JUDGES - Q2 '08 WPJA CONTEST

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.

ANNIE WELLS, PHOTOJOURNALIST

Annie Wells is a staff photographer at the Los Angeles Times. Prior to this, she was a photographer at the Santa Rosa Press Democrat, Calif., for eight years. She has also been a technical photographer for Letterman Army Institute of Research on the Presidio in San Francisco. Wells won the 1997 Pulitzer Prize for spot news. Her photos are part of the permanent collection in the National Museum of Women in the Arts. She is a graduate of the University of California at Santa Cruz, where she majored in science writing. She fell in love with the camera while taking a photojournalism class at the university.