Acclaimed Photojournalist Paul Lowe Dies After Being Stabbed in California

Paul Lowe, a photojournalist renowned for his shots of the Siege of Sarajevo, died at after being stabbed in the neck on a California hiking trail this past weekend. He was 60, according to the Associated Press.

The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office filed one count of murder against Lowe’s son, Emir Lowe.

“A white male adult was seen driving away from the scene and was subsequently involved in a solo traffic collision a few miles away. The male was detained pending further investigation,” the sheriff’s office told the BBC on Tuesday. The BBC reported that he was due to appear in court on Wednesday in West Covina.

Lowe is most famous for his photographs taken in Sarajevo during the ’90s, when Bosnian Serbs besieged the city after Bosnia and Hezegovina declared independence from Yugoslavia in 1992. His photographs bore witness to the ways that Sarajevans suffered, with few resources at hand to defend themselves and keep themselves alive.

He also shot images that testified to how Sarajevans persevered, including one featuring a little girl playing with a ball beside defense structures. “I just happened upon the scene, capturing the ball being thrown up in the air as if this was any street in the world,” he told the Guardian in 2022. “It’s such an ordinary thing for a kid to do, but it’s happening against the backdrop of the tank trap, a hint of the ever-present danger.”

Even after the Siege of Sarajevo ended in 1996, Lowe continued to maintain a presence there, taking up residence both in that city and the UK.

In addition to his photography practice, he also published several books on photojournalism, including Understanding Photojournalism, which he co-wrote with Jennifer Good.