Dunlop, Nic 1969–

PERSONAL: Born 1969.

ADDRESSES: Home—Bangkok, Thailand. Agent—Robert Kirby, PFD, Drury House, 34-43 Russell Street, London WC2B 5HA, England. E-mail—nicphoto@ksc.th.com.

CAREER: Writer and photojournalist.

AWARDS, HONORS: Award for Excellence in International Journalism, from Johns Hopkins University, for his work in finding and exposing Comrade Duch of the Khmer Rouge, 1999.

WRITINGS:

(Photographer) Paul Davies, War of the Mines: Cambodia, Landmines, and the Impoverishment of a Nation, Pluto Press (Boulder, CO), 1994.

The Lost Executioner: A Journey to the Heart of the Killing Fields, Bloomsbury (London, England), 2005, Walker (New York, NY), 2006.

Contributor of photographs to such periodicals as the Guardian, Independent, New York Times, and Sydney Morning Herald, and of articles to Prospect, HQ, and the South China Morning Post.

SIDELIGHTS: Photographer and journalist Nic Dunlop has worked around the world as a freelancer, with a particular focus on southern Asia. Based in Bangkok, he has taken photographs and written articles for numerous publications, such as the Guardian, Independent, New York Times, and South China Morning Post. In 1994 he provided the photographs for Paul Davies's War of the Mines: Cambodia, Landmines, and the Impoverishment of a Nation, which illustrated in detail the effects of landmines on the poverty-stricken, rural areas of Cambodia. In The Lost Executioner: A Journey to the Heart of the Killing Fields, Dunlop recounts his experiences while investigating the aftermath of the Khmer Rouge communist regime in Cambodia, a trip that included a successful search for Comrade Duch, who had been Pol Pot's chief executioner during the war. Part travelogue and part political history, the book describes Dunlop's encounter with Duch, who had changed his name and started a new life as a Baptist lay pastor. Dunlop was awarded the Johns Hopkins Award for Excellence in International Journalism in 1999 for the investigative work that provided the foundation for The Lost Executioner. Allison Block, in a review for Booklist, remarked that "Dunlop's interviews with former Khmer Rouge members are both wrenching and revelatory." A contributor for Spike Online noted, "Perhaps because Dunlop's profession is as a photographer, there is never a sense of getting lost within his narrative. His prose has a real composure to it—it's extremely simple without being simplistic, and there is not one verbose word or overwrought sentence here. The understated tone of Dunlop's journalism allows the appalling facts of his narrative to speak for themselves."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

BOOKS

Dunlop, Nic The Lost Executioner: A Journey to the Heart of the Killing Fields, Walker (New York, NY), 2006.

PERIODICALS

Biography, fall, 2005, Ron Gluckman, review of The Lost Executioner, p. 709.

Booklist, December 1, 2005, Allison Block, review of The Lost Executioner, p. 16.

Kirkus Reviews, November 1, 2005, review of The Lost Executioner, p. 1170.

Publishers Weekly, October 24, 2005, review of The Lost Executioner, p. 47.

ONLINE

Asia Times Online, http://www.atimes.com/ (March 20, 2006), Julian Gearing, "The Executioner's Tale," review of The Lost Executioner.

British Press Photographers Web site, http://www.thebbpa.com/ (March 20, 2006), information about author.

PFD Talent Agency Web site, http://www.pfd.co.uk/ (March 20, 2006), author profile.

Spike Online, http://www.spikemagazine.com/ (March 20, 2006), review of The Lost Executioner.

Telegraph Online, http://www.telegraph.co.uk/ (March 20, 2006), Lewis Jones, "While Getting Lashed You Must Not Cry," review of The Lost Executioner.