The WHNPA is happy to announce that the 2014 Eyes of History Still Contest will be judged by Sarah Leen, Tim Rasmussen and John Stanmeyer. Each judge is distinguished in the field of photojournalism and will bring their eye and experience to this year’s still contest. For more information about the judges please read their biographies below. Members of the public and photojournalism community are encouraged to attend this years live judging which will be held February 8 to 9 at National Geographic in Washington, DC.
2014 Still Contest Judges
Sarah Leen
After nearly 20 years working as a freelance photographer for the National Geographic magazine Sarah Leen joined the magazine staff as a Senior Photo Editor in 2004. She became the Director of Photography for the magazine in 2013.
Leen graduated with a BA in Fine Arts in 1974 from the University of Missouri, Columbia and continued there with graduate studies at the Missouri School of Journalism. Leen was the College Photography of the Year in 1979 and worked as a staff photographer for both the Topeka Capital Journal and the Philadelphia Inquirer until 1982 when she began her freelance photography career.
Her 16 photography assignments for the National Geographic took her to the shores of Lake Baikal in Siberia, the Kamchatka peninsula in Russia’s Far East, the ancient city of Djenne, Mali in West Africa, the Republic of Macedonia, the Mexican volcano Popocatepetl and a series stories on Urban Sprawl, Cheap Oil and Alternative Energy.
Leen has won numerous awards for her photography in the Pictures of the Year (POYi) and the World Press Photos competition. In 2007 and 2008 she won first place Magazine Picture Editing Portfolio from POYi and second place in 2011.
Leen has taught photography and editing workshops at the Missouri Photo Workshops, the International Center for Photography in New York, the Maine Photographic Workshops and the Palm Beach Centre for Photography.
In 2010 Leen was the curator of the National Geographic magazine’s Water is Life exhibit at the Annenberg Space for Photography in Los Angeles, the Beyond the Photograph exhibit at the National Geographic Society headquarters in 2011 and the current exhibit at the Annenberg Space, The Power of Photography: National Geographic 125 Years.
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Tim Rasmussen
Tim Rasmussen is the AME photography and multimedia at The Denver Post a 630,000 circ. newspaper in Denver, CO. where he leads a staff of 26. The Post photography staff has won numerous awards, including the 2013 Pulitzer Prize for Breaking News Reporting. The 2012 and 2010 Pulitzer Prize for Feature Photography Awarded to Craig Walker. Pictures of the Year International McDougall Overall Excellence in Editing Award 2012, Three 2013 National Edward R. Murrow Awards, The Best Use of Photography from NPPA’s Best of Photojournalism and 15 Regional Emmy’s. Also two international Photographers’ of the Year, Craig Walker in 2010 and RJ Sangosti in 2012. Before joining the Post Tim was the Director of Photography of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel in Fort Lauderdale Florida. Tim started is photo editing career as Visuals Editor at the Free Lance-Star in Fredericksburg, Virginia. Where the paper was awarded Best use of pictures from Pictures of the Year in 2002.
He worked his way through college at The Herald Journal in Logan, Utah and in 1988 he was accepted to the first Eddie Adams Workshop where he received one of ten awards given. In 1989 he moved to the east coast and for the next ten years worked as a freelance photographer, with the Hartford Courant and in New York City with Sygma photo agency, his work was published in American and international Magazines and Newspapers including the cover of the New York Times Sunday Magazine.
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John Stanmeyer
John Stanmeyer, born in Illinois, is a founding member of the prestigious VII photo agency.
Living in the Far East for more than twelve years (1996-2008), Stanmeyer has witnessed throughout that time nearly every major historical event in Asia, photographing the rapid changes taking place throughout the entire region. Working globally, he focused on the plight of refugees from the Ugandan civil war, spent months chronicling the effects of the 2004 Tsunami and documented the mental healthcare crises in Asia. Prior to moving to Hong Kong, Stanmeyer covered the conflict in South Sudan, Eastern European social change after the fall of Communism, as well as numerous visits to Haiti to record the endless social tragedies plaguing the island nation. For over eight years, he documented the migratory pattern of the HIV virus across every country in Asia. Stanmeyer’s focus is on social injustices, eradication of global poverty, human rights and raising awareness for the sustaining vanishing cultures.
Over the last decade, Stanmeyer has worked nearly exclusively with National Geographic, producing over 12 stories for the magazine, including 8 covers. (His latest is the December 2013 cover story, “Our Greatest Journey.”) Between 1998 and 2008, John was a contract photographer for Time magazine, during which time he photographed the war in Afghanistan, the fight for independence in East Timor, the fall of Suharto in Indonesia, and other significant world news events. His years with Time resulted in 18 covers of the magazine.
Stanmeyer has been the recipient of numerous honors, including the prestigious Robert Capa award (Overseas Press Club), Magazine Photographer of the Year (POYi), and numerous World Press, Picture of the Year and NPPA awards. In 2008, his National Geographic cover story on global malaria received the National Magazine Award and in 2012 was nominated for an Emmy with the VII documentary film series, Starved for Attention.
John has published a number of books including Island of the Spirits, a journalistic/anthropologic look at Balinese culture documented during the five years he lived on the island. His latest book, a VII Photo Agency collaboration titled Questions Without Answers (Phaidon), was released in 2012, chronically the last 30 years of social conflict and change around the world.
Earlier this year, he opened the Stanmeyer Gallery & Shaker Dam Coffeehouse in West Stockbridge, Mass, combining photography around his passion for brilliant coffee, wrapping the two around ethically procured, human rights-based direct trade coffee with the socials issues represented in his photographs.
Stanmeyer lives with this wife, Anastasia Stanmeyer (editor of Berkshire Magazine), and their three children on a farm in the Berkshires of Western Massachusetts.
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