Thursday's speakers

Paul Hansen
First Place Photographer of the Year - Newspaper

Paul Hansen is a photojournalist based in Stockholm, Sweden. As a staff photographer for the daily newspaper, Dagens Nyheter, Hensen's assignments and self-initiated projects take him all over the world. When covering events in Haiti, Bosnia, Afghanistan or back home in Sweden, there is always one common denominator that links his work together; empathy. His visual storytelling has, among a host of domestic and international prizes and honors, also awarded him the title "Photographer of the Year" in Sweden six times.

Ryan Henriksen
College Photographer of the Year

Ryan Henriksen is a photojournalist with a passion for social documentaries, currently studying photojournalism at Ohio University. Henriksen was named the 64th College Photographer of the Year by the Missouri School of Journalism. He has also been recognized by the Atlanta Photojournalism Seminar, the Eddie Adams Workshop, the Hearst Journalism Awards Program, the Alexia Foundation, The Society for News Design at Michigan State University and SportsShooter.com. His work has been published by The Virginian-Pilot, National Geographic, USA Today, The Wall Street Journal and NASA.

Carolyn Drake
First Place Science/Natural History, First Place Science/Natural History Picture Story

Carolyn Drake is a documentary photographer based in Istanbul. Her photography career began at the age of 30 when she decided to leave her multimedia job in New York to engage with the broader world. She has exhibited, published, and lectured internationally, earning awards from organizations such as World Press Photo, POYi, Center, UNICEF and PDN. Drake's work is supported through editorial assignments and grants which include the Lange Taylor Prize, a Fulbright Fellowship and a Guggenheim Fellowship.

Adam Nadel
First Place Portrait Series, Judges' Special Recognition World Understanding Award

Adam Nadel has been a professional photographer since 1992. Nadel has been freelancing since 1999, after leaving a staff photographer position at the Associated Press. His work has been exhibited in hundreds of venues and published widely, both domestically and internationally. He is the recipient of numerous international and national honors including: two first prize awards at World Press Photo, three first place awards at Pictures of the Year International, a New York Foundation for the Arts Fellowship, a New York Times Pulitzer Nomination, and first prize at the Project Competition at the Santa Fe's Center, among others.

Friday's speakers

Marcus Bleasdale
Winner Best Use Books, Third Place Photographer of the Year - Freelance/Agency

Marcus Bleasdale initially studied economics and started work as an investment banker. Although he was a director in a large international bank, he resigned in the mid 1990's and began to travel through the Balkans with his camera. He has established himself as one of the world's leading documentary photographers concentrating on Conflict and Human Rights. He has worked for the last 10 years in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), publishing two books on DRC, the latest, "The Rape of a Nation", was in collaboration with Human Rights Watch.

Ayperi Karabuda Ecer
First Place Documentary Project of the Year

Ayperi Karabuda Ecer is vice president at Reuters, heading an international team dedicated to enhancing news photography through content initiatives, business development and creative projects. She was previously editor-in-chief of Magnum Photos Paris for 12 years and bureau chief for Sipa Press in New York. She participates in juries and teaches to share her experience of the editorial photographic world, including the 2010 World Press Photo jury chair and Joop Swart Masterclass. Ayperi is of Swedish/Turkish origin, based in Paris and London.

Jassim Ahmad
First Place Documentary Project of the Year

Jassim Ahmad joined Reuters in 2000 and works in the media division as head of interactive design and communications, with responsibility for evolving rich multimedia content experiences. Until 2009, Ahmad was responsible for advancing Reuters content identity through visual projects spanning multimedia, book publishing and other visual communications. He is motivated by combining content and technology with creative execution for high-impact storytelling. Ahmad is of British/Indian nationality, based in London.

Barbara Davidson
Judges' Special Recognition Community Awareness Award, First Place Issue Reporting Story - Newspaper

Barbara Davidson has been a staff photographer for The Los Angeles Times since 2007. Prior to LA, she worked at The Dallas Morning News, The Washington Times, and The Record in Ontario, Canada. In 2006 Davidson was named Newspaper Photographer of The Year by the Pictures of The Year International Competition. She won the 2006 Pulitzer Prize for Breaking News Photography with seven fellow staff members for their body of work depicting the pain and chaos after Hurricane Katrina swallowed up New Orleans and Mississippi. In 2009 she was awarded the Visa d'Or Daily Press award for her coverage of the earthquake in China and was exhibited at the Visa Pour l'image festival in France.

Tomas van Houtryve
First Place Photographer of the Year - Freelance/Agency

Tomas van Houtryve discovered his passion for photography while enrolled in an overseas program in Nepal. Upon graduation in 1999 he was hired by the Associated Press and posted to Latin America. He was awarded second place in POYi's Magazine Photographer of the Year category in 2008. He was also granted an Alicia Patterson Journalism Fellowship in 2008 to continue documenting the world's remaining communist states. His global project about 21st century communism is the subject of an upcoming book and exhibition.