The National Press Photographers Association of the USA has announced the winners of ‘The Best of Photojournalism 2009’ award in eight categories. With no less than 53,000 entries submitted by 3,700 press photographers from 147 countries, picking the best must have been tough - and it’s not over yet. So far, the winners of the Sports Action, Sports Feature, The Art of Entertainment, Conceptual Photographic Illustration, Olympics Action, Olympics Feature, Natural Environment, and Sports Picture Story categories have been named, but judging will keep the jury busy for the rest of the week, right up until Friday, when the ‘Photojournalist of the Year’ and the ‘New America Award’ winners will be announced.

NPPA Press Release

ST. PETERSBURG, FL (March 22, 2009) – Judges starting picking winners in several categories of the National Press Photographers Association’s 2009 Best Of Photojournalism competition at the contest’s host site at The Poynter Institute for Media Studies on Sunday.

This year 3,700 journalists from 147 countries submitted 53,000 still images, video, and Web entries in the 2009 Best Of Photojournalism competition.

On their first day of viewing entries and picking winners, the judges made selections in the categories of Sports Action, Sports Feature, The Art of Entertainment, Conceptual Photographic Illustration, Olympics Action, Olympics Feature, Natural Environment, and Sports Picture Story.

Judging will continue through Friday when the Photojournalist of the Year (Large and Small Markets) and Cliff Edom’s “New America Award” winners will be announced.

In the “Sports Action” category, first place is Adrian Dennis of Agence France-Presse, second is Parker Eshelman of the Columbia Daily Tribune, and third is RJ Sangosti of The Denver Post. Honorable mentions were awarded to Ezra Shaw of Getty Images AsiaPac, and Andrew Yates of Agence France-Presse.

In the “Sports Feature” category, first place is freelancer Lisa Wiltse, second is freelancer Pailin Wedel, and third is Chris McGrath of Getty Images South America. Honorable mentions were awarded to David Rochkind of Rapport Press, Paul Sakuma of the Associated Press, and Ed Mulholland of FightWireImages.com.

In the “Art Of Entertainment” category, first place is Ryan Garza of The Flint Journal, second is Chris Jordan of the Daily Republic, and third is James Gregg of the Arizona Daily Star. Honorable mention was awarded to Chitose Suzuki of the Associated Press.

In the “Conceptual Photographic Illustration” category, first place is Laurie Skrivan of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, second is Jon M. Fletcher of The Times-Union, and third is Philippe Dudouit shooting for Time magazine.

In the “Olympic Action” category, first place is Andrew Leighton of the Associated Press, second is Gary Hershorn of Reuters, and third is Helen H. Richardson of The Denver Post. Honorable mentions were awarded to Al Bello of Getty Images; Cameron Spencer of Getty Images; Paul Kitagaki Jr. of The Sacramento Bee; Saurabh Das of the Associated Press; and Nicolas Asfouri of Agence France-Press.

In the “Olympics Feature” category, first place is Al Bello of Getty Images, second is Helen H. Richardson of The Denver Post, and third is Jonathan Newton of The Washington Post. Honorable mentions were awarded to Fei Maohua of the Xinhua News Agency and Joel Marklund of Bildbyran.

In the “Natural Environment” category, first place is David Slater of ZUMA Press, second is Janet Jensen of the News Tribune, and third is Ng Guan Han of the Associated Press. Honorable mentions were awarded to Ryan Carter of The National, Todd Heisler of The New York Times, and Jeremy T. Lock of the United States Air Force.

In the “Sports Picture Story” category, first place is Tomasz Gudzowaty of Yours Gallery, second is Ivan Kashinsky of National Geographic, and third is Mike Terry of the Deseret News. Honorable mentions were awarded to Christophe Ena of the Associated Press and Josh Birnbaum of The Daily Illini.

This year’s judges for the 2009 Best Of Photojournalism still photography categories are Dudley Brooks, the photography director for Ebony/Jet Publishing; 2007 Pulitzer Prize-winner Renée C. Byer of the Sacramento Bee; Amsterdam-based photojournalist Peter Dejong of the Associated Press; California-based freelance sports photojournalist Donald Miralle; and Tim Rasmussen, the assistant managing editor of photography for The Denver Post.

Best Of Photojournalism judging at The Poynter Institute for Media Studies, the contest’s host site, has been coordinated by Thomas Kenniff, who is NPPA’s director of sales and contests, and NPPA’s executive director Straight, along with Poynter’s Kenny Irby and Al Tompkins.

The Best Of Photojournalism competition and judging is sponsored by Apple’s Aperture, Canon, The Poynter Institute for Media Studies, and the National Press Photographers Association.

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