A Ukrainian soldier embraces his partner while waiting to board a train heading for the frontlines on March 13, 2022, at Lviv-Holovnyi railway station as the Russian invasion of Ukraine continues.
Azis Karimov was born in 1987 Baku, Azerbaijan and graduated from the Azerbaijan State University of Culture and Arts. In 2013 Karimov worked for Associated Press, subsequently starting his career as a freelance photographer and by 2019 he was working as a frequent contributor to Getty Images.
He also attended the International Summer Photography School with Magnum Photos, and in 2017 he was asked to lecture at the Azerbaijan State Academy of Physical Education and Sport, to discuss sports photojournalism. In 2019 he was invited to lecture at Azerbaijan University of Languages on the topic of photojournalism. In 2020, one of Karimov’s photos was selected to be included in an Associated Press annual report, capturing a “world in distress”.