David Guttenfelder was born in Iowa and graduated from the University of Iowa with a Bachelor of Arts in cultural anthropology. He has worked for the AP since 1994 based in Kenya, the Ivory Coast, India and Japan. He is currently AP’s chief Asia photographer and his feature work has been used prominently in editorial publications throughout the world including Time and National Geographic. Photo: U.S. soldiers from the 2nd Battalion, 12th Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, fire mortars at known enemy firing positions from a base in the Pech River Valley in Afghanistan's Kunar province, Saturday, October 24, 2009. (Photo by David Guttenfelder/AP Photo)

Honorable Mention: “The Storm”. During I was taking photo with my nephew, the storm came and I caught this beautiful moment. Photo location: Kocaeli, Turkey. (Photo and caption by Aytül Akbaş/National Geographic Photo Contest)

An Afghan judge hits a woman with a whip in front of a crowd in Ghor province, Afghanistan August 31, 2015. An Afghan man and woman found guilty of adultery received 100 lashes on Monday in front of a crowd who filmed their punishment, TV footage showed. (Photo by Reuters/Pajhwok News Agency)

A woman looks out from her stall selling traditional garments and textiles at a market in Ashgabat February 8, 2012. (Photo by Aman Mehinli/Reuters)

A group of young men use a selfie stick to take a picture of themselves in shallow waters known as the first cataract of the River Nile outside Khartoum, Sudan, May 22, 2015. In Sudan, which faces insurgences in the western region of Darfur and along its border with breakaway South Sudan, as well as double-digit inflation and high unemployment, life goes on for young people in the capital Khartoum. (Photo by Mohamed Nureldin Abdallah/Reuters)

A photographer takes pictures near an inflated Master Yoda character hot air balloon during the 33rd annual QuickChek New Jersey Festival of Ballooning at Solberg Airport Friday, July 24, 2015, in Readington, N.J. The festival which runs through Sunday, July 26, 2015, will feature as many as 100 balloons, including many large, shaped balloons of Darth Vader, an American Flag, a giant whale, a Panda Bear, and a baby dinosaur. (Photo by Mel Evans/AP Photo)

An Afghan man is carried out of a hospital after receiving treatment following a suicide truck bomb attack in Kabul, Afghanistan August 7, 2015. The bombings were the first in Kabul since Mullah Akhtar Mansour took charge of the Taliban last week, and followed a rare truck bomb attack in an eastern province on Thursday. (Photo by Omar Sobhani/Reuters)

Dancers wearing traditional attires take part in the 7th Annual Ingoma Dance Competition organised by The Natal Playhouse theatre in Durban on March 21, 2017. The Ingoma Dance is considered one of the most purist forms of traditional Zulu dance. (Photo by Rajesh Jantilal/AFP Photo)