People who don't wear protective masks when they take CW

Let ordinary people wear protective masks, feel the difficulties of the OPCW work, and become a public awareness campaign in the Nobel Prizes week.

Follow the Nobel Prize Winner "Organization for Prohibition of Chemical Weapons" for dangerous shooting

The 2013 Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), headquartered in The Hague, the Netherlands. Because of the awards, the organization began to stand in the spotlight of the world stage. How is their work done? What is the significance to humanity?

During the Nobel Prize Ceremony, our reporter interviewed the only photographer in the world who followed the OPCW, the world-renowned field photographer and the 10th World Press Photographer Paul Pellegrin. He talked about the OPCW in his eyes. .

In October 2013, an international long distance call from Oslo hit the OPCW headquarters in The Hague, the Netherlands. A man with a Nordic accent speaks in English 30 minutes later and they will announce to the world the 2013 Nobel Peace Prize awarded to OPCW.

OPCW has never been photographed in the 15 years since its inception

"I'm sorry, we are in a meeting." The staff of the OPCW office who answered the phone said that he would hang up after replying later.

Five minutes before the announcement of the Nobel Prize, Ahmed Yuzumhu, Director General of OPCW, took the phone back from the busy regular meeting and confirmed that it was not a prank.

OPCW's award was "in recognition of its contribution to the overall destruction of chemical weapons." This award not only focuses on existing achievements, but also has the expectation of promoting the future universal prohibition of chemical weapons.

However, for most ordinary people, the establishment of OPCW for 15 years is an almost completely unfamiliar organization. What is the prohibition of chemical weapons? This is a public question.

As of December 2012, the OPCW has 188 member states. Among them, China signed the "Prohibition of Chemical Weapons Convention" as early as 20 years ago and became the original contracting party to the OPCW Convention. Since this year's Syrian Chemical Warfare crisis, OPCW has organized experts from various countries to enter Syria and has conducted professional and scientific assessments of the use of chemical weapons in Syria and has been recognized by the international community.

However, the daily dangers and challenges faced by the OPCW staff cannot always be directly recognized by more people without professional knowledge. Although there is a professional photographer in the OPCW organization, he is only responsible for internal conference shooting. In the 15 years since its establishment, no one outside has followed the OPCW staff to photograph the entire process of destroying chemical weapons.

Dangerous warfare reporters selected for follow-up list

As a result, the selection of well-known photographers in the world to take photos with OPCW became the most urgent issue before the Nobel Peace Prize award ceremony.

The time left is less than 60 days. Paolo Pellegrin, a 49-year-old Magnum photographer, passed through several rounds of interviews and was eventually selected.

Paolo Pellegrin’s personal experience as a well-known field photographer is rich. His footprints include Iraq, Afghanistan, the former Yugoslavia, Libya, Syria, Zambia, etc. Wars, terrorist attacks, hunger, Death, refugees... These are the focus of Paul's work for more than 20 years.

In 1964, Paul Pelegin was born in a middle-class family in Rome, Italy, and his parents were both architects. When he was originally a student majoring in architecture in college, he suddenly felt that he could no longer insist on the construction of this road. Photography was what he wanted to pursue.

At the age of 30, Paul photographed at his own expense the first project that allowed him to gain prestige in the world photography community: AIDS in Uganda. Subsequently, Paul's filming areas included Afghanistan, Africa, and the Middle East. At the age of 37, Paul was nominated by the world-renowned photography agency Magnum Photo Agency. In that year, he won the first World News Photography Award (also known as the Hessian Prize) for his photography report on anti-terrorism in Algeria. ).

Since then, his World Press Photography Award winners include: Arafat's funeral, the death of Pope Paul II, the Lebanon war, the war in Afghanistan, Guantanamo prison, the Japanese tsunami and so on.

Until this year, Paul, a fan of Canon's 5D mark II, enjoyed a total of ten World Press Awards.

When talking about shooting OPCW, Paul, who was not wearing protective clothing during the entire process, said that his favorite work was not wearing a mask but a facial expression under the mask.

"I can't be tired of shooting for a long time in the face of death and disaster. But I haven't stopped when I'm bored. That's the motivation," said Paul, who had recently taken a leg injury in Mongolia.

Dialogue Paul Pelegin "Destruction of chemical weapons is important to all people"

Reporter: How did the shooting of the OPCW begin?

Paul: After the Nobel Prize was announced in October, the Nobel staff contacted me and hoped I could shoot the OPCW. At the time, like other people, I knew from the overwhelming news that there was an organization called OPCW, but I didn't know much about it. When the Nobel Peace Prize made an invitation, I felt that it was a positive and meaningful shooting project. I hope I can go to Syria with the OPCW. I also feel honored to be selected by the Nobel Prize.

Afterwards, I flew to the OPCW headquarters in The Hague, the Netherlands, and began to familiarize myself with the work of the OPCW observers. I hope to go with them to Syria. However, because the Syrian government did not allow photojournalists to enter, I did not fully enter. Fortunately in Libya, although my visa was very difficult, but in the end Libya still let me in. This is also the first time that reporters have actually looked at how OPCW works in reality.

Reporter: I saw the front of the OPCW exhibition. An anti-chemical mask can delay the 45-second gas leak and give staff sufficient response time. Do you need protective equipment for chemical weapons when shooting?

Paul: No, I don't. Although I took related training with the new employee of OPCW, I did not wear protective equipment when shooting. This is not easy to shoot.

Reporter: Your shooting subject is mostly war, death, and refugees. What's new in this experience?

Paul: I think it's a privilege for me to shoot such a theme. Their work on the destruction of chemical weapons is of great importance to all people in the world. I can get permission to travel with them and work together. I participated, I witnessed, and I communicated to the public the significance of their work. This is also my honor.

It took only 1 day to really shoot

Reporter: Compared with your previous experience in the battlefield and refugee camps, what is the difficulty with taking OPCW?

Paul: There is no difficulty in making OPCs. The difficulty is that the work of OPCW is focused on how to destroy and handle chemical weapons. I want to use the screen to convey the meaning of the work of the OPCW. Before taking pictures, I did homework, received training, and knew what they wanted to do and what the working procedures were like. The difficulty in taking pictures is how to use pictures to tell people the meaning of these working procedures.

Reporter: How do you choose angles and followers when taking photos?

Paul: Which group of experts to follow is not something I can choose. Even if I can choose, I will not specifically choose a group of people. I just observed and found points that I think are of interest. Before the shooting, I will not be interviewed with the photographed OPCW experts to understand their background and story. All I have to do is shoot and let OPCW naturally present their working status.

Reporter: Why are the works of shooting OPCW black and white?

Paul: Most of my works are black and white. I think that removing the colors in the real world can convey more powerful things. I hope we can use more concise and powerful screen language and lines to convey more humanity.

Reporter's notes

Before interviewing Paul, I thought in my mind at least 10 times how sharp and sharp the renowned world-renowned field photographer would be. However, in fact, Paul is a warm-hearted person. When we were sorry to say that we were going to take photos of him with a portable iphone and a light digital card machine, Paul immediately showed us his personal belongings - a compact digital camera. He smiled and said that he usually uses a card machine to shoot, not a professional camera. However, in the face of recording pens and cameras, Paul, who often shoots others, pauses for 30 seconds. He thinks for a long time and even flushes his face. He does not know where to begin.

In fact, like the staff of the OPCW that he photographed, Paul himself is also a poor language, but is more willing to communicate with the public with achievements and works.

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