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AFP PHOTOGRAPHER JOHN MACDOUGALL WINS GERMANY'S RENOWNED RUECKBLENDE (FLASHBACK) PRIZE

"This prestigious prize awarded to an AFP photographer for the first time demonstrates once again the quality of the work of our teams in Germany, and the talent of our journalists operating in our 200 bureaus around the world," said Emmanuel Hoog, Chief Executive of Agence France-Presse.

The winning picture of a German female soldier embracing a relative of one of three victims at a military funeral brought home the human aspect of the tragedy of Afghanistan, judges of the Rueckblende award for political photography said.

"Of the four photos I selected to put forward for the prize, I'm glad it was this one that was chosen because, for me, it was the strongest," said MacDougall, 46, who works out of the Berlin bureau.

Born in Paris, MacDougall began work as a translator in a Paris publishing house after studying literature in New York.

In 1989, he was hired as a photo editor on AFP's international photo desk in Paris, before working in Hong Kong, Indonesia and South-East Asia. He moved to Berlin in 2003, where he helped set up the Agency's German photo service.

His photo was chosen from among 247 entries for the Rueckblende, which was created in 1995 and carries a 7,000-euro ($9,200) prize, and which also awards a prize for political cartoonists.

AFP's international photo service covers global news round-the-clock through its network of 500 photographers, transmitting more than 2,500 new photos every day. Their know-how and quality coverage has been recognised with numerous international awards, including the World Press Photo, Pictures of the Year International, the Bayeux-Calvados prize for war correspondents, the NPPA Awards…