The National Press Photographers Association has completed the judging of its annual Best of Photojournalism contest. As evidenced by the results, the most powerful stock-photography house has also become a significant force in the field of photojournalism.
As previously reported, Getty Images' John Moore won the top BOP prize. In addition to being named Photojournalist of the Year (large markets), Moore won first places for international news picture story and international news single. Moore is joined by Denny Simmons of the Evansville Courier & Press as Photojournalist of the Year for smaller markets.
Getty's Mario Tama won Cliff Edom's "New America Award" for covering the post-Katrina struggle of New Orleans' poverty-stricken African-American community. This award was established to recognize stories about communities, groups and issues that typically do not receive much coverage in American media.
Getty photographers also performed well in other segments, gathering a number of second and third-place wins and honorable mentions. Though the newly established award for best international picture story went to Mona Reeder of The Dallas Morning News, Getty's Paula Bronstein took second place. Bronstein also won the third prize in the serial portrait package category.
Getty's Alex Wong won second place in "The Road to Office," a category devoted to the American presidential election. Wong was bested by Pete Souza of the Chicago Tribune and followed by Corbis' Brooks Kraft (for TIME Magazine) in third place.
Second and third prizes in the sports photojournalism category went to Getty's Donald Miralle, Jr., and Ezra Shaw, following Xinhua News Agency's Fei Maohua in first place.
In addition, Reportage photographer Per-Anders Pettersson won third place in the news portrait category. Getty sports shooter Cameron Spencer won an honorable mention for action photography.
Given Getty's investment in the entertainment and red-carpet space, it was a surprise to note the company's no-show in this year's celebrity category. Chicago Tribune's Souza, Barbara Davidson of the Los Angeles Times and Christopher Morris of VII were awarded the top three prizes.
As usual, photographers from newspapers and well-known news agencies dominated the contest. For example, the best domestic picture story was shot by The New York Times' Todd Heisler. Best picture stories in large and small markets were by James Whitlow Delano of Redux (for Aera Weekly News Magazine, Asahi) and Noor's Francesco Zizola, respectively.
In the realm of photo editing, Brad Loper and his employer, The Dallas Morning News, took the top individual and team prizes for newspapers. Jim Colton of Sports Illustrated is the Magazine Picture Editor of the Year. Colton also won first place in the magazine cover category. Saveur was judged the magazine with best use of pictures, followed by Time and Sports Illustrated in second and third places.
The competition also honored TV, online and multimedia works. The prize for best use of the Web went to "Soul of Athens," a multimedia site that looks at life in Athens County, the poorest in Ohio.
A full listing of winners is available at the BOP Web site. The awards ceremony will take place at NPPA's annual gathering, Convergence08, scheduled for the last week of May in Louisville.