Teen son charged in stabbing death of father, a noted photojournalist, on Southern California trail

Associated Press

LOS ANGELES — A photojournalist who covered world events such as the conflict in the former Yugoslavia, the fall of the Berlin Wall and Nelson Mandela’s release from prison was fatally stabbed during a weekend hike in the San Gabriel Mountains and his 19-year-old son has been charged in the killing.

Paul Lowe, 60, a British photographer, war journalist and professor at the University of the Arts London, suffered “trauma to his upper torso” and was pronounced dead Saturday on a road near Stoddard Canyon Falls, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s office said in a news release.

The county medical examiner’s office said Lowe died from a stab wound to the neck.

A man later identified as Lowe’s son was seen driving away and was involved in a solo vehicle crash a few miles away. Based on evidence at the scene, coupled with statements made by the son and witnesses, he was arrested, the sheriff’s office said.

The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office, which filed one count of murder against the son, Emir Abadzic Lowe, said first responders were called to the scene by a passerby. It said the son was scheduled to be arraigned Wednesday. The office did not say whether he had a lawyer.

Paul Lowe was a professor of conflict, peace and the image at the University of the Arts’ London College of Communication, according to its website. The university said has been “a deeply valued colleague” for more than two decades.

“Paul’s work across his career made a ground-breaking impact in the representation of war and conflict and latterly in the complex cultural negotiations involved in peace and reconciliation work,” the university said in a statement. “Paul leaves an incredible legacy as an award-winning photographer, author, critic and, not least, as a truly compassionate educator.”

His book, “Bosnians” documented 10 years of war and the post-war situation in Bosnia. It was published in 2005. More recent books include “Photography Masterclass”, “Understanding Photojournalism,” “Reporting the Siege of Sarajevo” and “Photography, Bearing Witness and the Yugoslav Wars, 1988-2021,” according to the website.

In an interview with The Guardian, Lowe said he focused on casualties and hospital patients during the early days of the siege of Sarajevo. He eventually became preoccupied with what happens to people when “reduced to the medieval conditions caused by a siege.”

“People would risk their lives for a little pleasure,” he said. “And it could be very hard on kids, who obviously didn’t want to be stuck indoors. During quieter periods, they were able to go outside more — I took a picture of children swimming in the river during a ceasefire. But the river, like so much of the city, was clearly visible to Serbian snipers. One winter, I attended an awful scene: a group of five or six children had been killed by a shell while sledging in front of their house.”

He discussed a photo he took of a child on a street with a ball. “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,” he said.

Many people paid tribute to Lowe.

“Paul was a very talented, courageous and committed photojournalist who repeatedly put himself in harm’s way to show the world the reality of war zones and humanitarian crises around the world,” said Santiago Lyon, a former vice president and director of photography at The Associated Press who worked with Lowe during the siege of Sarajevo in the early 1990s. “He then became an accomplished and well respected educator dedicated to preparing future generations of photojournalists. His untimely death has profoundly affected the photojournalism community and we are in shock.”

Lowe taught at an academy through The VII Foundation, which trains and equips journalists from communities underrepresented in the media.

“Paul was a courageous and beloved comrade, and a deeply devoted father and husband. The loss is shocking and overwhelming, and our hearts go out to his wife and family,” the foundation posted in a statement online.