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JUDGES - Q2 '09 WPJA CONTEST
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Round 1:
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DAVID LEESON, PHOTOJOURNALIST
David Leeson has been a staff photographer for The Dallas Morning News since 1984. In 2004, he was a Pulitzer Prize Winner for his photographs depicting the
violence and poignancy of the war with Iraq. In 1985, Leeson was also a Pulitzer finalist for his photo coverage of apartheid in South Africa. In 1986, he lived
on the streets of Dallas with the homeless for two months. The photos, published in a 24-page special section by The Dallas Morning News, won a Robert F. Kennedy
Journalism Award for Outstanding Coverage of the Problems of the Disadvantaged. In 1991, Leeson arrived in Kuwait City with the 1st Marine Division and was among
the first journalists to photograph in the city following Iraq’s withdrawal during the Gulf War. The following year he returned to the gulf and gave readers an
exclusive look inside war-torn Baghdad. In 1994, he covered civil war in Angola, earning a second Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award. In the same year, a Leeson
photograph of a family evacuating floodwaters in southeast Texas was named a finalist for the Pulitzer. For more than 14-months, 1996 thru 1997, he worked on an
essay about death row in the United States. Following that assignment, Leeson completed stories in China, Bosnia, the 1999 earthquake in Turkey and civil war in
Sudan.
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Round 2:
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DENIS FINLEY, DEPUTY MANAGING EDITOR
Denis Finley is the editor of The Virginian-Pilot, a 200,000 circulation daily newspaper. In the position of deputy managing editor for presentations, Denis guided The
Virginian-Pilot to recognition by the Society for News Design as one of the world's best designed newspapers in 2001. Denis has twice been a Pulitzer Prize juror, judging
breaking news photography and feature photography. In 2005, Denis chaired the photo jury.
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ROSS TAYLOR, PHOTOJOURNALIST
Ross Taylor is a staff photographer for The Hartford Courant, and is a UNC-Chapel Hill graduate. He was named the 2007 Region 1 (New England) Photographer of
the Year and is a two-time Photographer of the Year (NC) whose work has appeared on the cover of the National Press Photographers Best of Photojournalism
magazine. Taylor has won numerous international, national and regional awards as well as one of the Associated Press Photos of the Century awards.
Along the way, he has rambled across America, photographed in a Central America jail and received the Heimlich maneuver in a Tennessee Taco Bell. Throughout
his travels and work, Taylor has called a variety of places home - a walk-in closet, a storage space under a staircase, three attics, a couch in Central
Appalachia and the back of a Nissan truck. Taylor has also hugged the Taj Mahal, kissed a 70-year-old woman on Bourbon Street, been attacked by two angry mobs,
several monkeys and one terrible virus in India. He has skinny dipped in more than 20 states and was once stung by a jellyfish in the process. Taylor also
accidentally maced himself once - he's not sure which was more painful.
In between shooting and thinking about photography, he reminisces about the glory days of foosball in Chapel Hill and a childhood filled with kickball, school
pizza and chocolate milk.
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AMANDA VOISARD, PHOTOJOURNALIST
Freelance photojournalist Amanda Voisard is based in Flagstaff, Arizona. Before entering the world of freelance, she worked as a staff photographer for seven years at daily newspapers. She worked from 2006-2009 on
the award-winning staff at the Palm Beach Post in south Florida and previously at the Watertown Daily Times. She also worked as an intern at the Farmington Daily Times while earning her photojournalism degree at
Ohio University.
She has received numerous awards for her work. Most recently, several of her images were featured in the 2009 Women in Photojournalism Exhibit as well as the 2008 exhibition. Her work has been honored by
MSNBC.com Year in Pictures, Florida Press Club, New York State Associated Press, National Press Photographers Association and Atlanta Photojournalism Seminar.
Her work has been published in various newspapers, magazines, and online publications including msnbc.com, TIME.com, MLB.com, The Palm Beach Post, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Watertown Daily Times, Farmington
Daily Times, NE Law Magazine, Veterans Magazine and DOUBLEtruck Magazine.
Awards:
Women in Photojournalism- 2008 winner
Atlanta Photojournalism Seminar Contest- member of the 2006 Newspaper Staff of the Year
Florida Press Club Excellence In Journalism Contest- 1st place Pictorial Photography
MSNBC.com- featured 2008 year in pictures
DOUBLEtruck Magazine- showcased in Fall 2007-Issue 9
New York State Associated Press Awards- 1st place Spot News 2005 and 2nd place Feature 2005
National Press Photographers Association- National clip contest win May 2004
Region 2 and Region 6 multiple 1st, 2nd, 3rd wins; Placed Top Ten 2004; 2005 Region 2 Photographer of the Year
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RENÉE C. BYER, PHOTOJOURNALIST
Renée C. Byer is a Senior Photojournalist with The Sacramento Bee and the recipient of the 2007 Pulitzer Prize for Feature Photography for her project
"A Mother's Journey," an intimate portrayal of a single mother's emotional and financial
struggles as her son battled neuroblastoma, a rare form of childhood cancer. The story was also awarded the World Understanding Award and second place multimedia feature picture story at
Pictures of the Year International 2007, the Sigma Delta Chi Award for feature photography, the Casey Medal for Meritorious Journalism, second prize in the Days Japan International
Photojournalism Awards and an honorable mention in the UNICEF Photo of the Year Award.
Also a picture editor and designer, Byer is represented by Zuma Press photo agency. Byer's photos have been published in Newsweek Asia, Paris Match, Marie Claire, El Mundo, Days Japan,
Rangefinder, Photo District News, Business Week and most recently in View magazine in Germany. She has taught workshops and had gallery shows in San Francisco, California, Palm Beach,
Florida, Yokohama, Japan, Siem Reap, Cambodia and Madrid, Spain. Her pictures titled "Seeds of Doubt," won the Harry Chapin Award for Photojournalism 2005 and she is also the recipient of
the Associated Press News Executives Council, Mark Twain Award 2004. She was a finalist for a Dart award for victims of violence before coming to the Sacramento Bee 2003. Her numerous
awards include honors from NPPA, POYi, AP, SND, Best of the West and regional contests in photography, picture editing and design.
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