ST. PETERSBURG, FL (March 20, 2006) – Judging started Sunday afternoon in some of the still photography categories in the 2006 National Press Photographers Association’s Best Of Photojournalism contest at The Poynter Institute for Media Studies in St. Petersburg, FL.
Judges on Sunday picked winners in these categories: Celebrity News Singles, Conceptual Photographic Illustration, Individual Sports Action, Team Sports Action, and Sports Enterprise.
This year's still photography judges are: Ramiro Fernandez, photography editor for People magazine; Christine McNeal, deputy managing editor for design, graphics, and photography for The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel; Ricardo Ferro, director of photography for Efeamerica; Ruth Fremson, a staff photojournalist for The New York Times; and James Colton, photography editor for Sports Illustrated magazine.
Judging the Celebrity News Singles category, Fremson said that the image chosen for First place – a portrait of Joaquin Phoenix (by Damon Winter) – “is a beautiful graphic photograph that has an ethereal quality which really suits his personality.”
Fremson said, “The Second place image of Samuel Jackson (also by Winter), another strong, graphic, and compelling image, is interesting and a strong portrait and has a slightly mysterious look. The Third place winner was a photograph of Cold Play (by Jake Chessum), a nice group photograph that is often difficult to make because there are so many people in the photograph. It was well executed”.
Colton said his philosophy for judging the Conceptual Photographic Illustration is that “wacky images have a special place in conceptual illustration category. Later on, the judges will see categories with photographs of death and destruction and all the other really heavy categories. Any time you can see a little whimsy and humor in this category, it is all very, very positive.”
Colton said the First place image (by Andrea Levy) was “very simple and the photographer was really thinking, and the Third place (George) Bush photo concept has been done before - but this photo is a grabber.” The picture is by Sean Stipp.
Fremson said, “The Second place winning house photo (by Levy also) is strong, it’s conceptual, and relays its meaning quickly. It has a strong emotional pull to it.”
In Individual Sports Action, Ferro said, “All of the nine images, which made it to the final round, are winners.” Fernandez said, “This category was made up of two parts: one was the news, the other the feature part of it.” Judges picked the peak action photos as winners over the feature/graphic images as they felt these best defined the judging criteria for the category, and the top three finalists were the best representations of peak action.
Ferro described the first place boxing photograph (by Nathan Lambrecht) as, “An incredible moment of a gladiator battle.” Fremson said, “It represented the best combination of an individual sports action photograph which contained news value, peak action, and a high level of intensity.”
In the Team Sports Action category, Frenandez said, “The images that made the final round here were the cleaner images.” The judges agreed that the First place baseball photograph (by Karl Merton Ferron) was a “fresh new look and clean approach.” Colton said of the Second place picture (by Craig Wilson), “You can feel the picture of a rugby player getting the finger of an opponent stuck in his eye.” Ferro said of the Third place picture (by Franck Fife), “The player in the soccer picture looks like he’s coming right at you.”
In the Sports Enterprise category, judges felt the First place image of synchronized swimmers (by Bruce Ely) was “a beautiful and intriguing photograph that is well composed." "There is something happening throughout, and you going back and look at the image and you notice something new each time,” McNeal said. About Second place (by Jonathan Newton), “The junkyard drills photo has nice graphic and action elements.” Fremson said, “It’s a surprising, fun image.” Ferro described the Third place photograph of baseball players reacting as they run onto the playing field as “a powerful moment that shows the jubilation of the players.”
Near the end of the week the judges will pick the Photojournalists of the Year for the large market and small market categories, as well as the winner of Cliff Edom’s “New America Award.”
NPPA's Best Of Photojournalism contest is sponsored by Canon, Avid, The Poynter Institute for Media Studies, Hesketh.com, Ibiblio.org, Western Kentucky University, Camera Bits, Ohio University, and Merlin One.
Read an earlier story about the judges and the contest here.
