Exhibit features photos of slain photographer Niedringhaus

Oct. 23, 2015

woman standing next to a sign at the entrance of a photo gallery; sign has an image of the female photographer and a description of the show — Kathy Gannon, at the entrance to the gallery exhibit of Anja Niedringhaus' photos.

Today is a "brutal time for journalists," according to Associated Press foreign correspondent Kathy Gannon, who was badly wounded in a 2014 Afghanistan attack that killed AP photographer Anja Niedringhaus.

Gannon accepted the UA School of Journalism's Zenger Freedom of the Press Award on Oct. 23, 2015, and attended a photo exhibit and reception the night before to honor Niedringhaus. The exhibit, at the Union Gallery in the UA Student Union, was organized by the Center for Border & Global Journalism.

The exhibit ran for two weeks and included a "Dia de los Muertos" (Day of the Dead) altar constructed by students from the National Association of Hispanic Journalists and the Native American Journalists Association to honor Niedringhaus. Gannon and her husband, Naeem Pasha, listed as UA journalism student Amanda Martinez gave background about the altar.

"Press freedom is under attack in both the developing and developed world," Gannon said. "Dictators and democracies have played with press freedom. Sometimes it is subtle and other times not so much."

While covering the Afghan elections in 2014, she and Niedringhaus were shot by an Afghan police commander. Gannon had several reconstructive surgeries on her left arm and was cleared in 2016 to return to Pakistan and Afghanistan as a reporter.

The Center for Border & Global Journalism obtained more than 20 digital files from AP, then printed and mounted Niedringhaus' photos for the exhibit. The two photos below were auctioned off to help fund the exhibit.