Awards
AFP awarded at WHNPA's "The Eyes of History" 2024 Contest
Four AFP photographers covering the White House won thirteen awards at The Eyes of History 2024 contest organized by the White House News Photographers Association. The WHNPA recognized the work of those photographers working in Washington covering politics and news; the winners were selected among 4,500 images and 16 categories.
Brendan Smialowski won the first place in the Picture Story - Sports and Sports Action categories for a series of pictures taken on April 23, 2023 at the Louisiana State Penitentiary during a event where prisoners are gathered to work or compete during the Angola Prison Rodeo, as a reward for good behavior. “The Farm” is one of the United States’s largest maximum-security prison and the area takes its name, Angola, from a slave plantation that once occupied the same lands.
Smialowski also won the second and third place in the Presidential category, and the third place in the Portfolio category. He was also honoured with an Award of Excellence in three categories: Pictorial, Picture Story/Politics and Political Portfolio.
Jim Watson was awarded with the first place in the Presidential category for a photograph where Joe Biden meets with Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington on September 21, 2023.
Watson got the third place in the Picture Story – Sports category for his series “Revving Up Excitement”, showing Formula 1 gaining momentum with a rapidly growing fan base in America as three races now stretch across the United States from Austin, Texas, and Miami, to the newest edition in Las Vegas.
Watson also got the second place in the Picture Story/Feature category for a series of the Chesapeake Bay watershed, the nation’s largest estuary which is threatened by agricultural pollution and climate change, and some pictures of the Mallows Bay Park from August 22, 2023.
Andrew Caballero-Reynolds won the first place in the Domestic News category for his picture of a young migrant from Venezuela crawling through a hole in the razor wire as other members of her family wait to cross into Eagle Pass, in September 25, 2023.
He also won the second place in the Picture Story/News category for his series following migrants crossing the southern border of the United States in September 2023, as well as the third place in the Picture Story/Feature category with a series that shows the story of Taniece Reed, CEO and founder of Pretty Shooters Firearms Training, who grew up around firearms, and started the business after she had a hard time finding a female instructor in the African-American community that she could relate to. March 19, 2023.
To finish with, Saul Loeb was honoured with an Award of Excellence for his photograph of President Joe Biden awarding actress Julia Louis-Dreyfus the 2021 National Medal of Arts during a ceremony in the East Room of the White House in Washington, on March 21, 2023.
