trap and was abducted. “I got into a 4×4 with a Katiba officer, my fixer and two soldiers. We came to a checkpoint where masked men pulled me out of the car, forced me to kneel and pretended to execute me,” he tells Michel Puech at Le Journal de la Photographie.

 In his account, Alpeyrie discusses his 81 days of captivity, which he spent, at times, handcuffed to a bed “with five or six soldiers and two Islamists. One day, a young soldier, who looked crazy and made me uneasy, wanted to execute me because I had gone to the bathroom without asking for permission. He put his machine gun against my forehead but the others yelled at him and sent him away,” he explains……....READ MORE

Jonathan Alpeyrie © Michel Puech.

 

Read more: http://www.bjp-online.com/british-journal-of-photography/news/2286266/photographer-jonathan-alpeyrie-recounts-syrian-hostage-ordeal#ixzz2bNmQBHkY 
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Rémi Ochlik

I was in Syria in 2009, I was struck by how really friendly everyone was, it is so sad what is happening there now. That sadness is not confined to the courageous Syrian people but also to the journalists who cover the unfolding ruthlessness of the regime.

From the BJP by Olivier Laurent

“Rémi Ochlik was killed in Homs, Syria on 22 February. Friends and colleagues tell BJP what made the young photographer one of a kind – “a man who knew better than take unnecessary risks…..When Paris Match asked Rémi Ochlik and writer Alfred de Montesquiou to leave Syria as their security became an issue, the 28-year-old freelance photographer looked at his photos. “He wasn’t happy,” writes de Montesquiou. “He wanted better. He wanted images that truly showed the tragedy and the violence being waged against the Syrian people.” But before going back on his own, using a network of fixers and militants, Ochlik took an insurance policy. “He knew better than going into Syria on his own without preparing for all eventualities,” says photographer Olivier Laban-Mattei, one of Ochlik close friends and co-workers. “He knew what he was doing.”….MORE

Here is a link to an article in The Guardian that has a selection of Rémi Ochlik’s images