Nation’s Leading Photojournalists Compete for Top Industry Awards (download)
(WASHINGTON, D.C. – Feb. 9, 2014) – The White House News Photographers Association announced that freelance photographer Astrid Riecken has been named “Photographer of the Year” and Win McNamee has won “Political Photo of the Year” in the 2014 ‘The Eyes of History™’ contest judging at the National Geographic Society in Washington, DC.
Astrid Riecken is a freelance photographer based in the Washington, D.C. area. She won first prize in the Feature, Picture Story International, and Portfolio categories. “I am very, very happy and extremely grateful that this happened,” Riecken said. “I appreciate this honor and recognition.”
McNamee’s image of President Barack Obama speaking in the Brady White House Press Briefing Room on the Trayvon Martin case was selected as Political Photo of the Year. McNamee said, “I am very honored to have one of my photographs selected as the Political Photo of the Year and would like to thank the entire team at Getty Images for their amazing support and teamwork,” McNamee said. “The WHNPA has a rich and wonderful history and I am humbled to have my photograph chosen from those produced by so many talented and deserving photographers.”
In commenting on the WHNPA ‘Eyes of History™’ contest winners, President Ron Sachs said, “Riecken and McNamee’s work shows their high standard of excellence and why they are successful. Their dedication to visual story telling and photojournalism is why they are regularly published and are respected as leaders in their field. The quality of the contest submissions gets better each and every year.”
The judges for the 2014 ‘The Eyes of History™’ stills competition were Sarah Leen, Director of Photography, National Geographic Magazine; Tim Rasmussen, AME for photography and multimedia at The Denver Post; and John Stanmeyer, a founding member of the prestigious VII photo agency. Still Photography Contest Chairman Nikki Kahn said “The high standards of the judges set the tone for a beautiful collection of images produced by our members in this year’s WHNPA contest. On behalf of the stills committee, I congratulate all the winners.”
The multimedia, video and student competitions were also judged at the National Geographic Society over the weekend.
The top winners of the still, video, multimedia and student contests will be honored at the annual ‘Eyes of History™’ Gala on May 10, 2014, at the Ritz-Carlton in Washington. The black-tie event celebrates all the winning photojournalists and the President of the United States. Nearly 1,000 guests, including government dignitaries and industry celebrities, attend.
