Best of Photojournalism 2009: Video News Photography: Winners

Clips from the Video News Photography and Editing winners in the Best of Photojournalism 2009 are now viewable at Poynter Online.

Chat with Al Tompkins and the BOP TV judges — live each day at 12:00 EST. Ask the judges questions and hear what they love and have learned from the entries they have seen each day.

News Feature Web Finalists

(In Alphabetical Order)

“75 Years at the Drive In”
Rick Gershon Getty Images
“Frontline of Mexico’s AIDS War”
Nancy Donaldson, Washington Post & Newsweek Interactive
“Healing Fields:Hidden Hurt”
Alexandra Garcia, washingtonpost.com
“The Last Generation”
Jose Corbella, UNC Chapel Hill
“On the Margins in Mauritania”
Travis Fox, washingtonpost.com
“One Man, Two Worlds”
Pierre Kattar, washingtonpost.com
“Remembering Chandra”
Pierre Kattar, washingtonpost.com
“Robed in Merit”
Jose Corbella, UNC Chapel Hill
“School of Last Resort”
Nancy Donaldson, Washington Post & Newsweek Interactive
“You Tube Star”
Garrett Hubbard, USA Today
“Wrecking Ball”
Karl Ferron, Baltimore Sun

News Feature Web Winners

1st
“Healing Fields:Hidden Hurt”
Alexandra Garcia, washingtonpost.com
2nd
“On the Margins in Mauritania”
Travis Fox, washingtonpost.com
3rd
“Robed in Merit”
Jose Corbella, UNC Chapel Hill
HM
“75 Years at the Drive In”
Rick Gershon, Getty Images
HM
“Frontline of Mexico’s AIDS War”
Nancy Donaldson, Washington Post & Newsweek Interactive

Judges’ Comments

Terry Bulger

Lots of stories we liked here but the character in the Healing Field Piece made that in my mind the most compelling. It would have been easier to vote for the Mauritania story, because it may in many minds be the most important story in this group, but we’re judging things not as much on subject matter as we are execution.

The Appalachian story does show the importance of humanizing your story and focusing on a couple of individuals, instead of trying to tell the story without that personalized touch.

The man in that story who felt shame in talking to people because of a lack of teeth made him and his situation clearer and more meaningful than anything that a reporter’s words or a photographers pictures could have.

Often times a memorable story even if it’s issue related can be that simple.

Scott Jensen

There was difficulty at first in judging these because of the seemingly narrow target audience of each. Which niche is best? My favorite is “On the Margins in Mauritania”. This piece puts the viewer in the shoes of a man struggling to feed his family in the midst of our global recession. It combines solid, steady photography, meaningful sound, and compelling moments. These techniques convey intimacy with the main characters. Education of a larger problem follows. For me that’s the essence of great video storytelling.

I liked “Mexico Aids War” very much too. Nancy Donaldson was able to establish a trust with drug users great enough that they’d use as her camera rolled. The story is raw in nature. I feel when we produce stories such as this our own credibility is bolstered. This is a story I’d someday like a chance at telling. Thank you! The technical shortcomings (namely shaking video) dropped it down on my list.

Jon Knorr

There was a lot of quality journalism in this category. These stories showed what the Internet is capable of. “The Healing Fields: Hidden Hurt” was a wonderfully done expose’ on the lack of healthcare in rural America. I’m sure that most people wouldn’t have a clue that there are that many uninsured people in our country.

“On the Margins in Mauritania” is an interesting story on how the global markets affect the poor in Africa. It is a heartbreaking and an emotional story.

“Robed in Merit” took us into the life of a Buddhist Monk. The story was beautifully shot, but it contained too many still photos. It should have used more video and a lot less stills.

“75 years at the Drive In” was another beautifully shot story. This is another story were it almost didn’t make it because we had a lot of trouble viewing it.

Shane McEachern

The nicest of the web bunch so far, this batch was quite impressive. The 1st place prize was a race between “HEALING FIELDS” and “ON THE MARGINS”. Both dealt with poverty, one in the US of A and the other in Mauritania. Just a tremendous amount of dedication on the photojournalist’s part for both of these stories... we got a chance to see what life is really like in different parts of the world. Elected officials should be forced to watch “HEALING FIELDS” to see what shape our health care system is in these days, it is hard to believe we have allowed so many to slip so far in getting the proper health care. There was also a nice arc at the end of “HEALING FIELDS” where the guy comes out to tell the people they can’t take many more patients at the makeshift facility, you could just feel their pain. Amazing work. “ON THE MARGINS” was captivating, a story which makes you appreciate the good fortune we have in our own country despite all of its current problems.

“ROBED IN MERIT” was another fine single character development story. A young man becomes a Buddhist monk, walking us through the process with great sound, nats, pictures. It was a nice lesson for all of the judges in pacing and restraint. Good use of still photography enhanced this essay and did not distract from the overall viewing experience. This was perhaps in my opinion one of the best photographed pieces of the bunch.

“75 YEARS OF DRIVE IN” and “AIDS WAR” were the two honorable mentions in this category. Well done stories, nicely shot. “75 YEARS OF DRIVE IN” was a beautiful reflection on the drive in movie theatres and their decline in the past 75 years. “AIDS WAR” documented the stories of needle transmitted AIDS cases among drug users in Mexico. The photography in “AIDS WAR” was a little shaky, it was almost distracting to some of the judges.... this may have prevented this effort from becoming what could have been a phenomenal story.

Tom Sharkey

There certainly were some serious subjects and issues covered in this category. Healing fields was a good example of a story done more in-depth because you could do it on the web. Strong characters and a ‘that couldn’t happen here’ story line made it compelling. “On The Margins” did what television or video does best “take me somewhere I’ve never been, show me something I’ve not seen, tell me something I didn’t know” In a highly personalized way it showed us the food crisis in Mauritania, which was not from lack of food but from the high price. The camera melted away as the story presented itself.

“Robed in Merit” was a well shot story but made me wanting more at the end. I thought we had only 2/3’s of a story here.

“Frontline in Mexico’s Aids War” would have been better if the photographer had used a tripod and “75 years at the Drive In” for instance had someone describing the sound of tires on gravel rather than letting us hear that for ourselves, it had some beautiful photography in it, but there was no surprise moments. It was rather predictable.

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