Inset: Paul Lowe (Amra Abadzic Lowe). Background: Scene near where Paul Lowe was murdered (KTLA/YouTube).
A 19-year-old man is behind bars after he allegedly murdered his father, a well-known war photographer, near a popular waterfall in the San Gabriel Mountains in California.
The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Office said in a press release that it received a call just before 3:30 p.m. Saturday about an assault with a deadly weapon on Mount Baldy Road, near Stoddard Canyon Falls. When first responders arrived they found a man suffering from “trauma to his upper torso.” San Bernardino Fire Department personnel responded and pronounced the victim dead at the scene.
Cops reportedly saw the suspect drive away. He was involved in a solo crash a short time later and was taken into custody.
According to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner’s Office, the victim is 60-year-old Paul Lowe. The suspect, according to deputies, is Lowe’s son Emir Abadzic Lowe. He’s in the Los Angeles County Jail on a $2 million bond, records show. Deputies did not release a possible motive or details about the events that led up to the stabbing. Stoddard Canyon Falls has gained popularity among locals in recent years due to its swimming holes and waterfalls, according to the Los Angeles Times.
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Paul Lowe was a member of the VII Photo Foundation.
“It is with deep sorrow that we share the news of the passing of our dear friend and colleague Paul Lowe, whose brilliant life was cut short in Los Angeles, California on Saturday. 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 wrote in an Instagram post on Monday.
He made a name for himself as a photojournalist during and after the early 1990s war in Bosnia, the foundation said. He’s been published in Time magazine, Newsweek and Life, among others. He also published a book featuring his photography in 2005 called “Bosnians.” The Sarajevo Times reported that Lowe “captured some of the most important moments” from the war.
Lowe himself wrote about his experiences in a 2022 article for The Guardian:
Sarajevans had little in the way of weapons, while food, water and electricity were often in short supply, but they were incredibly adaptable and tried to live as normally as they could. They would not give up things they wanted to do, such as meeting friends in the city centre. One of my photographs, taken a year in, shows a woman’s feet under a shroud in the morgue. Her toenails were painted, which seemed like a small act of resistance.
Lowe said he split his time between his native UK and Sarajevo, where his wife is from. He was reportedly in Southern California to take care of some family business.
Rachel Menitoff, also a photojournalist, recalled in an interview with LA’s CW affiliate KTLA when she met Lowe nearly 25 years ago.
“We had some great, interesting, stimulating and inspiring conversations about photography,” she recalled. “I just think it’s the effect he had on many people, both students and colleagues. He had a real generosity of spirit.”
Emir Abadzic Lowe has a hearing scheduled for Tuesday.
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