The Visual Student

Patrick T. Fallon is a junior photojournalism student at the University of Missouri. He will be interning this summer at the Valley News in White Junction, VT. Previously he interned at ZUMA Press.

Proudly clad in red, white, maple leafs and face paint, Canadian super fans display their patriotic spirit, celebrating on Granville Street in downtown Vancouver with cheers and beers.
(Patrick T Fallon/ZUMA Press)
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The top four finalists for the Hearst Photojournalism Awards Program in Portrait/Personality, Feature, and “Personal Vision” were announced.

John W. Adkisson, of the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill was first place. Scott McIntyre, of Western Kentucky University was second. Ryan C. Henriksen, of Ohio University, was third. Dan Krauss, of Ohio University, was fourth.

These four winners will move on to a semi-final round of judging in April against the four finalists in the two other photo competitions and the two overall highest point scorers. From that group, six finalists will be chosen to compete in the program’s National Photojournalism Championship.

The Photojournalism judges are: Ken Geiger, Senior Editor, Technology/Illustrations, National Geographic Magazine, Michael C. Norseng, Photo Editor, Esquire Magazine, Geri Migielicz, Story4.

To view the News and Sports winners, go here.

Below are photos from each of the finalists portfolios:

John W. Adkisson-First Place

Lorca Lechuga-Haeseler of Asheville, N.C., dumpster dives for recently outdated bags of vegetables behind a high-end grocery store in Asheville, N.C. on May 17, 2009. Lechuga-Haeseler works for Food Not Bombs, a group that collects food through donations and dumpster diving to feed impoverished people in the community. (John W. Adkisson, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill)
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Central Michigan University student Neil Blake won the 2009 College Photographer of the Year honor at the Michigan Press Photographers Association. Second and third place went to Jake May and Libby March, respectively, also of Central Michigan. Go here to view Blake’s portfolio and other winners.  Go here for the MPPA website.

Emily Bartlett, 7, of Midland, tosses a ball inside a retired hot air balloon envelope at the Remax Balloon Festival. Emily’s parents, Tony and Heather Bartlett, crew for Steve King, a hot air balloon pilot who has a chance to complete internationally. The balloon pictured was the only balloon filled Friday evening due to high winds. (Neil Blake)

Go here to see the list and galleries for the PDN 30.

You can now enter the White House News Photographers Association 2010 Student Photographer of the Year Contest.

“The WHNPA (http://whnpa.org) is proud to announce our annual contest is open to students from across the world to compete for the honor of WHNPA Student Photographer of the Year. The contest opens on February 20, 2010 and will accept entries until 11:59 p.m. EST on March 17, 2010. To download a PDF of complete contest rules and guidelines, go to www.whnpa.org/studentcontest.

The winning student portfolio will receive a $1000 award, two tickets to the annual WHNPA black tie gala in Washington, D.C., a free airline ticket to the awards gala, featured work printed in the Eyes of History (TM) awards book and traveling exhibit and a $1000 scholarship from Momenta Workshops (momentaworkshops.com), the host and sponsor of this year’s competition.

To learn more and download the complete set of rules please go to http://www.whnpa.org/studentcontest.”

Juliette Lynch, a senior in the S.I. Newhouse School of Public communications, won the Alexia Foundation Student Competition. Lynch was awarded a full tuition scholarship to study photojournalism at Syracuse University in London, England this fall.  She will also receive a $1,000 cash grant to help produce her work. Lynch’s proposal was to document the difficulties of teenage girls in society.

Lynch, a dual major in photojournalism and international relations, interned at the Cape Cod Times and was an education intern at the International Justice Mission in Washington, D.C.

Second place was awarded to Muhammad Murtada, a photojournalism student at Pathshala, the South Asian Institute for Photography. Award of Excellence winners were Ryan Henriksen, of Ohio University, Cody Duty, of Western Kentucky University and Diego James Robles, of Ohio University.

Louie Palu won the professional division award.

Below are some of Lynch’s photos from her Alexia Entry, titled “Growing up Girl.” See her proposal and all photos here.

Brigid, a senior, has her mom help her fix her hair while she and her friends get ready for the Skaneateles Homecoming dance. It’s a long process of trying on different outfits, comparing, fixing hair and make-up. (Juliette Lynch, from “Growing up Girl”)
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The top four finalists for the Hearst Photojournalism Awards Program in News and Sports were announced. Diego James Robles, of Ohio University, is first place. Tyler Cacek, of Western Kentucky University is second. Drew Angerer, of Ohio University, is third. Cody Duty of Western Kentucky University, is fourth.

These four winners will move on to a semi-final round of judging in April against the four finalists in the two other photo competitions and the two overall highest point scorers. From that group, six finalists will be chosen to compete in the program’s National Photojournalism Championship.

The Photojournalism judges are: Ken Geiger, Senior Editor, Technology/Illustrations, National Geographic Magazine, Michael C. Norseng, Photo Editor, Esquire Magazine, Geri Migielicz, Story4.

Below are photos from each of the finalists portfolios:

Diego James Robles-First Place

Austin Sutliff, 16, of Reading, Pa., receives medical aid from Hocking College emergency medical technicians after being thrown-off and stepped-on by a bull, on Sunday afternoon, Sept. 28, 2008, in Nelsonville, Ohio. A cowboy for the past four years, Sutliff competes in the Bull Ride Mania rodeo circuit and similar competitions. (Diego James Robles, Ohio University)
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The NPR Intern Edition: Remix is online here. This blog is a home for the NPR interns based in Washington, D.C., New York City and Los Angeles. An intern produced half hour-long multimedia NPR program will air on April 15.  The Intern Edition began in 1999.

Indiana University student James Brosher won the 2009 College Photographer of the Year honor at the Indiana News Photographers Association. Second place went to Coline Sperling, also of Indiana University. Go here to view Brosher’s portfolio and other winners.  Go here for the INPA website.

Students battle in a snow ball fight on Wednesday, Jan. 28, 2009, in Dunn Meadow on the Indiana University campus in Bloomington, Ind.  IU canceled classes Wednesday due to snow, and Monroe County declared a state of emergency. (James Brosher)

This is the second part of a series about photographer couples, called “Two of a Kind.” This post features Kendrick Brinson and David Walter Banks.

The previous post featured Jenn Ackerman and Tim Gruber.

Beverly Bourgois, whose vast collection of clothes spans the late 1800s through the 1980s, poses for a portrait with part of her collection from the 1940s and 1950s at the Lyndon House Art Gallery in Athens, Ga. As the curator of the gallery went to pick up Bourgois’ hat collection for display, he came across the rest of her clothes and decided to devote the majority of his gallery to her collection. (David Walter Banks)

VS: Please talk about your backgrounds and how you met.

“We are business partners in LUCEO.  We’re a shooting team with weddings, some personal projects and LUCEO group projects.  If that weren’t enough, we serve as each other’s editor, assistant, accountability partner, and of course sources of inspiration.”
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Though Danny Gawlowski received many rejection letters from internship programs across the U.S., the application process was worthwhile. He grew immensely as a photojournalist while interning for The Plain Dealer in Cleveland, The Gazette in Colorado Springs, the Courier and Press in Evansville, the Concord Monitor and The Dallas Morning News. Danny moved to Washington state in 2006 to become a staff photographer at The Bellingham Herald and is currently the Video Editor at The Seattle Times.

Dr. Vindhya Cuddapah, left, examines Wickit as his owner, Sarah Tilton of Sanbornton, right, holds him in one of the examination rooms. Tilton and Wickit were hiking on Piper Mountain when Wickit had an encounter with a porcupine that resulted with quills in his mouth and paws. (Danny Gawlowski/Concord Monitor)

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This is first part of a series about photographer couples, called “Two of a Kind.” Part one features Jenn Ackerman and Tim Gruber.

Go here to visit Ackerman Gruber Images.

VS: Please talk about your backgrounds.

“Jenn Ackerman started as a writer and quickly transitioned from the written word to photographic moment. She attended the Danish School of Journalism in 2006 and there discovered she wanted to make intimate and poignant images. Soon after returning to the states she attended graduate school at Ohio University. Her photographs have been recognized by Photojournalism Competition on Human Rights, Emerging Photographer Fund, the PGB Photo Award, the Honickman First Book Prize, Communication Arts Photography Annual, Photolucida’s 2009 Critical Mass Top 50 and others. Her most recent project, Trapped, was named Non-Traditional Photojournalism Publishing Project of the Year and the project’s short film won an Emmy.

Tim Gruber is a native of Minnesota where he grew up in a tiny town with a population of 554. Thanks to that small town in the famed Lake Wobegon region Tim had plenty of time to hone his childlike curiosity. Something he still carries with him everyday he’s out shooting. Tim attended the graduate program at Ohio University’s School of Visual Communication. Tim’s photos and multimedia have been honored by the Communication Arts Photography Annual, The New York Photo Awards, Pictures of the Year International(POYi), The NPPA’s Best of Photojournalism(BOP), The Atlanta Photojournalism Seminar and more.”
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The 2010 World Press Photo contest winning images are online.  To view galleries go here.  To view the winners list, go here. Pietro Masturzo, of Italy, won the World Press Photo of the Year.

Kathryn Cook (b.1979) is a freelance photographer represented by Agence VU’ and Prospekt Fotografi in Italy. Kathryn grew up in New Mexico and studied Journalism at the University of Colorado at Boulder.

Kathryn’s professional career began in 2003 with The Associated Press in Panama, where she contributed to reports throughout Latin America. She left the AP to work on personal projects and freelance assignments in South America. She has contributed to various magazines, including Stern, TIME, The New York Times Magazine, Newsweek and U.S. News & World Report.

In September 2006, she relocated to Istanbul, Turkey. After working for nearly a year on her project addressing the memory of the Armenian genocide, Kathryn received the 2008 Aftermath Project grant. This work was also recognized by the 2008 Inge Morath award and the Italian Enzo Baldoni Award. In 2009 she participated in the World Press Joop Swart Masterclass.

Kathryn is currently based in Rome, Italy, where she lives with her partner and her 5-month-old daughter, Luna.

Jacky Uwamahoro, 22, stirs her tea by candlelight at home in the Kinyinya genocide survivors village in Kigali, Rwanda. Jacky is originally from the town of Bisesero, and lost all of her six family members during the 1994 genocide. She was able to travel to the city of Gitarama where she lived in an orphanage for several years. She later found extended family members and moved with them to the survivors village in Kigali. She now lives with her cousins in this village for genocide orphans, which is home to approximately 507 people. The village has no electricity. (Kathryn Cook)
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“The Photo Brigade is a resource FOR freelancers to showcase their work to a larger audience of photographers and photo lovers through social media. The goal is to strengthen the freelance photographic community, share the latest work of those freelancers, and raise awareness for photographers who otherwise might not have the opportunity to share their work with a large community of like-minded people.”

See The Photo Brigade page here.

Follow The Photo Brigade on Twitter at http://twitter.com/PhotoBrigade.

The Photo Brigade was formed by freelance photographer Robert Caplin.

Pam Spaulding started at the Louisville Courier-Journal & Times in 1972, a year after her internship at those newspapers.  For over 30 years she has photographed one upper-middle class family as they raised three children and then as those children left home for lives of their own. All three of the children are now older than she was when she started this project. The family has never let her go. The book is called An American Family: Three Decades with the McGarveys.

In 1976 I had my first child and was so stunned by the changes in my life that I decided to try to find another first-time parent to follow for a year.  My thesis was” the growth and development of new parents during their first year as parents.”  I called a Lamaze instructor and got the names of four or five parents who were going to have their first baby.  The first three or four turned me down on the phone when I asked if I could record their lives for a year.  Well, any sensible person would say no to such a request.

David McGarvey, center, says the Pledge of Allegiance for the first time in kindergarten. Three of his classmates in the picture will stay with him through eighth grade.  (September 1982, Pam Spaulding)

The family welcomes David home from a tour in Iraq. John McGarvey, right, who rarely shows emotion, held back tears when the crowd at the airport broke into applause. (November 2006, Pam Spaulding)

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Western Kentucky University student Scott McIntyre won the Student Photographer of the Year award at the Kentucky News Photographers Association annual conference Saturday January 23, 2010. The runner up was Philip Andrews, also of WKU. Go here for all KNPA contest results. To view McIntyre’s website, go here.

From In the Shadows of Progress: Jerry Mackey and his new girlfriend, “Little Bit,” say they are a good match for each other because neither really had a place to call their own. Recently the couple moved into a tent given to them by a friend. (Scott McIntyre)

Jake Drowns, 25, was called to the pasture at his family’s dairy farm in Salisbury, Nh. on August 25, 2009, to help a cow birth it’s first calf. The calf had turned around in a way that made it stuck. After Drowns attempted to turn the calf around multiple times he was unable to save the calf. “Sometimes, you just can’t win them all,” said Drowns. (Scott McIntyre)

Scott Hollingsworth, center, loosens up along with the rest of his team, Century 21, before a game in the Sunset League. The Sunset League is the nation’s oldeset “after-supper” league. The league, whose players hail from Concord and its surrounding communities, spurred a trend of after-supper organizations in New England. (Scott McIntyre)

“The National Press Photographers Foundation (NPPF) officers and board are pleased to announce the addition of a new scholarship in the memory of Seattle Times photographer Jimi Lott.  This will bring the total of NPPF’s annual scholarships and awards to $16,500 dedicated to helping young photojournalists succeed through education.”

For more scholarship information and a PDF application, go here.

M. Scott Brauer is a photographer based in Nanjing, China. Brauer graduated from the University of Washington with dual degrees in philosophy and Russian literature in 2005. View Brauer’s website here.

This is the fifth segment in a series on international photography. To view the first profile on Michael Rubenstein, go here. To view the second profile on Kevin German, go here. To view the third on Dominic Nahr, go here. To view the fourth profile on Andrew Henderson, go here.

VS: Describe your current work situation and how you got there.

Brauer: “I’m currently based in China, working on various long-term publications.  I’m represented by Invision Images in Europe, Aurora Select in the US through a partnership with Invision, and Wonderful Machine in the US, as well.  I get by selling stock, periodic assignments, corporate shoots now and again, and some web design on the side.  I got here by sheer force of will, I suppose.”

Children play in giant inflatable balls on a lake in the White Horse Sculpture Park in Nanjing, China. (M. Scott Brauer)
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The 2010 Kalish workshop will be at Ball State University in Muncie, Ind., June 4-8.  Learn cross-platform/multimedia skills from a faculty of Emmy and Pulitzer Prize winning visual editors. Brian Storm, Geri Migielicz, Sue Morrow, Randy Cox, John Rumbach, Mark Edelson and Kenny Irby will be on the faculty this year along with other industry experts. The deadline for application is May 15.

Go here for a slideshow from the 2009 workshop.  Go here for the 2009 workshop photo booth.

Steven King is the Editor of Innovations and Special Projects at washingtonpost.com. King, a graduate of the photojournalism program at Western Kentucky University, was Multimedia Editor of Content Development at washingtonpost.com. King spent two years in Chiang Mai, Thailand as an overseas correspondent for the International Missions Board. He also helped create CommissionStories.com, a multimedia storytelling site. View King’s website here.

It isn’t news that the journalism industry is changing. Even neighborhood dogs notice that papers aren’t dropping on porches anymore, and photography jobs are about as likely to fall from the sky.

But the journalism sky is far from crashing down around us, although photojournalism purists would call this the end of an era.

Instead, I steadfastly believe that this is a new horizon for the industry to take the undiluted craft of visual storytelling to a level that only enhances the medium. Even if the job titles aren’t the same.

To view TimeSpace, go here.
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Andrew Henderson is a staff photographer at The National in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.  Henderson previously worked as an intern at The Virginian-Pilot, Concord Monitor, The New York Times, and National Geographic Magazine.  Henderson has a photography degree from Rochester Institute of Technology, a history degree from Western Kentucky University, and studied multimedia in the graduate program at Syracuse University.

This is the fourth segment in a series on international photography. To view the first profile on Michael Rubenstein, go here. To view the second profile on Kevin German, go here. To view the third on Dominic Nahr, go here. To view the fifth profile on M. Scott Brauer, go here.

Jubair and Jabair Kuyimannil, born 10 minutes apart on July 31, 2004.  (left to right - left is always older) (Andrew Henderson)

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Photo collectives LUCEO and MJR will host a group show entitled ‘Make-Do’ with an opening night at 25 CPW in Manhattan, NY, Thursday, January 21, 2010.  The show, open from 6pm-10pm, will feature a limited edition fine-art print publication distributed to the first 200 attendees.  Large-scale reproductions of the publication pages will be displayed on the gallery walls.

Where: 25 Central Park West at the intersection of 62nd St. in Manhattan, NY.

When: Thursday, January 21, 2010.  6pm-10pm.

(David Walter Banks, LUCEO)

(Ying Ang/MJR)
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Dominic Nahr is a freelance photographer based in Nairobi, Kenya. Nahr, a 2008 graduate of Ryerson University, has been published in TIME, GQ Magazine, The Fader, The New York Times, The Globe and Mail, Stern and others. Nahr was a student at the 2005 Eddie Adams Workshop where he won the Getty Images Assignment Award. View his website here.

This is the third segment in a series on international photography. To view the first profile on Michael Rubenstein, go here. To view the second profile on Kevin German, go here. To view the fourth profile on Andrew Henderson, go here. To view the fifth profile on M. Scott Brauer, go here.

VS: Describe your current work situation.

Nahr: “Currently I work out of Nairobi, Kenya and will do so for a while. Most of the time I work for magazines and newspapers. The stories are news related features or portrait features and mostly range between 3–5 days. I sometimes do one-day assignments, but not regularly. My area of coverage for assignments is concentrated in East Africa, although when I pitch stories to clients they include North and South Africa as well as the Middle East.”

Two Congolese government soldiers lie dead on the road at the front line five kilometers near Kibati, north of Goma in eastern Congo, November 12, 2008. Both shot through the head, were killed during fighting on Tuesday a few kilometres from a refugee camp at Kibati sheltering 80,000 civilians displaced by violence. CNDP Rebels and government soldiers are only separated by less then half a kilometer and fighting flares up regularly. (Dominic Nahr)
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Thomas E. Witte has been a full time freelance photographer based in the Greater Cincinnati area and Midwest for the past ten years.

His clients range from Sports Illustrated and ESPN the Magazine to Business Week and AP’s commercial division. Thomas comes from a heavy photojournalism background, being schooled in the Ohio University School of Visual Communications and dual majoring in the Department of Psychology. The marriage of the two degrees has surreptitiously helped with relaxing subjects and allowing them to open up and allow him to photograph them in a variety of situations. To view his website, go here.

As more and more layoffs around the country are announced, I’ve been increasingly asked for advice on how to start out and succeed at freelancing. It’s a logical segue right out of the gate because for the most part it’s mainly editorial and they’ll be in their comfort zone before moving on to other arenas of photography.  The first thing out of my mouth every time is that you have GOT to be patient in every single facet of the business.

Wide receiver Chad Johnson of the Cincinnati Bengals can’t hold on to the ball during the first week of NFL action September 11, 2005 at Cleveland Browns Stadium in Cleveland, Ohio. The Bengals beat the Browns 27-13. (Thomas E. Witte/Sports Illustrated)
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Melanie Maxwell currently works as a photojournalist/videographer for AnnArbor.com in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Maxwell graduated from Central Michigan University in 2003 where she studied photojournalism and art. She interned at several papers after college before landing a full-time gig at the Star Press in Muncie, Indiana, where she worked for four years.  In May of 2009, she had the opportunity to travel to the southeast region of Africa, photos can be viewed at www.MelanieMaxwell.com

When I was offered the opportunity to work for AnnArbor.com, I jumped.  Not only was it a chance to move a mere 25 miles from friends and family in my hometown of Livonia, MI, but I also saw AnnArbor.com as an exciting new venture in an industry that has faced many challenges in the last few years. Though the new job was a big change and possibly a risky move, if I’ve learned anything since entering the journalism field, it is to embrace change, because it’s coming.

Santa Claus makes a stop at Seyfried Jewelers during Midnight Madness in downtown Ann Arbor on Friday night. Downtown shops stayed open until midnight, many offering special sales. (Melanie Maxwell/AnnArbor.com)

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