Support the Trust
The Rory Peck Trust is totally independent and relies on income from grants, sponsorship, and charitable donations
John D McHugh
Irish
Combat Outpost
Shot in Afghanistan, October 2008
Commissioned by Guardian Films
Broadcast by ITN / ITV News
This film was shot over a four-week period at one of the US military’s most dangerous outposts.
On the first morning John D McHugh was there, the base came under sustained attack from Taliban fighters, who were using not only small arms fire but rockets and heavy machine guns. With the only road to the base heavily mined, everyone in it was effectively cut-off. Helicopters were relied on for supplies and to take out the wounded.
The judges thought the piece stood out for the quality of the camerawork and the relationship John D developed with the American soldiers.
One said: “The piece gave a very real impression of how the soldiers were effectively trapped in that base. The fact that they confided their thoughts and fears to the cameramen added to the sense of vulnerability and danger.”
Biography
John D McHugh is a freelance photo-journalist based in London. Since 2006 he has worked extensively in Afghanistan. In May 2007 he was shot and severely injured while on a joint US/Afghan army patrol in Nuristan - 18 Afghan army soldiers were killed.
Last year he spent several months under fire on the Pakistan-Afghan border with American troops for a Guardian multi-media project “Six Months in Afghanistan.” He has received awards for his work from the Picture Editors’ Awards and the Frontline Club.
