Filipino Photojournalist is among the 2021 Pulitzer Prize finalists

Filipino photojournalist and Photojournalists’ Center of the Philippines’ current chairperson Ezra Acayan is among the staff of Getty Images who was named as 2021 Pulitzer Prize finalists for their coverage on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the global community.

Acayan’s photograph of the airport security staff controlling a crowd of Filipinos hoping to secure flights out of Manila hours before the government-imposed lockdown due to the pandemic last year at the Ninoy Aquino International airport was nominated in the “Feature Photography” category.

This year, Acayan also won the second prize in the 2021 World Press Photo’s “Nature” category for his coverage of the Taal Volcano eruption and the Pictures of the Year Asia 2021’s Photographer of the Year.

In the past, Acayan received numerous awards, including the prestigious 2018 Ian Parry Scholarship Award for Achievement for documenting the war on drugs and the 2017 IPA Philippines Photographer of the Year for his work “Blood in the Streets.”