Judges for the five divisions of the BOP 2020 contest are listed below. The divisions are Still Photography; Picture Editing; Online Video, Presentation and Innovation; Video Photojournalism; Video Editing.
The judging is open to the public and will take place Feb. 28-March 1 at Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Georgia in Athens, Georgia. UGA is the headquarters of the NPPA.
BOP is open for entries through January 26, 2020 at midnight EST. NPPA members can enter BOP for free. Non-members pay a $75 entry fee. To enter, click here.
Best of Photojournalism 2020 is supported and sponsored by Sony Electronics
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Bernadette Tuazon is the director of photography for CNN Digital, where she oversees photo coverage of breaking news and features. Tuazon manages a team of photo editors spread across Atlanta, New York and London. Her photo team has won the 2019 Webby Awards for Best Use of Photography for Website Features and Design, along with awards in several photo categories for the 2019 Pictures of the Year International. Before joining CNN, Tuazon was a senior photo editor for the Associated Press for more than two decades. Tuazon has also served as a juror for Visa Pour I'Image, POYi, and a reviewer for the NY Portfolio Review and a Women Photograph mentor. Tuazon studied General and International Studies at Columbia University in New York and graduated cum laude from the University of the Philippines, with a B.A. in Communication, Major in Journalism.
Chloe Coleman is an award-winning photo editor at The Washington Post on the international news desk. She is a contributing writer and editor on The Post’s In Sight photo blog where she has written about and featured contemporary photography, photo books and exhibitions. Her career in photo editing began as an intern at NPR, followed by her first staff position as a digital photo editor at The Denver Post. She attended the Columbus College of Art and Design and is a graduate of the photojournalism program at the Rochester Institute of Technology. Chloe also serves as a faculty member at The Kalish visual editing workshop and has judged a variety of photography competitions including Magenta Flash Forward and Critical Mass.
Marie D. De Jesús is a staff photojournalist for the Houston Chronicle, producing still and moving images in the nation’s fourth-largest city. She has concentrated on developing relationships with the city’s diverse immigrant and marginalized communities. Those connections have helped power some of the Chronicle’s strongest projects, including “Denied,” a six-month investigation that uncovered the systematic denial of special education services to children in Texas. Another series, “Out of Time,” is chronicling the saga of Juan Rodríguez, a Salvadoran immigrant fighting to stay in the United States with his American family. De Jesús followed the story to El Salvador as an Adelante fellow of the International Women’s Media Foundation. De Jesús was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Public Service in 2017 and won the Scripps Howard Foundation’s Public Service Award that year. She is native of Puerto Rico and earned a bachelor’s degree in photography from the University of Central Florida in 2008. De Jesús previously worked for the Democrat and Chronicle in Rochester, N.Y., and The Victoria Advocate in Texas.
Rob Carr is Chief Photographer Sport AMER, East Coast for Getty Images and is based in the Baltimore/Washington, D.C. region. Prior to joining Getty he was a staff photographer with the Associated Press in Alabama and Baltimore and worked for various newspapers throughout the south. Carr graduated of Eastern Kentucky University with a degree in Journalism in 1988.
Ryan Christopher Jones is a Mexican-American photojournalist originally from California's Central Valley, currently living in New York City. His recent work includes coverage throughout Mexico and the Mexico/U.S. border, the American overdose crisis, and immigration stories in and around New York City. Ryan is a fierce advocate of compassionate photojournalism and in 2018 he wrote two opinion essays for the New York Times titled “The Déjà Vu of Mass Shootings” and “How Photography Exploits the Vulnerable.” Ryan is a regular contributor to the New York Times and clients include ProPublica, The Intercept, The Washington Post, Der Spiegel, CNN, The Wall Street Journal, KyodoNews, and others.
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Darren Durlach is a film/TV director that co-founded Early Light Media, a production company based in Baltimore, to take his experience in documentary storytelling to organizations that hope to communicate more effectively and memorably with their audiences, as well as develop editorial documentary films that add value to the world.
Over the past decade, Darren has had the opportunity to tell stories spanning the world from a Super Bowl in Indianapolis to the devastation in Haiti to the first inauguration of President Obama, all while working in broadcast and most recently as Senior Multimedia Producer at The Boston Globe. In 2014 he directed The Boston Globe's first television documentary, 5 Runners, about the tragic Boston Marathon bombings.
Darren had the honor of being named the Ernie Crisp Television News Photographer of the Year three years in a row in 2009, 2010, and 2011 by the National Press Photographers Association while working for WBFF in Baltimore and has been awarded 23 Emmys by the Chesapeake Bay and New England NATAS. At The Boston Globe, he was awarded the prestigious George Polk Award from Long Island University with a team of investigative journalists for his contribution of a short documentary on the leniency Massachusetts judges show toward accused drunk drivers, as well as six national Edward R. Murrow awards.
Most fulfilling have been the opportunities to teach. Most recently, Darren was a featured speaker at 'Video Playground' in Denmark and has guest lectured at Harvard Extension School. Darren has had the honor of teaching visual storytelling in 18 states for various organizations and thrives on meeting passionate people with the shared goal of raising industry standards for the betterment of society. Darren believes there is no more effective way to communicate the human experience than to tell a story.
Tawanda Scott Sambou is an award-winning producer for CNN’s Digital Video features team. Based in New York City, she is a video production master - from conception to execution, she pitches, shoots, writes and edits content that has reached millions of people around the world.
Tawanda’s passion for storytelling and dedication to innovation is unmistakable. With more than 20 years of experience, she has created a unique career path for herself covering some of the biggest news stories in recent history including Hurricane Katrina, the earthquake in Haiti and the Boston Bombing. She also served as lead photojournalist/director of photography for some of CNN’s most high-profile documentaries such as “Black in America” hosted by Soledad O’Brien. Most recently, she was the lead producer for CNN’s groundbreaking project, “The First Time I Realized I was Black.”
Tawanda grew up in Macon, Ga. and started her career at WMAZ as a photojournalist in her hometown station. In 1999, she moved across the country to Las Vegas to join the KVBC photojournalist team. In 2004, she joined CNN as a photojournalist. When she’s not on the storytelling grind, Tawanda enjoys traveling and spending time with her family. She also has a passion for giving back and is a member of the junior board for Oliver Scholars, a non-profit organization based in New York City that prepares high-achieving Black and Latino students from underserved communities, for success at top independent schools and prestigious colleges.
Jane Helmke started as an intern in 1982 at KARE 11 in Minneapolis and is now news director at one of the most successful television stations in the country that serves the community with top talent, superior storytelling and memorable videography on all platforms. She established the KARE 11 Investigates unit as a national I-Team powerhouse. The national award-winning staff has received 11 National Edward R. Murrow Awards, Alfred I. DuPont Award, IRE (Investigative Reporters and Editors) Award, George Polk Award for Journalism Excellence, Walter Cronkite Award for Political Journalism, RTDNA Kaleidoscope Award for coverage of diversity issues, National Press Photographers Association Staff, Photographer and Editor of the Year Awards and multiple regional Emmy honors for Overall and News Excellence, as well as Community Service. Jane was also the first female television sportscaster in Minneapolis-St. Paul.
Steve Flood is a 35-year veteran news photojournalist and manager who “retired” to find a new career in commercial, freelance and corporate opportunities. He began his career in Louisville, Kentucky with WHAS and WAVE, and moved on to WXIA in Atlanta for Olympic opportunities, serving as the Chief Photographer for 15 years. He is a past two-time regional NPPA POY, TV Board Rep, and has served as a judge for past NPPA TV POY, SOY and White House Press Photographer competitions. He is currently lead photographer and editor for A-1 Broadcast, specializing in satellite media tours, corporate videos, news releases and storytelling. Numerous opportunities to speak, recruit, and surround himself with talented journalists and photographers over the years have lead to 23 Emmys, regional Murrow awards, and no doubt less hair. He enjoys working on independent projects outside of commercial work for freelance clients, longer format stories, and not standing on overpasses in the snow.
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Emily Kassie is an Emmy-nominated journalist and filmmaker. She has covered conflict and corruption in America and internationally for the New York Times, the Washington Post, NBC, Highline, the Guardian and more. She is currently the Director of Visual Projects at The Marshall Project where she oversees and reports stories on criminal justice. Her work has been honored with a National Magazine Award, two Murrow Awards, two World Press Photo Awards, an Overseas Press Club Award, the Peabody Futures of Media Award, and four National Press Photographers Awards among others. In 2019 she was named Multimedia Journalist of the Year by POYi and Forbes 30 Under 30 in Media. She is a graduate of Brown University (BA) and the University of Cambridge (MPhil) where she was a Gates Scholar.
Eric Seals has covered many events for the Free Press from the Intifadas in Israel/Palestine, 5 months in the war on Iraq & many sports from the Olympics in Rio, Beijing and South Korea to several Super Bowls, World Series, College Football National Championships & NBA Finals.
Eric has been recognized for his photo and video storytelling with a national Edward R. Murrow award, a national Webby Award, multiple Michigan Press Photographer Association Multimedia Photographer of the Year awards, several POYi awards and nine regional Emmys.
Teaching is a big passion for him. He coaches at various workshops from the NPPA Multimedia Immersion at Syracuse University, the Poynter Institute in St. Petersburg, Florida, Missouri Photo Workshop, University of South Carolina Workshop, the Western Kentucky University’s Mountain Workshops and the Lens Collective at the University of Mississippi.
He has also judged & spoke at several national & state contests including the Northern Short Course & the Atlanta Seminar on Photojournalism.
Quynhanh Do is a senior video journalist based in New York City since 2010. She has more than a decade of experience producing daily and breaking news for The New York Times and NBC News. She has led newsrooms in live video coverage of major domestic and international stories such as the Paris terror attacks, the 2016 US election and the refugee crisis in Europe.
She is the recipient of an Edward R. Murrow Award for breaking news coverage of the 2015 Paris terror attacks, an Overseas Press Club Award for TV spot news reporting of the Paris attacks, and a NATAS-PSW Emmy Award for team coverage of the 2007 San Diego wildfires.
Outside of news, she freelances as an illustrator and painter. As a self-taught artist, much of what she has learned comes from her observation, interaction and appreciation of great artwork.
Swikar Patel films, photographs, produces and edits visual stories. He facilitates production on all levels approaching each project with a balance of responsibility, empathy and creative curiosity. Swikar's clients include Nike, Foot Locker, eBay, AARP, ESPN, Facebook, The New York Times, U.S. Department of Defense, Museum Access, Higher Achievement, Housing Up, Education Week, The PBS NewsHour, The Chronicle of Higher Ed, The Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc., Museum Access, Population Services International, Proclaim Justice, Mother Jones, and The Wall Street Journal. Currently, he is providing visual storytelling support and creation as the Director of Video and Photo for Toyota Racing Division’s driver development program in Cornelius, North Carolina.
Shane O'Neill is a senior video editor at the New York Times. During his tenure at the Times he has produced the short documentary "Who Threw The First Brick at Stonewall?", produced and edited the internet culture series "Internetting With Amanda Hess," edited the geopolitics series "The Interpreter" and covered the 2016 U.S. presidential election.
O'Neill's work has won a Silver Medal for Society for News Design, honors from the Deadline Club, a RIAS award for his work on the documentary "Land of Good" and an Emmy nomination for the Times' collaboration with POV, "Who, Me? Biased?" He lives in Brooklyn, NY with a boyfriend named Dusty and a cat named Wanda.
Nyier Abdou is a freelance video journalist, filmmaker, and multimedia producer. A longtime newspaper reporter, she was based in Egypt for more than six years before moving back to her home state of New Jersey to join The Star-Ledger newspaper, where she worked for nine years as a general assignment reporter. She was among the first reporters in the Ledger newsroom to be trained in video and later moved from print to video full time, going on to produce award-winning documentaries and news features with the paper. Her work has earned her six New York Emmy awards, including best documentary and writing for her film “Being George.” She teaches video storytelling at the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at the City University of New York.
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Sammy Jo Hester is the sports photo editor at the Los Angeles Times. She is their first female sports photo editor and youngest photo editor in history. Sammy Jo is a 2014 graduate of Western Kentucky University's photojournalism program and spent the first years of her career working as a sports photographer before making her way into editing at the Daily Herald in Provo, Utah. Now she spends her time focusing on sports photo editing and working toward change for women's sports and equality.
Boyzell Hosey is deputy editor for the Tampa Bay Times, overseeing photography and multimedia. During his 21-year career at the Times, Hosey has served as a photojournalist and a picture editor. He is responsible for managing a staff of more than a dozen photojournalists and coordinating visual coverage for major news and sporting events. Those have included Super Bowls, political conventions and hurricanes. In 2015, Hosey won a regional Emmy for his supporting role in the multimedia piece “Long Road Out.” In addition to their own award-winning work, his staffers have been instrumental contributors to the Times’ most highly recognized projects. Hosey serves on several boards, including the University of Florida Journalism Advisory Board; Journeys in Journalism - a magnet program with Pinellas County, Fla., schools and the Photo Technology Advisory Board of St. Petersburg College. Hosey is also president and co-founder of the Tampa Bay Collard Green Festival – an annual, nonprofit event to educate the Tampa Bay community about the benefits of healthier living through urban agriculture, culinary experience, fitness and family fun.
Melanie Maxwell is Deputy Director of Photo and Video at the Detroit Free Press. She joined the newsroom in 2018 after spending 15 years as a news and sports photographer at newspapers in Muncie, Ind., Toledo, Ohio and throughout Michigan. Her work has taken her around the United States to college and professional sports stadiums and as far as Africa, but mostly, deep within her local communities. In addition to photography, Maxwell has been involved in investigative multimedia projects at the Free Press. She dug through hundreds of evidence photos and newspaper clippings of a suspected serial killer and uncovered new details in the decades-old cold case murders. She has also produced multiple videos, including editing a video that showed what happened during a violent traffic stop in a Detroit suburb. Maxwell grew up in Livonia, Mich. and attended Central Michigan University. She earned a B.S. in photojournalism and a B.F.A. in photography in 2003.
Dudley Brooks is the Deputy Director of Photography at The Washington Post where he manages all photo content for those sections. He is also Photo Editor for The Washington Post Magazine. He is on the creation and execution team for all Post magazine cover concepts and features as well as section content. He hires and manages commissioned photographers with a full understanding of the business of photography. Dudley coordinates and directs cover story shoots and effectively communicates the story direction and concept to photographers, pre and post-production personnel and styling teams. He edits, directs, and researches photographic content across all technical platforms – page, pad and web. Dudley is experienced in multimedia material gathering (sound, stills and video) and production execution. Prior to this stint at the Washington Post, Dudley was a staff photojournalist at The Post for 20 years and later became the AME of Photography at The Baltimore Sun and later the Director of Photography for Ebony and Jet magazines at Johnson Publishing in Chicago.
John Rumbach is the former co-publisher and editor of The Herald, a small, community daily newspaper in Jasper, Ind. He joined The Herald in 1973 as a general assignment reporter at a time when the writers also took the photographs. When he was named managing editor, he hired a full-time photojournalist and took up picture editing because there wasn’t anyone else to do it. In 1987, he won POY’s Newspaper Picture Editor of the Year award. He was a long-time faculty member of The Kalish Visual Editing Workshop and served as its director for four years. He retired from The Herald in 2018.
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Jaleesa Irizarry is a multimedia journalist at KENS 5 in San Antonio, Texas. She has spent the last seven years as a “one-woman band” for stations throughout the country including South Dakota, Wisconsin, Michigan and now Texas. Jaleesa received her journalism degree from Suffolk University but often credits her success to the photojournalists that have taken her under their wing and have taught her what it means to be a storyteller. Over the years she has garnered a few AP awards as well as a couple of Emmy nominations for her work as a solo-journalist.
Ray Arzate is currently the Promotions Producer Manager at KVVU FOX5 Las Vegas, prior to that he was a Chief Photographer. Ray has worked in the business for over 18 years all over the country. He started in El Paso, TX as a studio camera operator and moved up to Photojournalist. He then worked in Nashville for four years before moving to Atlanta to work as an MMJ for CBS 46. He moved back to Nashville as a special project photographer and started a production company doing music videos and commercial production. In 2015, Ray made the move west to the Las Vegas market. He sits on the Board of Governors for the National Association of Television Arts & Sciences’ Pacific Southwest Chapter (The Emmys). He founded the chapters “Academy Storyteller Workshop”, now in its third year. He has also taught the past two years at the National Journalism Center in Washington, D.C. Ray has won 25 Emmy Awards, 12 AP Broadcasters Awards, three Edward R. Murrow Awards, three Promaxbda Awards, four NPPA Best of Photojournalism Contest Awards and was an American Bar Association - Silver Gavel Award finalist.
