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Karsten Thielker, Pulitzer-Winning AP Photographer, Dies At 54

Karsten Thielker, a Pulitzer Prize-winning German photographer with The Associated Press who covered human suffering in conflict zones around the globe, has died at the age of 54. Thielker died on October 3 in Berlin of esophageal cancer, his wife Janna Ressel said.

Thielker, who started his career at a Mainz-area regional newspaper before working for the AP from 1990-1996, was part of a team that won the Pulitzer Prize for feature photography in 1995 for photos of ethnic violence in Rwanda.

Thielker's career took him to many other conflicts and war zones, including Bosnia-Herzegovina, Romania, and Chechnya.
Chechens duck for cover as a Russian sniper takes a pot shot at a street market on the southern outskirts of Grozny, on January 25, 1995.
1 Chechens duck for cover as a Russian sniper takes a pot shot at a street market on the southern outskirts of Grozny, on January 25, 1995.
A wounded Russian soldier, being evacuated with his comrades, in a helicopter on his way out of Grozny, as the fighting in the Chechen capital continues on February 3, 1995.
2 A wounded Russian soldier, being evacuated with his comrades, in a helicopter on his way out of Grozny, as the fighting in the Chechen capital continues on February 3, 1995.
Two women sit on the shattered balcony of their previously destroyed apartment on Sarajevo's outskirts during a quiet day in the Bosnian capital on August 4, 1995.    
3 Two women sit on the shattered balcony of their previously destroyed apartment on Sarajevo's outskirts during a quiet day in the Bosnian capital on August 4, 1995.
 
 
A Bosnian woman carries corn as a Bosnian soldier passes her in Lopare, a former frontline village 10 kilometers (6 miles) north of Tuzla, on January 20, 1996.
4 A Bosnian woman carries corn as a Bosnian soldier passes her in Lopare, a former frontline village 10 kilometers (6 miles) north of Tuzla, on January 20, 1996.
Photographer Karsten Thielker in Frankfurt, Germany, on July 10, 2016. ​ “So many potential, and definitely unique photos, will no longer appear in Taz, the Frankfurter Allegemeine Zeitung, Zeit, and other publications -- this will leave a huge void,” wrote Berlin photojournalist Stefan Boness in the Frankfurter Allegemeine Zeitung of his friend Thielker’s death. “Even greater, however, is the painful loss of an always positive, deeply sympathetic, and supportive colleague and friend.”
5 Photographer Karsten Thielker in Frankfurt, Germany, on July 10, 2016. ​

“So many potential, and definitely unique photos, will no longer appear in Taz, the Frankfurter Allegemeine Zeitung, Zeit, and other publications -- this will leave a huge void,” wrote Berlin photojournalist Stefan Boness in the Frankfurter Allegemeine Zeitung of his friend Thielker’s death. “Even greater, however, is the painful loss of an always positive, deeply sympathetic, and supportive colleague and friend.”
Making use of road signs, striking miners shield against tear gas and lead hunting pellets thrown by police officers during violent clashes outside the presidential palace in Bucharest on  September 27, 1991.  
6 Making use of road signs, striking miners shield against tear gas and lead hunting pellets thrown by police officers during violent clashes outside the presidential palace in Bucharest on  September 27, 1991.
 
A Bosnian soldier, ready to go to the front line, wipes away the tears of his mother in front of a Muslim gravestone in Rhahic, a Bosnian town 43 miles (70 kilometers) north of Tuzla, on April 28, 1993.
7 A Bosnian soldier, ready to go to the front line, wipes away the tears of his mother in front of a Muslim gravestone in Rhahic, a Bosnian town 43 miles (70 kilometers) north of Tuzla, on April 28, 1993.
Refugees of Srebrenica, evacuated a day before by UN helicopter, walk with their crutches to a nearby hospital in Tuzla, on April 20, 1993.
8 Refugees of Srebrenica, evacuated a day before by UN helicopter, walk with their crutches to a nearby hospital in Tuzla, on April 20, 1993.
A Chechen couple look through the mud-smeared window of a bus which is leaving Grozny on January 22, 1995. Every day, dozens of refugees escaped the embattled city by bus, car, or on foot as the Russian assault continued on the capital of the breakaway republic.
9 A Chechen couple look through the mud-smeared window of a bus which is leaving Grozny on January 22, 1995. Every day, dozens of refugees escaped the embattled city by bus, car, or on foot as the Russian assault continued on the capital of the breakaway republic.
A bus drives past as smoke rises from a building which had been repeatedly hit by tank shells in the southwest of Grozny on January 24, 1995. Fighting intensified, accompanied by rocket and tank fire.
10 A bus drives past as smoke rises from a building which had been repeatedly hit by tank shells in the southwest of Grozny on January 24, 1995. Fighting intensified, accompanied by rocket and tank fire.
A Sarajevan woman walks past French UN soldiers preparing new barricades at a compound in Sarajevo on July 29, 1995.
11 A Sarajevan woman walks past French UN soldiers preparing new barricades at a compound in Sarajevo on July 29, 1995.
Young refugees of Srebrenica protest against the UN in front of a Tuzla hotel on April 18, 1993.
12 Young refugees of Srebrenica protest against the UN in front of a Tuzla hotel on April 18, 1993.
Residents cross over the more than 500-year-old bridge over the Neretva River, which is protected with wooden scaffolding, in the old part of the Bosnian city of Mostar on April 12, 1993.
13 Residents cross over the more than 500-year-old bridge over the Neretva River, which is protected with wooden scaffolding, in the old part of the Bosnian city of Mostar on April 12, 1993.
A French pilot carries an evacuated boy from Srebrenica to an ambulance at the Tuzla Airport on April 25, 1993.
14 A French pilot carries an evacuated boy from Srebrenica to an ambulance at the Tuzla Airport on April 25, 1993.
A Chechen looks toward a Russian checkpoint as he stands in front of the wreckage of a Russian armored personnel carrier that was destroyed in a clash between Chechen rebels and Russian troops in a village 40 kilometers west of Grozny on January 31, 1995.
15 A Chechen looks toward a Russian checkpoint as he stands in front of the wreckage of a Russian armored personnel carrier that was destroyed in a clash between Chechen rebels and Russian troops in a village 40 kilometers west of Grozny on January 31, 1995.
Two Chechen refugee women cover themselves with a blanket as they leave the village of Katyr-Yurt, southwest of the Chechen capital, Grozny, on January 30, 1995.
16 Two Chechen refugee women cover themselves with a blanket as they leave the village of Katyr-Yurt, southwest of the Chechen capital, Grozny, on January 30, 1995.
A Bosnian farmer guides his horses close to a U.S. Army base in Staric, a Bosnian village 40 kilometers south of Tuzla, on January 7, 1996.
17 A Bosnian farmer guides his horses close to a U.S. Army base in Staric, a Bosnian village 40 kilometers south of Tuzla, on January 7, 1996.
Bosnian Croat soldiers pray close to a Catholic nun during a mass at a Sarajevo cathedral on August 6, 1995.
18 Bosnian Croat soldiers pray close to a Catholic nun during a mass at a Sarajevo cathedral on August 6, 1995.
A wounded Russian soldier, who has been evacuated with his comrades, weeps in a helicopter on his way out of Grozny on February 3, 1995.
19 A wounded Russian soldier, who has been evacuated with his comrades, weeps in a helicopter on his way out of Grozny on February 3, 1995.
A Chechen sniper takes aim as a woman looks on after a Russian sniper shoots at a street market on the southern outskirts of Grozny on January 25, 1995.
20 A Chechen sniper takes aim as a woman looks on after a Russian sniper shoots at a street market on the southern outskirts of Grozny on January 25, 1995.
A Chechen refugee couple leaves Grozny with their belongings packed in the sidecar of their motorbike, as Russian forces continue to advance on the Chechen capital on January 26, 1995.
21 A Chechen refugee couple leaves Grozny with their belongings packed in the sidecar of their motorbike, as Russian forces continue to advance on the Chechen capital on January 26, 1995.
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