APME AWARD WINNERS RECALL LIFE-CHANGING MOMENTS

By: Joe Strupp Diaz Wins For Eli?n Shot; Stewart For Article About Attack





Six months ago, Alan Diaz was just another free-lance photographer in Miami whose income depended solely on his ability to hustle for assignments. After 28 years as a free-lancer shooting everything from fires to ballgames, the 53-year-old was happy with his anonymous life.



Then he met Eli?n Gonz?lez, and his life changed forever.



A year-and-a-half ago, Ian Stewart was just one of hundreds of Associated Press correspondents overseas, jumping from country to country, chronicling everything from foreign culture to international terrorism. During five years at the AP, his tours of duty had taken him from Pakistan to Vietnam.



But that all ended when a bullet fired during the civil war in Sierra Leone entered his brain, partially paralyzed the 34-year-old, and sent him on a road of rehabilitation he has yet to complete.



The two men have very little in common, but their life-altering experiences on the job brought them together last week as each received a first place award from the Associated Press Managing Editors at their annual conference in San Antonio.



Diaz won for the April 22 shot of Eli?n Gonz?lez that became the focal point for reaction to the controversial raid. Stewart won for a November 1999 piece he wrote about his wounding, which he says will require three more years of therapy before he will regain full use of his arm. "If these two don't show you what journalism is all about, I don't know what will," said APME President Jerry Ceppos.



After Diaz shot the now-famous picture of Eli?n being taken from the home of his relatives at gunpoint by federal agents, his personal and professional lives were profoundly altered. Not only was Diaz given a full-time job by the AP, but his photo earned him numerous awards and clear front-runner status for a Pulitzer Prize.



"It has completely changed my life," Diaz told E&P Online after receiving the first place award for news photography. "I have had the honor of meeting some of the great icons of photography, the big ones. Not in my wildest dreams did I think this would happen. I was just doing my job."



Since the photo was shot and distributed, Diaz has been asked to speak before the National Press Photographers Association, the National Association of Black Journalists, the Poynter Institute for Media Studies, the Kansas City Press Club, the Associated Press Publishers and numerous other photography seminars.



"I think it's just curiosity," Diaz said. "I think people just want to know what happened."



Before a crowd of hundreds of APME editors, Diaz recounted how he staked out the home of Eli?n's relatives for several months prior to the raid, and earned the trust of neighbors and the family, who allowed him into the home just before Eli?n was removed. Diaz said his energies were focused on preparing for a good shot. He said he was not ready for the emotion of seeing and hearing the young Cuban boy cry.



"I've heard my kids cry when they are sick, when they have tantrums and when they are hungry," Diaz said. "But this cry I've never heard before and I hope I never hear it again."



Being lifted from the ranks of unknown free-lancer to a photographer of worldwide status, Diaz said he's gained a greater respect for day-to-day life. "I think I'm a lot better person," he said. "I now enjoy moments a lot more than before. I don't get upset at little things."



But Diaz said he has not gotten a big head from his fame. He said he's still happy shooting most any assignment that comes a long. "I owe photography," he said. "I owe it a lot more."



For Stewart, who spent six months in a wheelchair and still has difficulty writing, dressing or cutting food, the experience has shown him the challenges of being disabled. "It has made me much more aware of how inaccessible the world is to disabled people," Stewart told E&P Online after receiving his award for feature writing. "It has made me want to raise awareness."



Immediately following the attack, Stewart said he had very bitter thoughts about what happened and did not believe it had been worth it for him to go to Sierra Leone. But now he said he would go back to war coverage and wants to return to reporting.



"I have a role to play," he said. "People need to know about the danger over there."







Joe Strupp (jstrupp@editorandpublisher.com) is an associate editor for E&P.







Copyright 2000, Editor & Publisher.