The general news picture story category was very interesting in this year’s Picture of the Year International Competition. Since it was general news, the picture story topics were so broad that there was a huge variety of both local and international news. This, however, was a pro and a con for both the photographers that submitted their work, as well as for the judges. Most of the category was made up of international stories, such as the riots in Greece, the earthquake in Haiti, U.S. troops at war and the Gulf oil spill. For photographers that submitted work that they had shot in their hometown, it almost seemed inevitable that they wouldn’t win against the international news that created such an impact. While this category gave the judges some 420 stories to look through, it was easy to spot the weakest stories almost instantly.
Even through the first round of judging it was almost too easy to know how the judges were going to vote. Almost all of the stories voted out needed a much tighter edit and did not have enough material to make it a story, or even a central theme to make it an essay. Very few of the local news stories made it through, while most that depicted the international tragedies of 2010 did. There were some interesting ideas that came through in this category, but were just not shot well. One of the stories that stuck out the most during the first round was a story about a spelling bee. While this may not have been the most exciting of topics, there are certainly a variety of angles that the photographer could have taken. Not only can a photographer focus on the participants, but they could also look for stories from the crowd and family members in the audience, from the judges, and even from prepping and backstage events. Instead, this photographer took about seven or eight images from the same distance, and most likely with the same lens, of the children up on stage. There was absolutely no variety to the images, and when the images were presented as thumbnails next to each other, it looked like the photographer had just submitted the same image several times. There were also quite a few stories and essays that focused on the military, but the photographers were able to shoot it at a new angle. One photographer did a story of the military that was shot all at night, and even used night-vision to take some of his pictures. Another focused on the way light played through the windows and broken doors of buildings in Iraq and Afghanistan. Though they were beautiful images, there just wasn’t enough to make them unique in order to get through to the next level. The same can be said about an entry that was all panoramics of the flooding and destroyed buildings in Chile. It was supposed to be a story with different elements of the people and the destruction, but since there was a large issue of distance and all the composition appeared the same it just didn’t work too well. In my opinion, had it been more focused as an essay, it would have worked much better.
The second place winner in the end surprised me. The judges seemed to be looking for different aspects in the picture stories and they also seemed to not be able to agree that easily on the top winners. From what they were looking for, I was surprised that the piece on the toxic sludge in Hungary received second place. One of the judges seemed particularly concerned that they didn’t want to represent the same disaster in the top three spots, so one of the other earthquake pieces in Haiti received an award of excellence. While the Hungary piece had some beautiful images, I didn’t feel like it had quite an impact that some of the awards of excellence did. Overall, however, the final winners and awards of excellence were the best of the 420 stories, and the judges did a thorough job of narrowing it down to them.
Even through the first round of judging it was almost too easy to know how the judges were going to vote. Almost all of the stories voted out needed a much tighter edit and did not have enough material to make it a story, or even a central theme to make it an essay. Very few of the local news stories made it through, while most that depicted the international tragedies of 2010 did. There were some interesting ideas that came through in this category, but were just not shot well. One of the stories that stuck out the most during the first round was a story about a spelling bee. While this may not have been the most exciting of topics, there are certainly a variety of angles that the photographer could have taken. Not only can a photographer focus on the participants, but they could also look for stories from the crowd and family members in the audience, from the judges, and even from prepping and backstage events. Instead, this photographer took about seven or eight images from the same distance, and most likely with the same lens, of the children up on stage. There was absolutely no variety to the images, and when the images were presented as thumbnails next to each other, it looked like the photographer had just submitted the same image several times. There were also quite a few stories and essays that focused on the military, but the photographers were able to shoot it at a new angle. One photographer did a story of the military that was shot all at night, and even used night-vision to take some of his pictures. Another focused on the way light played through the windows and broken doors of buildings in Iraq and Afghanistan. Though they were beautiful images, there just wasn’t enough to make them unique in order to get through to the next level. The same can be said about an entry that was all panoramics of the flooding and destroyed buildings in Chile. It was supposed to be a story with different elements of the people and the destruction, but since there was a large issue of distance and all the composition appeared the same it just didn’t work too well. In my opinion, had it been more focused as an essay, it would have worked much better.
The second place winner in the end surprised me. The judges seemed to be looking for different aspects in the picture stories and they also seemed to not be able to agree that easily on the top winners. From what they were looking for, I was surprised that the piece on the toxic sludge in Hungary received second place. One of the judges seemed particularly concerned that they didn’t want to represent the same disaster in the top three spots, so one of the other earthquake pieces in Haiti received an award of excellence. While the Hungary piece had some beautiful images, I didn’t feel like it had quite an impact that some of the awards of excellence did. Overall, however, the final winners and awards of excellence were the best of the 420 stories, and the judges did a thorough job of narrowing it down to them.
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