War photographer Paul Conroy dies as tributes paid

Tributes have been paid to the war photographer Paul Conroy who has died at the age of 61.

He covered conflicts around the world and was wounded in the Syrian army’s bombardment of Homs, which killed his Sunday Times colleague Marie Colvin in 2012.

Their fateful assignment was depicted in the 2018 movie A Private War, with the actor Jamie Dornan playing Conroy.

The Liverpool-born photographer died from a heart attack on Saturday in Devon, where he had lived, his brother Alan told the BBC.

“He did all his life what he wanted to do to make a difference - he found great pleasure in exposing wrongs,” Alan added.

BBC newsreader Clive Myrie posted that he was “utterly devastated” by the news, describing Conroy as “a wonderful photojournalist and a wonderful human being”.

“I counted him as a friend and a decent, principled and kind man. My brutha you will be sorely missed. RIP”

Lindsey Hilsum, international editor at Channel 4, added: “All of us who knew and loved him are devastated.”

Conroy also spent seven years with the Royal Artillery as a soldier before becoming a professional photographer and was a trustee of the Frontline Club for media professionals, diplomats and aid workers.

Its founder Vaughan Smith, who was also in the Army, said: “He was one of the characters – those people who stand out because everybody adores them and they make you feel better.”

The 2018 documentary Under the Wire was made about Conroy’s escape from the 2012 bombardment of a makeshift media centre in Homs, where his colleagues Marie Colvin and Remi Ochlik were killed.

Referring to the Syrians who were killed in the area, he said: “These beautiful people who were being slaughtered, I wanted to tell their story.”

He only realised how badly injured he was when he returned to the UK.

“Obviously I knew I had a huge hole in the back of my leg,” he said.

“But in London I found out I also had a great big piece of shrapnel wedged under my kidneys. I had 23 operations on my leg and others on my abdomen and back. I was in hospital for five months.”

‘Standing up for what was right’

Conroy worked in Libya and Ukraine and had recently returned from an assignment in Cuba.

He also took photos for the British singer Joss Stone and wrote music with her.

She said she was “so grateful to have known him and honoured to call him my friend”.

“I wouldn’t be the person I am today without Paul. Paul Conroy was a legend. A wonderful person through and through. Always standing up for what was right. Always there for those in need.”

He leaves behind a wife, three sons and grandchildren.

Source BBC
--Agencies