Hocine Zaourar

Hocine took up photography in 1970.[3] He joined Reuters as a photojournalist in 1989 and worked for Agence France-Presse from January 1993.[3] Initially he worked in various countries, in particular Somalia, Rwanda and Zaire, but later worked entirely in Algeria.[3]

Hocine's photograph titled "Woman Grieves after Massacre in Bentalha" was made on 23 September 1997 outside Zmirli Hospital, 15 km from Algiers. Dead and wounded people had been taken to the hospital after the Bentalha massacre by the Armed Islamic Group of Algeria the previous night, during the Algerian Civil War.[4] The photograph was published on the front pages of many newspapers,[5] and was later dubbed the "Madonna of Bentalha" or "Bentalha Madonna".[6][7][8] It caused controversy in Algeria[9] and "has been credited with focusing attention on political violence" in the country.[10]

• 1998: Winner, World Press Photo of the Year 1997, World Press Photo, Amsterdam for "Woman Grieves after Massacre in Bentalh"[11]
• 1998: First Prize, People in the News – Singles category, World Press Photo 1997, Amsterdam for "Woman Grieves after Massacre in Bentalh"[12]
• 1998: The Public Prize, Bayeux Calvados-Normandy Award for war correspondents, Bayeux, France[13] for "Femmes algériennes"[14]

• Hanrot, Juliette (8 February 2012). La Madone de Bentalha: Histoire d'une photographie. Paris: Armand Colin. ISBN 978-2-200-27682-9 – via Google Books.
• Hanrot, Juliette; Clévenot, Dominique (10 June 2012). "Fabrique d'une icône : La Madone de Bentalha. Entretien avec Juliette Hanrot. Par Dominique Clévenot". Écrire l'Histoire. Histoire, Littérature, Esthétique (9): 111–118. doi:10.4000/elh.252. ISSN 1967-7499.