DURHAM, NC (October 13, 2011) – The National Press Photographers Association today announced that the judges for the NPPA Short Grants competition have been picked, and judging the grant proposals will begin later this month.
The judges include Anita Baca, Joe Cavaretta, and Matthew J. Lee. The panel will select five photographers who will receive $3,000 each to complete their proposed community photography story.
More than 100 photographers from across the country submitted proposals for NPPA's Short Grants program.
“We are thrilled with the quality of entries,” said Alicia Wagner Calzada, the Short Grants Chair. “Some of the nation’s most prestigious photographers have entered and the proposals are truly inspiring. It is clear from a quick review of the entries that there are some amazing stories waiting to be told and the judges will have some tough decisions.”
An announcement about the Short Grant Award grantees is expected in November.
NPPA's Short Grants program was made possible by funding received from the Authors Coalition of America (ACA), the organization which distributes royalties for overseas copying of works that cannot be identified by title or copyright owner. These funds must be used solely to support education and advocacy efforts benefitting photographers, NPPA executive direrctor Mindy Hutchison said.
Applications were accepted through an online entry system, and the entry period began on August 1, 2011.
About the judges:
A year ago photography editor Anita Baca left the talented photo staff of the San Antonio Express-News to join AP's Latin America and Caribbean picture desk at regional headquarters in Mexico City. She edits news, sports and entertainment pictures in English and Spanish for AP's Ameican and international audience in the region that stretches from the U.S. border in the north to the southernmost tip of South American, plus the Caribbean. A longtime NPPA volunteer for Region 8, Baca has been involved as a judge in two Women in Photojournalism contests and in the planning of several events including a women’s conference, two NPPA Flying Short Course stops, and the Best Of Photojournalism conference in San Antonio in 2005.
Joe Cavaretta is a senior staff photographer and videographer at the South Florida Sun Sentinel. He formerly worked for the AP in Las Vegas and Mexico City, and served as the director of photography at the San Antonio Express-News. Cavaretta has been an NPPA member since 1985 and he was awarded the NPPA Nikon Sabbatical grant in 1989.
Matthew J. Lee has been a staff photographer at the Boston Globe since 1999 and a newspaper photographer since 1986. Prior to the Globe, he worked as a staff photographer at the Miami Herald, The Long Beach Press-Telegram, the Oakland Tribune, and the Charlotte Observer. Lee was part of the team at the Oakland Tribune that was awarded the 1990 Pulitzer Prize for Spot News Photography for coverage of the Loma Prieta Earthquake. Lee was the first Chinese American photographer to be part of a Pulitzer team. He is married and has two daughters and a foster child.
