Deghati named AP Mideast regional photo editor

CAIRO – Photographer Abdolreza "Manoocher" Deghati, who got his start covering his homeland Iran's turmoil after the 1979 Islamic Revolution and went on to work around the Middle East and Latin America, has been named Middle East regional photo editor for The Associated Press, heading photo operations across the region.

The appointment was announced Friday by Director of Photography Santiago Lyon.

In the new post, based in Cairo, Deghati — who goes by the name Manoocher — will oversee the AP's photo coverage in the Middle East as well as Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Deghati "has 30 years of prize-winning photojournalism experience and has covered major conflicts and important stories in both Latin America and the Middle East. His extensive knowledge of the Middle East makes him an ideal candidate to lead our photographic coverage in the region" Lyon said.

The 56-year-old Deghati, who holds French and Iranian citizenship, began his career working with Agence France-Presse and several Iranian publications in Tehran, covering the stormy years after the Islamic Revolution. He later led AFP photo operations in Central America from Costa Rica in the late 1980s during the region's civil wars, and the Middle East, based in Cairo and Jerusalem.

After leaving AFP, he ran the photo department for IRIN, the information agency of the U.N. humanitarian affairs office, based in Nairobi, Kenya. Most recently, he was based in Baku, Azerbaijan, working as a freelance photographer.

Deghati has also focused on developing photographic talent, co-founding the AINA journalism institute in Kabul, Afghanistan, which teaches journalism in all formats. He has also tutored photographers in Cairo with Al-Liquindoi, a Spain-based organization that holds photography workshops.

Deghati won the World Press Photo first prize in 1983 as well as the Howard Chapnick Award for Advancement of Photojournalism in 2004.