A Perth photographer who was in the Ukraine when Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 was shot down says the censorship of his work has deprived the victims of having their story told.

Veteran press photographer Bohdan Warchomij, who is of Ukrainian descent, had one of his most graphic photos pixilated without prior consent in the recent WA Press Photographer of the Year Awards exhibition, held at the museum.

Perth photographer Bohdan Warchomij, who was in the Ukraine when Malaysian Airlines Flight 17 was shot down almost one year ago, says “censorship” of his images is an insult to the victims. Credit:Jonathan Barrett

Mr Warchomij said the manipulation of an image that shows a female passenger's leg ripped from her hip in a wheat field silenced the photograph's powerful message.

"It was censorship and an insult to the people who died, their story deserves to be told," Mr Warchomij said.