Alexandra Boulat: 1962-2007

Alexandra Boulat

Earlier this week, the French photojournalist Alexandra Boulat died in Paris. Boulat was one of the founders of the photo agency VII and her pictures often found their way into the pages of Time. Around the end of every year I collaborate with Time's photo editors on the special issue devoted to Images of the Year. Last year we were so impressed by Boulat's work in Gaza that we devoted a separate portfolio to her. We might just as easily have done the same in earlier years for the pictures she took in Afghanistan, Kosovo or Beirut.

Kosovo, 1999, Refugees flee fighting — Photo: Alexandra Boulat/VII

Boulat had a gift not only for images of war and turmoil, but also for the intimate side of people's lives. It was Robert Capa who said: "If your pictures aren't good enough, you're not close enough." She was close enough in more ways than one.

Afghanistan, 2001, An Afghan family prepares the body of an eight-year-old boy for burial. The child died from cold in a refugee camp near Herat. —  Photo: Alexandra Boulat/VII

You can see a slide show of Boulat's pictures here. And a very readable tribute here from Tim McGirk, one of Time's Middle East correspondents, who often dashed aound with her.