Photojournalist of the Year, large market: John Thompson, a close friend of Philando Castile, castigated St. Anthony police for the death of his coworker, a person he called a "brother." Photo by Richard Tsong-Taatarii of the Minneapolis Star Tribune.

Competitions | 2.28.18

Best of Photojournalism: Stills Winners

The top winners in NPPA’s Best of Photojournalism Stills 2018 competition are a combination of veterans continuing their excellent work and emerging photojournalists developing their strong portfolios.

Richard Tsong-Taatarii of the Minneapolis Star Tribune is the Photojournalist of the Year for large markets. His portfolio included stories on the Rohingya escape to Myanmar, the protests following the acquittal of the police officer who killed Philando Castile and the last of Oceti Sakowin, a large encampment of protesters who tried to stop the Dakota Access Pipeline.

Tsong-Taatarii has been at the Star Tribune for 18 years and feels like his work has been growing and in the last few years has come together with the melding of technical skills and the ability to capture spontaneity to create meaningful images.

“It’s a fine a balance, and it took a long time to really appreciate that,” Tsong-Taatarii said. His portfolio was also presented entirely in black and white, a nod to his affection for the traditions in photojournalism.

Jake May of the Flint Journal has been at his current job only five years, and his community-focused portfolio earned him the title of Photojournalist of the Year for small markets. Flint, Michigan is known for its water crisis but has also, over the years, weathered the pull out of the auto industry and rising crime. May’s portfolio focused on the daily lives of the people there.

“Flint is a tenacious, beautiful community filled with life,” May said. “It really is just a tried-and-true ideal that you can build the relationships right there in your community.”

Callaghan O’Hare and Jake May in Flint, Michigan. Photo by Brontë Wittpenn

May is the only staff photographer at his paper, and he credits photo interns for their help, inspiration and hard work that can help him find the time to work on those local stories. He affectionately calls them the “Flinterns.”

Callaghan O-Hare can attest to the value of being a Flintern. She won the Cliff Edom's "New America Award" for her project “Black Girl Magic” that she started while working as an intern at the Flint Journal in 2017. Now a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, she is still working on the project. While the story started as just a focus on the self-image of young black girls, it grew as she worked.

“It became more about showing a positive side of the Flint community and showing the hope and confidence that’s inside these young women,” O’Hare said. “There is more love than anyplace I’d ever been. That needs to be highlighted as well.”

Wally Skalij of the Los Angeles Times is the Sports Photojournalist of the Year for his portfolio that included the World Series as the Dodgers made the championship games. He felt as if his daily sports coverage was similar to what he always does on assignment, but the 20-year veteran of the Times staff said expanded World Series coverage allowed him to see the games differently.

“I had the freedom to shoot features which we can’t normally do during the game,” Skalij said.

The competition was judged at Ohio University where some portion of NPPA’s Best of Photojournalism has been hosted for the past 17 years. More than 24,000 images were submitted this year for work done in 2017. The judges for stills were Nikki Kahn, Sue Morrow, Guy Reynolds, Brad Smith and Michael P. King. Their full bios can be seen here.

The judging sessions were recorded, and the videos can be seen here.

All of the winning images can be seen on the NPPA Competitions page here.

Photo Journalist of the Year, small market: A rainbow graces the skyline over varsity players on the Flint Jaguars football team as they warm up after arriving only 15 minutes prior to kickoff. Photo by Jake May, Flint Journal

Photojournalist of the Year, Large Market

1. Richard Tsong-Taatarii, Minneapolis Star Tribune
2. Marcus Yam, Los Angeles Times
3. Behrouz Mehri, Agence France Presse
HM Mads Nissen, Politiken (Copenhagen) Panos Pictures
HM Asger Ladefoged, Berlingske (Copenhagen)

Photojournalist of the Year, Small Market

1. Jake May, Flint Journal/MLive.com
2. Sarah Ann Jump The Herald (Jasper, Indiana)
3. Jessica Phelps, Newark Advocate
HM Dave Weatherwax, The Herald (Jasper, Indiana)

Sports Photojournalist of the Year

1. Wally Skalij, Los Angeles Times
2. Michael Ciaglo, Houston Chronicle
3. Al Bello, Getty Images

Cliff Edom's 'New America Award'

Callaghan O'Hare | MLive.com The Flint Journal, MLive.com

Sports Photojournalist of the Year: Josh Reddick of the Houston Astros is sprayed with champagne in the locker room after defeating the Los Angeles Dodgers in Game 7 of the World Series. Photo by Wally Skalij, Los Angeles Times

International News Single

1. Dar Yasin, The Associated Press
2. Luis Tato, for Agence France-Presse
3. Toby Melville, Reuters
HM Roger Lemoyne, Redux Pictures
HM Chris McGrath, Getty Images
HM Marco Antonio Bello, Reuters
HM Emanuele Satolli

International News Picture Story

1. Carol Guzy, ZUMA Press
2. Dar Yasin, The Associated Press
3. Olmo Calvo
HM Ben Curtis, The Associated Press
HM Diego Ibarra Sanchez, MeMo
HM Tommy Trenchard, Panos Pictures

General News Single

1. Nick Oza, USA Today Gannett
2. Lacy Atkins, The Tennessean
3. Pete Marovich, The Washington Post
HM Louis Deluca, Dallas Morning News
HM Marcus Yam, Los Angeles Times
HM Brendon Smialowski, Agence France-Presse
HM Steph Chambers, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
HM Kevin Dietsch, United Press International

Domestic News Single

1. Marcus Yam, Los Angeles Times
2. Michael DeMocker, The Times-Picayune/NOLA.com
3. Bernandino Hernandez, The Associated Press
HM Christian Gooden, St. Louis Post-Dispatch
HM Mykal McEldowney, The Indianapolis Star
HM Andres Kudacki, The Associated Press
HM Joe Raedle, Getty Images

Domestic News Picture Story

1. David Becker, Getty Images
2. Marcus Yam, Los Angeles Times
3. Andres Kudacki, Freelance
HM Jabin Botsford, The Washington Post
HM Jake May, Flint Journal, MLive.com
HM Brendan Smialowski Agence France Presse

Cliff Edom's "New America Award": Tracy Palmer hugs Madison Smith during an audition for an upcoming fashion show. Palmer took over Trendsetters Productions, a class held in Flint for aspiring young models and transformed it into a weekly program that celebrates and builds up young black women. Photo by Callaghan O'Hare, Flint Journal

Contemporary Issues Single

1. Maddy Jones, Asheville Citizen-Times
2. Paula Bronstein, Getty Images
3. Thomas Weisskopf
HM Paolo Marchetti
HM Santi Palacios, The Associated Press
HM Mads Nissen, Politiken (Copenhagen)/ Panos Pictures
HM Richard Tsong-Taatarii Minneapolis Star Tribune
HM Mads Nissen, Politiken (Copenhagen)/ Panos Pictures

Contemporary Issues Story

1. Paula Bronstein, Getty Images
2. Rachel Woolf, The GroundTruth Project
3. Adam Dean for The New York Times.
HM K.M. Asad, freelance
HM Diego Ibarra Sánchez, MeMo

Feature Single

1. Sarah Ann Jump, The Herald
2. Mykal McEldowney, The Indianapolis Star
3. Andres Kudacki, TIME Magazine
HM Lisa Krantz, San Antonio Express-News
HM Damon Winter, The New York Times
HM RJ Sangosti, The Denver Post

Portrait and Personality Single

1. Carol Guzy, ZUMA Press
2. Guanguan Liu, China News Service
3. Asger Ladefoged, Berlingske (Copenhagen)
HM Nadja Wohlleben, doc! photo magazine
HM Maye-E Wong, The Associated Press
HM Wei Tan, Sonzon Photo
HM Maddie McGarvey, Ohio University

Portrait Series

1. Wei Tan, Sonzon Photo
2. Hans Gutknecht, Los Angeles Daily News
3. Bartlomiej Jurecki, Tygodnik Podhalanski (Poland)
HM Turjoy Chowdhury, freelance
HM Jack Mikrut, Dagens Industri

Environment Single

1. Anupam Nath, The Associated Press
2. Marcus Yam, Los Angeles Times
3. Tom Fox, The Dallas Morning News
HM David Goldman, The Associated Press
HM Neil Aldridge
HM Michael Chow, The Arizona Republic
HM Neil Aldridge
HM John Tlumacki, The Boston Globe

Environment Picture Story

1. Neil Aldridge
2. Kadir van Lohuizen, NOOR/The Washington Post
3rd Gabrielle Lurie, San Francisco Chronicle
HM Vladimir Pesnya, Rossiya Segodnya
HM Marcin Szczepanski

Sports Action Single

1. John Starks, Daily Herald
2. Carsten Snejbjerg, Freelance
3. Al Bello Getty Images
HM Stephen McCarthy, Sportfile
HM Stephen McCarthy, Sportsfile
HM Ryan Pierse, Getty Images

Sports Feature Single

1. Aude Guerrucci, freelance
2. Alex Goodlett Freelance
3. Dustin Satloff Freelance
HM Michael Ciaglo Houston Chronicle
HM Tom Fox The Dallas Morning News
HM Denny Simmons, Courier & Press/The Gleaner
HM Thomas A. Ferrara, Newsday
HM Sarah Ann Jump, The Herald
HM Jack Mikrut, Dagens Industri

Sports Picture Story

1. Wally Skalij, Los Angeles Times
2. Jake May, Flint Journal/MLive.com
3. Matt Gade, The Daily Republic
HM Alex Goodlett, freelance
HM Dustin Satloff, Army Athletics
HM Karen Warren, Houston Chronicle
HM Jack Mikrut, Dagens Industri

Pictorial Singles

1. Craig Golding
2. Craig Golding
3. Alton Strupp, The Courier-Journal
HM Jabin Botsford, The Washington Post
HM Charlie Shoemaker, for Conservati

Best Published Picture Story, Large Markets

1. Lisa Krantz, San Antonio Express-News
2. Suzanne Kreiter, The Boston Globe
3. Kadir van Lohuizen, NOOR/The Washington Post
HM Mads Nissen Politiken (Copenhagen)/ Panos Pictures
HM Matt McClain, The Washington Post

Best Published Picture Story, Smaller Markets

1. Sarah Ann Jump, The Herald
2. Jessica Phelps, Newark Advocate
3. Yuki Iwanami, Freelance
HM Kirsten Leah Bitzer, The New York Times Lens Blog/Stern
HM Simon Moricz-Sabjan, Vilaggazdasag (Hungary)

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