Zayed Al-Qaws is 18 years old, an aspiring doctor who drives a taxi to pay for school. He lives with his family a short distance from Change Square in Sana, Yemen.

But when Samuel Aranda’s World Press Photo of the Year was published in The New York Times last October, no one knew Mr. Qaws’s name — or the name of his mother, Fatima. Mr. Aranda, who was on assignment for The Times, captured her clutching her son in a field hospital on Oct. 15. With the World Press decision, the two became the anonymous — and somewhat controversial — representatives of the Arab Spring.

Last Thursday night, Mr. Aranda returned to Yemen to cover Tuesday’s presidential election, which ends the 33-year rule of President Ali Abdullah Saleh. But first, he had another task on his plate. He wanted to meet with the subjects of the photograph, to put a face on the image that gained so much attention after the award was announced on Feb. 10.

“The family was everywhere already, in the local newspapers,” Mr. Aranda said. The Yemen Times published an interview with Ms. Qaws, 35, and her son three days after the World Press announcement was made.

A relative had called the family to tell them about the photograph. Mr. Aranda said at first they didn’t grasp the impact of the image, which has been written about and debated widely since it was chosen by the World Press judges. Then, he said, “they started to be conscious that it was a big deal for them and for Yemen.”

Mr. Aranda’s meeting was both a formal and emotional occasion. He went to their house after lunch where Ms. Qaws served sweet homemade cookies. As children played inside, elders kissed Mr. Aranda, a Spanish photojournalist. Mr. Qaws’s grandmother cried. They talked about the photograph and about that day in October. The family thanked him.

Mr. Aranda was surprised to hear that Ms. Qaws hadn’t noticed him taking the photograph that day. “When I was in the hospital,” he said, “I remember perfectly her looking at me.”

As they walked toward the mosque where he shot the image — a converted field hospital at the time — they talked about how difficult life had been during the revolution. Ms. Qaws did not want her son to go to the protest that day. She told Mr. Aranda how she’d heard radio reports of sniper fire, “so just ran to the hospital looking for her son and thinking that her son was killed,” he said.

Inside, she found him lying down. Mr. Qaws was in a coma for two days after the photo was taken. He spent a month recuperating. He was injured twice more.

“He told his mother that he wants to be a martyr,” Mr. Aranda said.

The family had gained notoriety for being one of the first houses in Sana to hang photos of “martyrs” outside of their home. Both Mr. Qaws’s mother and grandmother were involved in the revolution as well.

On Friday, Mr. Aranda stayed with them at the mosque for a short time before local journalists began to arrive, seeking interviews. Ms. Qaws thanked him for taking the photo. They exchanged phone numbers, and promised to keep in touch.