FREELANCE STORIES OF THE YEAR
News from APTN

Some of the most telling images of the year have been shot by APTN freelancers whose skills we salute here by highlighting two examples.

Rob Celliers, a veteran cameraman and agency
bureau chief had taken a step back from the sharp end of newsgathering. He'd gone into business - running a petrol station in South Africa
amongst other ventures - but one phone call from
APTN changed the next 14 months of his life in a
way he never expected.

The mission was simple on paper: "take your
camera and a satellite dish into Northern
Afghanistan: then, if Kabul falls to the Northern
Alliance, make sure you're first inside the city.
And, once you have done that, run a live camera
operation so all APTN's clients can do two-ways
from the Afghan capital." Celliers did all that was asked for and more: a four-day overland trek transporting the dish and gear across the rugged Hindu Kush into Northern Afghanistan - on the way building bridges both literally and metaphorically, and
organising global coverage of the first democratic meeting of the Loya Jirga tribal council. While telling the daily story of Afghanistan he found and trained the freelancers who will now maintain a permanent presence in Kabul for APTN.

On September 11, 2001 Gustavo Villanueva was hired
by APTN to cover a scheduled protest at UN headquarters. When news broke that a jet had
crashed into the World Trade Centre he jumped in a cab and headed toward lower Manhattan. When he was about three blocks away, now on foot, the north tower collapsed and in a choking cloud of dust he
took refuge in a nearby restaurant. With his camera
rolling, Villanueva was able to record the real-life horror movie that was unfolding around him.

Villanueva kept working until dark, and his technical prowess, editorial awareness and field craft meant he shot some of the defining images of the century.
To Celliers, Villanueva and all our other freelancers and stringers who give all they've got - and more. Thank you.

The Rory Peck Awards Brochure 2002

• Programme
• A Shared Responsibility
• The Trust in 2002
• Freelancers Deserve More
• Freelance Stories of the Year / APTN
• From the Sponsor
• The Trust and Sony
• Judging Panels
• Judges' Reports
• List of Entrants
  

• Winners
• Finalists
• The Freelancers' Choice 2002

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