Famed war photographer meets horrific fate ‘at hands of son, 19,’ at iconic California waterfall

A famous war photographer was stabbed to death on a popular hiking trail in California, with the suspect being his own son.

Paul Lowe, 61, was a professor and award-winning British photojournalist who covered major world events, including the horrors of the Bosnian War, the siege of Sarajevo and the fall of the Berlin Wall.

But he was found Saturday in the San Gabriel Mountains with fatal stab wounds and pronounced dead at the scene.

Now his 19-year-old son, Emir Abadzic Lowe, is being held in the Los Angeles County Jail on a $2 million bond on suspicion of murdering his father.

The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Office responded to a call Saturday afternoon about an assault with a deadly weapon on Mount Baldy Road, near Stoddard Canyon Falls – an iconic California hiking spot with four beautiful waterfalls and a pristine swimming hole.

Lowe’s body was discovered with “trauma to his upper torso” and a stab wound to his neck, which the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner ruled was his ultimate cause of death. The independent reported.

Another man was seen driving away from the scene in an attempt to flee, but ended up crashing his car just a few miles away where he was subsequently taken into police custody.

The suspect was identified as Lowe’s 19-year-old son and was arrested shortly afterwards on suspicion of murdering his own father.

Lowe split his time between London and the Bosnian capital Sarajevo, but was in Southern California to take care of some “family business,” according to reports. KTL.

He planned to meet Lara Jo Regan, a colleague and fellow photojournalist, for drinks and a catch up while he was in the area.

But after several days passed without a word from Lowe, Regan became nervous.

“I went on Facebook and I wanted to DM him to see what was going on,” she told KTLA. “Then the first thing to emerge was news of his death, which was posted on his New York agency website. I was beyond shocked. I’m still a bit shocked.’

His son’s motive for the alleged fatal stabbing is still unknown.

Lowe was a beloved professor at the University of the Arts in London with a career in photojournalism that spanned decades. It was said that he took photographs of the utmost importance, including the release of Nelson Mandela, the famine crises in Africa and the destruction of the Chechen city of Gronzy. The sun reported.

He also documented the end of the Cold War and filmed the Romanian revolution.

But his most powerful images are said to have been taken during the siege of Sarajevo in 1992.

His most famous photo, a black and white photo of a child with a ball while in Sarajevo, was taken while he was walking during a late winter afternoon.

“I happened to arrive on the scene and captured the ball being thrown in the air like it was the last street in the world,” he said The Guardian in a 2022 interview.

‘It’s a very normal thing for a child to do, but it happens against the backdrop of the tank trap, a hint of the ever-present danger.’

‘The siege of Sarajevo was very difficult for the children, who obviously did not want to stay indoors. They would risk their lives for a bit of fun,” he added.

Ika Ferrer Gotić, a senior international news producer and anchor at CNN and editor-in-chief at Forbes, went to

“We lost more than a photographer when #PaulLowe passed away,” she wrote in the post. “We have lost a witness to our history, a storyteller who showed the world the truths that many wanted to ignore.”

‘His lens captured more than the horrors of war; it captured the resilience, survival and humanity of #Sarajevo at its darkest moment.”

‘His work during the siege was not just about documenting violence. “It was about remembering – reminding ourselves that the shattered buildings and jagged remains of barricades held stories, stories we must never forget,” she added.

“He spent six months after the war recording the ruins, not as mere structures, but as symbols of what had been lost and what we must fight to preserve: our history, our humanity.”

Following the news of his untimely death, even more tributes began pouring in from friends, colleagues and strangers around the world.

The Embassy of Bosnia and Herzegovina in Britain described Lowe as a “great artist” in a post on Facebook, saying: “Paul was a true friend of Bosnia and Herzegovina, a wonderful human being, a great artist and professional, loved and respected by all who knew him.’

“Paul Lowe’s memory and important work and legacy will live on for generations to come.”

The VII Foundation, which was founded in 2001 by independent photojournalists, shared a photo of Lowe’s wife Amra on Instagram.

“It is with deep sadness that we share the news of the passing of our dear friend and colleague Paul Lowe, whose brilliant life was cut short on Saturday in Los Angeles, California,” the caption read.

“Paul was a courageous and beloved comrade, and a deeply devoted father and husband.”

Regan, who first met Lowe 24 years ago at the World Press Photo of the Year exhibition, noted his genuine generosity and added that his legacy lives on through the photographs he took.

Emir Abadzic Lowe will now appear in court on Tuesday for a hearing over the senseless murder of his father.

“For those of us who knew him, Paul was not just a great artist. He was a kind soul, a man who cared deeply about the people and the stories he photographed. He was someone who became one with his subject, whose empathy was as powerful as his talent,” Gotić added in her tribute to X.

‘In a way his life reflected his photography; an intimate connection with our brokenness, yet enormous resilience.’