Judge's Comments

1st Place

Living on Pennies featured the photos and voice of LA Times photographer Francine Orr. This was an ambitious project, including seven different flash galleries, each containing from 15-22 photos. The photographer's audio narrative closely paralleled her photographs, bringing depth and additional meaning to nearly every image. The soundtrack was synchronized to the photos, offering the viewer a chance to skip ahead and still hear complete segments for each image. The optional captions were readily available, but largely unnecessary due to the highly detailed soundtrack. The photographer's descriptions, such as the smell of human waste baked into the dirt roads of a shantytown village, created a sensory experience in the essays. The images had great continuity, both in visual approach, quality of color and tonality. This was a large body of work, but it kept our attention throughout our entire viewing. Most impressive was the emotional power of the project as a whole. The photographer succeeded in drawing us into the same empathy she obviously felt for the struggle of these impoverished but persistent and hopeful people.

The design of each gallery was appealing, emphasizing strong photo play instead of heavy graphics. Our biggest complaint was the lack of connection between the seven different flash galleries. On the initial page, a viewer might suspect there was only one or two slide shows. The other shows are hidden in links to other parts of the series. A better connection on the initial page, plus a second layer of navigation within each flash show connecting the seven essays would have solved the problem.

2nd Place

Latitude Zero showcased the around-the-world visual journey by photographer Monique Stauder. Stauder documented life in countries that lie within one degree of the equator. This was a brave and difficult mission; a solitary journey through unstable nations such as Somalia, the Congo and the Brazilian interior. The concept on its own is intriguing, but what made the site a success was the strong, original black-and-white photography by Stauder and the elegant integration of the images, captions, map and thumbnails on the site.

Stauder's work was the mark of a documentarian who delved into each culture she crossed into, working to understand the complexity of nations and the traditions of its people. Her vision is evocative and personal, yet does not usurp the subject matter. The tonal values of the images are lush. The respect Stauder has for the people she photographs is palpable. The site design took full advantage of her work; the horizontal streaming of images was smooth and innovative, and the map was illustrative and easy to navigate, bringing the viewer easily back to the country selected. One judge disliked the headline font, but this site was fascinating to explore.

3rd Place

The Cost of Liberty won third place solely on the quality of the photo essay. The work was presented on the lesser of the Post's two templates, a plain white slide show with a smaller image size than Cameraworks' other display. But the no bells-or-whistles format gave full attention to the images, which were intimate, painful and complete. Andrea Bruce Woodall found a way to enter the life of one woman deeply affected by the poverty of Iraq, selling her body for the economic good of her extended family. In addition to the impressive access Woodall attained to Halla's life, the photographs were artfully composed and carefully framed and layered. Woodall created an enduring documentary of one Iraqi woman's emotional sacrifice.

Honorable Mention

Per-Anders Pattersson's South African ballet story, like Woodall's piece, rose to the top of the category purely through the strength of his respectful, at times playful, photography. The simple black-background AOL presentation allowed the photos some separation from the clutter around it on the site, and the captions were informative.

Honorable Mention

Wounded in the Line of Duty featured Ed Kashi's important body of work documenting the physical and emotional recoveries of four soldiers badly wounded in the Iraq war. This lengthy presentation kept our attention with a smooth marriage of photos and narrative (primarily the voices of the subjects). Overall, we felt the photo essays were not edited tightly enough, forcing many weaker images into the mix. The paragraph summary at right was unnecessarily repeated on each page, using up valuable real estate. MSNBC's clean design was elegant and effective, easy to navigate and stark, matching the solemnity of the subject matter.