You’ve won four Pulitzer Prizes. How often has that happened in the history of journalism?

What’s it like? You just won one. What’s it like winning it? And how important is it to somebody in your profession?

Let’s look at the video of you getting the award at – I mean, you don’t get the award at the “Washington Post” newsroom, but the announcement...

MARCUS BRAUCHLI, “WASHINGTON POST” EXECUTIVE EDITOR: So, the “Washington Post” wins a Pulitzer Prize for breaking news photography. Carol...

Many of you will remember this scene on the news desk last year on January 12th. We had – we received word of a massive earthquake in Haiti.

The newspaper, as you know, was filled with their images. Our website ran many photo galleries that I think rent millions of hearts.

I’ve wept for Haiti a thousand times over the years since my first trip during the Duvalier reign. But it’s nothing compared to the profound sorrow...

NIKKI KAHN, “WASHINGTON POST” PHOTOGRAPHER: This is pretty amazing. You know, two hours of sleep was a lot, because Carol was always out there...

(END VIDEO CLIP)

Well, Ricky actually went later to cover the follow-up aftermath stories, and Nikki and I were down there together. But it was really hard, the communication....

How many times have you been to Haiti?

And for, over a decade, it was almost like an obsession or a mission – I don’t know what word you want to use – that I relentlessly covered Haiti.

Right.

Yes, this was Nikki’s picture, actually. And a little back story on Nikki.

So, it’s – I don’t know what the odds are of that. But it’s quite amazing.

Well, that’s mine. It’s hard even to look at that now. I mean, that was the morgue. It was a sea of bodies.

I photographed – I shot a few frames, not that many. And then I moved on, because I just thought it would be unpublishable. But it was very telling,...

This is Nikki’s picture, as well. It’s a portrait from one of the old folks’ homes down there. And I think the elderly – the children and...

Do you have to ask them to take their picture like that?

So, in a situation like this, I think, residents were really concerned about getting the word out. And the need was so great, that I think they realized...

Yes. The body. And it was just – that one little high heel on and off, you know – I can’t even look at these pictures without crying, actually.

Yes, that’s my picture. And it just kind of speaks to the – you know, the moment time stopped for everyone.

And this is my picture, as well. The first day we were there a school collapsed, St. Gerard. And there were school children still in their uniforms,...

And she threw herself on the rubble wailing.

And this was at a – this was a few weeks afterwards, I believe, after the earthquake, where rescue groups and international aid groups were coming...

No, this is ’10, last year.

And this is Nikki’s picture. This is another wrenching picture. You know, it’s just – the innocence of that little child that’s battered,...

I think, for me – you know, I think every photographer is different – but I think the camera is a shield many times. I mean, it helps you, I think,...

I’ve read you’re shy.

Yes, this picture was taken weeks after, as well, when they were still pulling bodies out of the rubble. That’s why those bodies were already decomposing.

The one thing that we who have not been there and looked at it from afar, you just mentioned the smell. Is that something you never forget?

Have all of these pictures been published?

But you take how many pictures to get to one that’s published?

But I shoot an awful lot of pictures. I don’t want to hesitate, because I believe the moment is everything in a picture. So, I take the pictures.

And that actually ran on the front page of the “Post.” That’s the same school, the little girl crushed at her desk that I was talking about before.

But that’s a heartbreaking picture. And it generated a lot of discussion from readers, because they felt – some people felt it was too harsh, perhaps...

When somebody like you goes into a country like this, how do you – where do you stay? And how do you get food when the people there can’t even...

But we had heard from a Haitian photographer, Daniel Morel, who lived there – he now lives in New York. He was there at the time. And he said the...

It was technical hell, actually, on top of, you know, just bearing witness to this awful catastrophe and the emotional toll and the physically demanding...

It seems that would be a tense moment, if a colleague wouldn’t give up one of their cameras.

And that was the most important thing. I mean, it was useless to just take them and not have them seen.

I’ve had cameras crash. And, you know, I usually like to take backup because of that reason, because we’re so dependent on technical pieces of...

There’s – we have some video here of shots of the Berlin Wall and of Czechoslovakia in 1989. Now, the music, you put on this?

Would you have been shooting film at this time?

OK. Let’s watch.

What were the circumstances that had you there at that time?

Where had you been?

And you came back here?

It was one of those times where you kind of put the camera down and, you know, you really realized for a second that you were witnessing such amazing...

Yes.

Yes.

That was – well, the first chunk of the Wall was being taken out that day. And, you know, I was trying to take pictures. I mean, I think they found...

And I looked around and I saw a really tall male, sturdy tripod with a kind face, looking at me. And I tapped him on the shoulder. I said, “Can...

Here’s some photos from Kosovo and Albania. In 1999?

(VIDEO CLIP FROM “KOSOVO’S SORROW”)

Well, it depends on the story. I mean, it’s much different depending on the story.

But again, in this situation, people were actually begging us to document it, to record it, because the ethnic cleansing, one of those situations where...

What were the circumstances that took you to that area of the world in ’99?

And actually, one of the pictures in there, the little baby going through the barbed wire, has probably generated almost more reaction from readers...

I don’t know. For some reason, it resonates with people’s souls. Maybe it’s the, you know, war and innocence in the same picture, the juxtaposition....

It was one of those wow moments. Actually, it was a positive thing. The family had just come through the border. And for some reason – I think...

And when they came, it was this scene of joy. And they were passing not only that baby, but a lot of children back and forth. And it was just this...

It was in – the border crossing is called Morine, and it was in Albania. And they had camps set up right there at the …

Kosovo.

They were coming from Kosovo into – fleeing the Serb aggression in Kosovo.

All the time. Yes. It happens frequently. And I believe we need to respect people’s wishes. They have the right not to be photographed, as well....

Well, usually not. I mean, we try to be sensitive. It depends, again, on what the situation is. But we try to be sensitive and get names, if we can,...

We have …

And that gets disconcerting, because it’s really hard to explain to someone else that, you know, that that’s their right also to be photographed....

Here are some – here are some photos about Katrina and animals. Explain this.

But in Miami, during Hurricane Andrew, I had also done a story on people who – shelters wouldn’t allow people to take their pets, so they were forced...

But it was about six months where people from all over the country donated their time and came down and tried to find these people’s pets. And it...

How many pets do you have?

What’s that picture?

I notice that a lot of your shots are from above, looking down on things. Is that …

But the animals also, it wasn’t a story just on the animals. A lot of these people had lost not only their homes and sometimes loved ones, and their...

Oh, a lot of times. And I’m really bad at giving people pictures. I mean, these are pictures that I took on my own. But mostly, I work for the...

It’s always hard to say what a favorite picture is, you know, because you’re so close to the images. I have memories of taking all these.

I went back afterwards trying to find out if someone did eventually get this dog, because there were rescue people coming all around where we were in...

How much training did you get on how to take a photo?

And when did you give up the idea of being a nurse?

This was a far better niche. But I think nursing school teaches you a certain level of compassion, empathy, that carries over into this kind of work.

Oh, absolutely. I mean, it was triggered by – a bad romantic break-up with a boyfriend was probably the catalyst. But, and I had been covering Kosovo...

And I think it’s because I just was so frenetically going from one story to another, and working and working and working for so many years, and just...

So, what do you do now? If you’re going from story to story, you know that you’re sensitive, do you build in any downtime, or some way to get away...

But it’s been more long-term feature projects at home. But they can be pretty emotional, too, on a different level.

So, your editor comes to you and says, one of two jobs. I want you to go to the 1996 Democratic Convention, or I want you to go down to Haiti and do...

I mean, Haiti has been part of my heart for so long, that I could never ignore Haiti. In fact, I hadn’t been traveling for a long time, because my...

(VIDEO CLIP FROM “POMP & CIRCUMSTANCE”)

Black-and-white used to – we were probably the last paper to go color. So, black-and-white was what I shot for most of my career.

Probably black-and-white. I mean, now, I’m so used to doing digital in color, that, you know, this is just how we do. But whenever I convert a picture...

When do you look at a photo and say, that’s just what I wanted?

But like I said, once in a while there are wow moments when you step back, and just because you were there and you saw it, and you just hope it’s...

Oh, I think composition, you know, the artistic expression of photography almost becomes second nature when you’re working this long. I think, as...

Before we look at the Sierra Leone photos, set it up. Where is it? What year was it? Why did you do this?

So, 2006?

And I had just been to Sierra Leone with – I had done a story on war amputees who came to D.C. for prosthetic limbs. And it was like a four-year...

I think, in Sierra Leone, it’s like one in eight women die in childbirth. It’s horrendous, and for a lot of avoidable reasons, you know. So …

That’s Jamella (ph). She arrived in a taxi at the hospital, maternity hospital in Freetown. I think that was her aunt brought her in. And she was...

This photo?

We spent some time in the rural areas trying to do this story. I went with Kevin Sullivan, who was the writer. And we decided better to spend –...

And why did they let you in the room?

What’s that contraption?

And this is one of the best hospitals in Sierra Leone?

What kind of …

What kind of conditions, cleanliness and all that?

The nurses were so – they were so grateful for the mosquito spray I brought, because even the nurses had to sleep under tents, because the mosquitoes...

Those are dead babies then.

All this was published?

You’ve got the vultures up top.

Did you see that right away?

How often does the audience that sees your work get this, the subtleties that you have in some of the photographs? Do you get any sense of that?

But now, you know, I get e-mails and messages from readers saying how touched and moved they were – or angry, whatever the situation may be – but...

This is probably what I was talking about, my little Mamuna and the group that came for prosthetics. They were supposed to just come.

When she was – she actually – it ended up that she – her grandmother was carrying her, and they shot through her. That’s how she lost her limb....

But they realized that they couldn’t send them back, because they had been given so much media attention, for one thing. And they had these brand-new...

And the war was over what in Sierra Leone?

And what was the point of cutting off limbs of little kids?

And they would tell them to go ask the president to get them a new arm, you know.

(VIDEO CLIP FROM “WOUNDED MESSENGERS”)

But what – are they – how do they get along in our society?

So, they were thrilled just to be able to – I remember, they would just eat really fast when they first got here, because they couldn’t believe...

But, yes, I try to keep in touch with them. One girl named Mariama (ph), she now does – she’s a beautiful dancer. She lives in Michigan with her...

How’s her English?

There’s a high school in Washington that’s had a rough history, Ballou High School. And you did a feature on a young man named John Thomas.

Well, he was a student there who was trying to, you know, better himself. It was – his friend had been shot at the school. And it was a big news...

Where is he now?

And he was a great basketball player, and I’m not sure if he’s back here in D.C. now. I haven’t been able – I haven’t had time yet to contact...

There you go with the years again.

I’ve got it.

Let’s watch – I can find it here – let’s watch the video where John Thomas voices it over.

JOHN THOMAS, GRADUATE OF BALLOU HIGH SCHOOL, WASHINGTON, D.C.: My name’s John Thomas. I grew up in southeast Washington.

I seen a lot of my friends got killed. And a lot of friends been locked up. And I seen I didn’t want to go that way, but I felt like I ain’t have...

I wasn’t focused on school, and I wasn’t going to school every day. I was seeing a lot of friends dropping out and not graduating. And I was walking...

I didn’t want to be in jail. I didn’t want to get killed out on these streets. I wanted to be successful in life, which means I had to work hard...

When I came to Ballou, I went to my teachers. And I did extra work to get the grades and play basketball, because I wanted to play ball. And when...

(END VIDEO CLIP)

The reporter actually did. It was an assignment from the “Post.” And like I tend to do many times, it was – you know, it was not supposed to...

Have you ever tried to adopt any of these people that you’ve …

And it got to a point where I thought, you know, I can take as many pictures as I possibly can, but are people really going to see it? And is it really...

And I one point I had thought about adopting them. But my life was so – you know, I was single and roaming all over the place. And it was not a...

You were married for 10 years. Did you have children?

And married to a UPI photographer that you met years ago?

What impact did your father dying at a young age – and what age were you – did it have on you?

And I just kind of shut down after that. For years and years and years I wouldn’t even talk about him. No one could talk about him. In fact, I...

How did he die?

But he died at a young age, I think it was 51.

I have a sister – half-sister, really – which is my sister, Joan Kozar (ph). She was 14 years older than me, had a different father.

And your mom did what in her life?

We didn’t have a car when I was a kid. She used to just trudge up the hill with all her groceries. And, you know, she did the best she could. And...

It’s been over 10 years now. It’s a long, sort of slow withering that that horrible, cruel disease does. It’s really been tough.

She’s 94 now.

So I said, can you just yell in her ear and tell her I won a Pulitzer today? Because she would have been proud.

Well, it’s so – I’m so unprofessional.

The Pulitzers are amazing, because it’s such an honor to be recognized by your peers. But I think even more importantly, it shines the light on these...

I’m going to go way back, 1986, the mud slide in Colombia. Can you give us the background on that?

But they had asked a different photographer, who was – I guess it was hunting season, and he didn’t want to miss hunting season. So, he turned...

And we eventually met up there and tried to cover the story. And that was the days where you had to actually build a dark room and transmit pictures....

(VIDEO CLIP FROM “BURIED ALIVE”)

Twenty-five thousand. Over 25,000. It covered the whole town of Armero.

You know, the earth can tremble. The mud can come and, you know, I mean, I don’t know – where your life is over. Your loved ones are lost. So,...

I was at my home in Arlington. And they had actually – my friend, Karen Ballard, she’s a photographer, as well. She was living in D.C. She called...

We all knew the magnitude of it pretty much immediately. But as I was packing, I heard the plane hit the Pentagon. I live that close to the Pentagon....

Here’s some of your work.

You know, we’re about done. But I can just hear some of our viewers, those that stuck with it, saying, all right. Why did you do that to me? You...

Yes, but I think we all have to remember that there are other people suffering, and there are those in need that we can’t forget. I mean, I think...

In the last 30 years of your professional career, what’s happened to the photographer? Are there more of them? Less of them? What kind of resources...

And I think there’s a lot of images being thrown at people, but they’re not vetted. You know, they come over Facebook or from people on the scene,...

It’s Nikki Kahn and Ricky Carioti. And I wish they were here, because, you know, this is a team effort. And not only them, but the editors. And...

Carol – and by the way, what’s the name Cuzy?

Guzy, I mean.

Carol Guzy, thank you very much for joining us.

END