Campaign Underway To Name Brooklyn Bridge Park Lawn After Photojournalist Chris Hondros
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) -- Residents of DUMBO, Brooklyn, and members of the New York photography community have launched a campaign to honor Chris Hondros, an award-winning photojournalist killed in Libya two years ago, with a lawn in Brooklyn Bridge Park.
Wall Street Journal photo editor Patrick Whalen launched the campaign to name the lawn The Chris Hondros Memorial Meadow, according to a DNAInfo report. A naming contest is underway for the lawn near Pier 6 at the park, with votes being accepted at info@brooklynbridgepark.org.
Hondros, 41, was killed by a rocket-propelled grenade while covering rebels fighting Libyan troops.
Another photojournalist, Tim Hetherington, was killed there the same day, and two others were severely injured.
Hondros, a Brooklyn resident, had covered conflict zones since the late 1990s, capturing clutching, jeering and fearful moments from wars including Kosovo, Iraq and Afghanistan.
During his career, Hondros' photos for Getty Images have adorned hundreds of stories on CBSNewYork.com, as well as numerous other news publications and Web sites. Hondros had previously won the Robert Capa Gold Medal for his war photography, one of the highest honors of its kind.
Paul Woolverton, a friend who was with the family in Fayetteville, North Carolina after Hondros' death, said Hondros moved to New York City and saved his money working as a night editor for the AP in order to get overseas.
"He went to the city to pursue his dream, and he got it," Woolverton said in 2011.
Hondros was born in New York City and moved to Fayetteville as a child. He studied English literature at North Carolina State and got a master's degree at Ohio's School of Visual Communications. After working for the Observer and the AP, he freelanced and eventually became senior staff photographer at Getty.
"He quickly became the photographer who was just special, really special," longtime friend and fellow photojournalist Swayne Hall said in 2011. "Our friends would always talk about the fact that he had such a big fun personality, and the skills."
When he was killed, Hondros was planning to be married to a former photo editor-turned attorney, Christina Piaia. He is survived by a brother, Dean and his mother, Inge.
Voting in the naming contest for the lawn in Brooklyn Bridge Park will continue through March 20. The winner will be announced on April 1.
Please leave your comments below...
(TM and Copyright 2013 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2013 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
