ST. PETERSBURG, FL (March 27, 2008) - Judges at NPPA's 2008 Best Of Photojournalism competition at The Poynter Institute today picked winners in the categories International News Picture Story, Enterprise Picture Story (Smaller and Larger Markets), Best Published Picture Story (Smaller and Larger Markets), and in the new category Investigative Issue Picture Story.
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In the International News Picture Story category, first place is John Moore of Getty Images for his coverage of the campaign and assassination of Pakistan's former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto. Second place is Cedric Gerbehaye of Agence VU for Newsweek, and third place is David Furst of Agence France-Presse. Honorable Mentions were awarded to Ake Ericson of WPN, and to Stephen M. Katz of The Virginian-Pilot.
"After deciding on the final five entries it was challenging to select first place through honorable mention," judge Suzette Moyer said. "They were all very good picture stories. The first place winning entry of the assassination of Buto was a great example of a photographer being in the right place at the right time and keeping his head in the moment taking powerful photographs. This picture story was photographed in a short time period and the results are excellent. The photography was completely captivating."
"The picture story about the Congo contained beautiful photographs and it was well edited," judge Deanne Fitzmaurice said. "There were concerns about the quality, but the images were so strong the judges awarded the entry second place on the strength of the images."
"The third place winning entry was also well done," judge Dudley Brooks said. "There is something happening of urgency in each photograph. The photographer took a lot of risk, and each moment was handled with some mood. Technically well photographed and lit."
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In the Enterprise Picture Story (Smaller Market) category, first place is freelancer Karla Gachet. Second place is Justin Maxon of San Francisco State University, and third place is Emily Rasinski of The Evening Sun. An Honorable Mention was awarded to Menem Wasif of Agency VU for DrikNews.
"I was fascinated about the story of the first place winning entry," judge Jens-Kristian Soegaard said. "The photographer took an unusual approach to a behind-the-scenes look at bull fighting. There is not one redundant photograph; they are all perfectly framed and composed.
"I would like to say something in general about the approach to the stories the majority of the photographers took," Soegaard said. "It seems to me that there are so many aspects of life and there are so many aspects of stories out there to be told and yet many photographers seem to focus illness, social misery, and death. So in reference to the first place winner, it's refreshing to see a photographer who's actually chosen a different aspect of life."
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In the Enterprise Picture Story (Larger Market) category, first place is Ross Taylor of The Hartford Courant for his story about a disabled couple who live together in New Horizons Village in Unionville, CT. Second place is Casper Dalhoff of Jyllands-Posten, and third place is Stephen M. Katz shooting for Physicians For Peace. An Honorable Mention was awarded to Fabio Cuttica of Agenzia Contrasto.
"The judges loved the first place winning entry about the disabled couple who got married. Every picture counted and every picture worked," judge Mary F. Calvert said. "The photographs were moving and the story was photographed with dignity and compassion. The viewer is introduced to a lovely intimate portrait of these two people. After we looked at it we felt a lot of hope for the world. The second place winning entry is a picture story about a place in Denmark where one can go to drink themselves to death while under supervision. A very interesting subject matter that was well photographed. The third place winning entry was a project done on a mental institution. Nice tight edit. The honorable mention winning entry is a story about a gang in Caracas, Venezuela. It had a wonderful muted neutral color that the judges noticed and liked. The color worked well with the images."
"These are four very well done stories," judge Dudley Brooks said. "The first place winner is one I was hoping to see and I hope photographers do more of them. The story dealt with the positive parts of these peoples lives even though they had issues. These people were treated with sensitivity, and the photographer put some time into it and really cared about these people. A lot of the stories we have seen this week are mostly on the dark side, and that approach often makes great pictures, but there are also a lot of picture stories that are positive and uplifting. There are a lot of good things going on and people need to pay attention to them as well as the subject matter."
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In the Best Published Picture Story (Larger Markets) category, first place is James Whitlow Delano of Redux shooting for Aera Weekly News Magazine and Asahi. Second place is Francesco Zizola of L'Espresso, and third place is Altaf Qadri of the European Pressphoto Agency. Honorable Mentions were awarded to Steve Ringman of The Seattle Times, and Francesco Zizola shooting for FORTUNE magazine.
"The first place winning entry is a story about a facility for heroin addiction in Afghanistan. It is a powerful story," Fitzmaurice said. "The photography supported the story and the photographers work showed compassion. The photographs help the viewer make a connection with the subjects of the story. The second place winner had powerful photography."
"The third place winning entry picture story about missing people in Casmir is a well told story," Soegaard said. "Each picture is urgent and well framed. The subject matter is one that is not reported on very much therefore its an important story to tell."
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In the Best Published Picture Story (Smaller Markets) category, first place is Francesco Zizola shooting for Noor. Second place is David Stephenson of the Lexington Herald-Leader, and third place is Christian Als of Berlingske Tidende. Also an Honorable Mention was awarded to Christian Als for another story shot for Berlingske Tidende.
"The first place winning entry is a picture story which gives the viewer a behind the scenes look a tourism," Moyer said. "The second place winner is a story about a drug addict who struggles with being on and off of drugs. The photographs have powerful moments, which give the view an intimate look at the problems of drug addiction and its affects the lives of the woman and her children. The third place winning entry is a picture story about a prison and had powerful photography.”
“The picture story about Beirut which was awarded and honorable mention is an encouraging story," Soegaard said. "We have known that country for a long time for being struck with civil war and all kinds of disasters and it is good to see a story that talks to the fact that Beirut is being rebuilt and has a growing tourism industry.”
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In the Investigative Issue Picture Story category, first place is Mona Reeder of The Dallas Morning News. Second place is Paula Bronstein of Getty Images, and third place is Cheryl Diaz Meyer of The Dallas Morning News.
"The first place winning entry was a picture story which covers many issues of poverty. This is the strongest set of photographs I have seen since judging began," Fitzmaurice said. "Several of the photographs in the entry showed up in other categories. Looking at this entry as a whole, every photograph is well done, powerful, and they hold together well as a series. The photographer had a great time commitment to this project and had incredible access. This is a compete and in depth award winning entry. The second place winning entry was a strong entry and we felt it had more depth than the third place winner. The third place winning entry on self immolation was beautifully photographed and the judges felt the photography on the whole was stronger than the second place winning entry, but it lacked the depth of second place.”
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Each day at 1 p.m. EST during the judging The Poynter Institute for Media Studies, in partnership with NewsU, will host a live series of Webcasts from the Best Of Photojournalism judging. By watching, you'll get an inside look at the Still Photography and Web categories as they're judged, and Poynter's host Kenneth F. Irby will conduct a 15-minute live interview and conversation with a different BOP judge each day. In case you miss the daily Web cast they will be archived on the Poynter Web site. They're free, and you can enroll in the NewsU "course" online here.
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Photographers from more than 140 countries entered this year's Best Of Photojournalism competition, which has remained a free contest with no entry fees since its beginning. More than 4,000 people entered the contest, up more than 25 percent over last year, and there are more than 21,000 entries totally over 58.000 individual items (photogrpahs, clips, and Web sites).
Winners of each day's categories will be announced daily on the NPPA Web site, and the BOP's Photojournalists of the Year and the winner of Cliff Edom's "New America Award" will be announced at the end of the week.
Judges for this year's Best Of Photojournalism still photography categories are Dudley Brooks, formerly of The Washington Post and who is now with Ebony/Jet Magazines; Suzette Moyer of the St. Petersburg Times; Jens-Kristian Soegaard, the director of photography for Morgenavisen Jyllands-Posten (the main daily newspaper in Denmark); Mary F. Calvert of The Washington Times; and Deanne Fitzmaurice of the San Francisco Chronicle.
Judges of BOP's Web categories are Ellyn Angelotti, an adjunct faculty member and editor for The Poynter Institute for Media Studies in St. Petersburg, FL; Michelle Maltais, a deputy editor of business and technology for the Los Angeles Times' Web site; Irwin Thompson, the deputy director of photography for The Dallas Morning News; Seth M. Gitner, a multimedia journalist for Roanoke.com and The Roanoke Times; and Thea Breite, multimedia photography editor for The Boston Globe.
NPPA's Best Of Photojournalism judging is sponsored this year by Apple, Canon USA, NPPA, and The Poynter Institute for Media Studies. On-site Still Photography judging is powered by Aperture.
