News Archive

Marie D. De Jesús announced as director of POY and CPOY, RJI’s signature photojournalism competitions

The Reynolds Journalism Institute (RJI) at the Missouri School of Journalism today announced that Marie D. De Jesús is the new director of Pictures of the Year (POY) and College Photographer of the Year (CPOY), RJI’s prestigious photojournalism competitions.

Watch Virtual Conversations with award winners from this year’s POY & CPOY

Four Photographers of the Year cover COVID-19

WATCH THE VIDEO HERE

As COVID-19 sweeps across the planet, we talk to four Photographers of the Year who are covering the outbreak in their own community as they work and live on different points of the virus timeline. Our panelists are Alon Skuy of the Sunday Times in South Africa, Barbara Davidson in Los Angeles, Fabio Bucciarelli in Italy, and Marcus Yam of the Los Angeles Times, who spent the first months of 2020 traveling to and from Hong Kong. The moderators are Regina Boone, POY judge and staff photographer at the Richmond Free Press, and POY Director Lynden Steele.

From Student to National Geographic Photographer

WATCH THE VIDEO HERE

Graham Dickie was named the 74th College Photographer of the Year in 2019. The honor comes with Nikon camera equipment from CPOY’s Co-Sponsor Nikon Inc, a scholarship from the National Press Photographers Foundation and an opportunity to form a relationship with National Geographic. Graham's winning body of work spans 4 years. He discusses with National Geographic Picture Editor Alexa Keefe and CPOY Director Jackie Bell how his student project is now becoming a book.

Innovative Storytelling and Supertrees from Vox

WATCH THE VIDEO HERE

Three extraordinary tree species are protecting our climate from collapse. Can we protect them? With support from the Pulitzer Center, a Vox team traveled to Brazil, Indonesia, and the Democratic Republic of Congo to report this story, which won first place in Online Storytelling: News Reporting in Pictures of the Year International. In this joint presentation with the Smith/Patterson Science Journalism Lecture and the Missouri School of Journalism, Vox reporter Umair Irfan and visuals editor Kainaz Amaria discuss their storytelling approach with Mizzou professor Sara Shipley Hiles and POY judge Jarrad Henderson, Senior Multimedia Producer in the Investigative and Enterprise Video Team at USA Today.

Photographer of the Year International Michael Robinson Chavez

WATCH THE VIDEO HERE

Michael Robinson Chavez of the Washington Post was named the 2019 Photographer of the Year, International. He and Washington Post international picture editor Chloe Coleman discuss their partnership in creating the meaningful stories in his winning portfolio, which includes stories on climate change in Siberia, the economic collapse in Venezuela, the mass shooting in El Paso, Texas, and recovery in Liberia. Michael also shares lessons from a career that has spanned more than 25 years and taken him to more than 70 countries. Moderated by POY Director Lynden Steele.

POY Rescinds First Place and AOE award for photographer

It has come to our attention that there is an issue regarding a photographer who was awarded during this year’s judging of Pictures of the Year International.

Suvra Kanti Das was awarded first place in Local News Picture Story for his coverage of the demise of cinema houses in Dhaka, Bangladesh, and an award of excellence in National/International News Picture Story for his coverage of deadly fires taking place throughout the city.

While there are no ethical concerns regarding the reporting or photography in these two stories, there is an issue with social media posts made by Mr. Das that targeted a fellow photojournalist. Beginning in 2018, Mr. Das posted comments that began with criticisms of published work that escalated to personal remarks about the person’s gender and race.

The posts made by Mr. Das violate a standard listed in the National Press Photographers Association’s Code of Ethics: Do not engage in harassing behavior of colleagues, subordinates or subjects and maintain the highest standards of behavior in all professional interactions.

Pictures of the Year follows the NPPA Code of Ethics. It is stated on the POY web site that all participants should adhere to these standards. A link is provided on the POY entry page: https://nppa.org/code-ethics.

Therefore, we are rescinding his awards and vacating the award placements.

We have discussed the issue with Mr. Das, the person who was targeted by the posts as well as POY judges and advisors. We appreciate their attention on this matter.

Thank you,

Lynden Steele
Director, Pictures of the Year International

Select Videos from POY Judging

Missed any of the judging sessions for POY76? You can view all the the videos from the judging sessions here on Facebook.