The picture that defines the killing of Andrei Karlov was taken in the moments after he fell.
With Mr Karlov’s body lying beside him, Mert Altintas, the assassin, stands defiant. His right hand holds a pistol, with his finger off the trigger. The left is raised to the sky, with the index finger extended in a gesture of jihad. On his face is a snarl of rage.
The photographer, Burhan Ozbilici, of Associated Press, was expecting to cover a genteel cultural event.
“When a man in a dark suit and tie pulled out a gun, I was stunned and thought it was a theatrical flourish,” Ozbilici said yesterday. “Instead, it was a coolly calculated assassination, unfolding in front of me and others who scrambled, terrified, for cover.” Ozbilici (circled above) carried on taking photographs.
“It took me a few seconds to realise what had happened: a man had died in front of me,” he said. “I moved back and to the left. This is what I was thinking: ‘I’m here. Even if I get hit and injured, or killed, I’m a journalist. I have to do my work. I could run away without making any photos . . . but I wouldn’t have had a proper answer if people later asked me, ‘Why didn’t you take pictures?’ ”
