Valery Zufarov (1944-1996) worked as a photojournalist for Pravda and later for ITAR-TASS agency. He was specialised in sports photography. He traveled extensively both in the Soviet Unionand abroad. In 1986, he was the first photographer to fly over the exploded reactor at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. During the helicopter flight he received so much radiation, that he had to be taken into hospital, where he received the news that he won a 1st prize in the 1987 World Press Photo contest. Zufarov died in 1996, apparently from illnesses which he developed from his exposure to the radiation in Chernobyl.
