ST. PETERSBURG, FL (March 21, 2006) – For a second day judges continued to pick winners in the 2006 National Press Photographers Association’s Best Of Photojournalism contest at The Poynter Institute for Media Studies in St. Petersburg, FL, selecting winners in 9 categories on Monday.
Winners and Honorable Mentions were awarded in these categories in the second round of judging: Sports Photojournalist of the Year; Sports Picture Story; News Portrait and Personality; Natural Habitat; Local Portrait and Personality; Natural Disaster Single; Domestic News; Celebrity Picture Story; and The Art Of Entertainment.
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.
In the Sports Photojournalist of the Year category, Donald Miralle Jr. of Getty Images won First Place and Steve Christo of The Sydney Morning Herald won Second. Adam Pretty of Getty Images won Third place.
In the Sports Photojournalist of the Year category, the judges noted that many of the top five portfolios were from international photographers and Ferro praised the variety of work and the vision of the entries. Fremson said that the final three portfolios were “all high quality; they each tell a beautiful story, and they are technically well done and photographed in an interesting way. Making the selection on First, Second and Third place will have to be based on the number of weak photographs in each portfolio. Then we’ll see which one floats to the top.” Before they decided, Colton said, “I believe that a portfolio should reward diversity and versatility.”
Of the First place winner, a collection by Donald Miralle Jr. of Getty Images, Ferro said, “The photographer had a great eye for light and composition.” Colton said, “This entry had strong single images and a very good photo story. Fremson said, “It had variety and took sports beyond the activity of sports by including some wonderful portraits.”
About Second place, Fernandez said, “The water polo story helps make this portfolio very unique.” Fremson said, “The portfolio has a bit of a street photography element to it that I really like. The images have a play of light and darkness tonality and there is randomness to the moments but they are all composed and framed very well.” On Third place, Ferro said, “This portfolio had excellent work which included a strong story about rock climbing.”
In the Sports Picture Story category, Adam Pretty of Getty Images won First place and Donald Miralle Jr., also of Getty Images, won Second. Seamus Murphy won Third place, and Honorable Mentions were awarded to Tomasz Gudzowaty of Fotoagentur Focus and Judit Berekai, also of Fotoagentur Focus.
“Each and every image is perfect, it’s absolutely spectacular,” Christine McNeal said about the First place rock climbing essay in the Sports Picture Story category. Fernandez said of the Second place winner, “The photographs give you a story of the sumo wrestler which takes you on a journey. The process is very clear.” Ricardo Ferro said, “The photos in the story are very well treated; the photographer exhibited a lot of talent.” Of the Third place essay on Afghan bird fighting, James Colton said, “This was the most unusual and difficult story,” and Ferro said, “The photography does an excellent job in showing the magnitude of the event and number of people who are at the event.”
In the News Portrait and Personality category, David Burnett of Contact Press Images won First Place, and Bruno Stevens, freelancing for Stern, won Second. Diana Walker of Time won Third place, and Honorable Mentions were awarded to Alejandro E Perez Estrada of EFE, and to Andrea Bruce of The Washington Post.
In the News Portrait and Personality category, Fernandez said about the First place picture, “I love this image. It’s a riveting image.” About Second place: “This is a visually graphic and strong image. Magnetic.” McNeal said about Third Place, “I do like the body language with President Clinton leaning away.”
In the Natural Habitat category, Tracy Wilcox of The Gainsville Sun won First place, and Jed Conklin of The Spokesman-Review won Second. Steve Heaslip of the Cape Cod Times won Third place, and Honorable Mentions were awarded to Mark Garfinkel of the Boston Herald, and Chris Curry of The Virginian-Pilot.
In the Natural Habitat category, the judges thought that all of the images that made it to the final round were strong images. About the First place sandhill cranes’ photograph, Fremson said, “This photograph was picked as the winner because – in addition to being esthetically beautiful – the photographer captured a moment.”
“The Second place photograph of the Oregon tree farm had a 3-D effect to it,” Ferro said. “It has depth, it invites the viewer to walk in and explore the forest. The photograph is striking, simplistic, and the colors are incredible.” The Third place photograph of feathery ice crystals was described by Fremson: “I found it to be whimsical. You could bring your imagination to the image and you could wander through this forest of ferns.”
In the Local Portrait and Personality category, Goran Tomasevic of Reuters won First place, and Brian Cassella, of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, won Second. Third place went to Ji-Eun Lee, of the Patuxent Publishing Company, and Honorable Mentions were awarded to Damir Sagoli of Reuters; Stephanie Sinclair of Corbis on assignment for Stern; and Gerard Rancinan of Polaris on assignment for Time.
In the category for Local Portrait and Personality, the judges agreed that these finalists “were like going into a candy store, there are so many beautiful pictures.” Colton said, “The First and Second place images were eye catchers and heart-wrenching.” Fremson said “Such a beautiful color portrait of innocence” in the First place selection. Colton said “It’s a haunting picture,” and Ferro said, “The photograph is destined to become a classic.”
About Second place, Ferro said it “grows on you.” Colton said, “The image is strong storytelling one.” “When you look at her eyes you can see she has had a hard life,” Fremson said. “There is such a quiet intimacy in this group of people that tells me a lot about who they are,” Fremson said about the Third place image. “I think as an image it is incredibly striking and interesting."
In the Natural Disaster Single category, Paula Bronstein of Getty Images won First place, and Jan Dago of Morgenavise won Second. Roger Lemoyne of Redux Pictures won Third place, and Honorable Mentions were awarded to Eugene Hoshiko of Associated Press; Jerry Lara of the San Antonio Express-News; Smiley Pool of The Dallas Morning News; and Paul Hansen of Dagens Nyheter.
In the Natural Disaster Single category, Fremson said about the First place picture, “This is so powerful, it really tugs at me. It is a tender moment that talks about suffering.” Ferro said, “I just can’t take my eyes off it.”
“This is a terrific news photo and it is a really strong single because it shows what has happened in the background,” Colton said. “And there is hope in the helping hand and the color, composition, and content work well.
In the Domestic News category, Craig Warga of the New York Daily News won First place, and Troy Boman of the Tooele Transcript Bulletin won Second. Third place was awarded to Debbie Egan-Chin of the New York Daily News, and Honorable Mentions were awarded to Josh Meltzer of The Roanoke Times; Q. Sakamaki of Redux Pictures on assignment for Mother Jones; and Aristide Economopoulos of The Star-Ledger.
In the Domestic News category, Fremson said of the First Place winner, “Everything is drawing me into the faces of the rescuers and the victim.” Of Second place, she said, “The photo has a kind of surreal quality.” McNeal said of the Third place image, “It’s sad content. The woman’s daughter has just been shot in the face and you can see her grief. It hits you. It’s more than the tear; it’s the eyes. It’s very powerful.”
In the Celebrity Picture Story category, Christopher Morris of VII Picture Agency on assignment for Time won First place, and Pete Souza of the Chicago Tribune won Second. Third place was Chris McGrath of Getty Images Asia, and Honorable Mentions were awarded to Dave Yoder of Polaris Images, and Jennifer Zdon of The Times-Picayune.
About the Celebrity Picture Story category winner, Ferro said, “This is a non-traditional picture story that takes us to a completely different level.” Fremson said, “It’s interesting visually, it’s interesting the way it’s put together, and the pacing of the images flow from one to next. It’s conceptual and executed brilliantly.”
About Second place, Fremson said, “It’s something the photographer thought of and conceived and it’s a really nice story. It’s more of a traditional photo story and you get a good sense of whom the subject is.” About the Third place black and white panoramic picture story, Fernando said, “The imagery is compelling. The photographer did a good gob of filling the panorama frame with interesting content from left to right.”
In The Art Of Entertainment category, Astrid Riecken of The Washington Times won First place, and Susana Raab won Second. Sisse Brimberg of Keenpress won Third place, and Honorable Mentions were awarded to David Strick from Redux Pictures on assignment for Premiere, and Ben Garvin of The Pioneer Press.
In the Art of Entertainment category, Colton commented: “The first place image was both visually and graphically striking.” McNeal said, “The Second place Elvis impersonator photograph has layers of Elvis stuff in the background, and the expression in the face of the people watching.” About Third place, Fernandez said, “The photograph of the pigeon being released on stage is a great photo and gives the winners in the category a really nice range.”
At 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.
Read about Sunday's winners here.
