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Marcus Bleasdale
$15,000 professional grant winner.
View his portfolio.
Marcus Bleasdale is a freelance photographer from London, England. He has worked extensively on stories about children and conflict in the Balkans. In China he worked on the effects of pollution and economic expansion on the population. In Africa, he has covered drought in Kenya; Ebola in Uganda; slave children in Ghana; diamond mining and the war in Sierra Leone. .
He has now spent four years covering the conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo. That work has been published in his book, "One Hundred Years of Darkness" which Photo District News recognized as one of the best photojournalism books of the year in 2002. Bleasdale's awards include the London Sunday Times Nikon Ian Parry young photojournalist of the year award in 1999; POY News picture story first place 2004; NPPA First place News Picture Story 2004; 3p Laureat 2004; and, UNICEF Photographer of the Year 2004.
He graduated in 1990 from the University of Huddersfield in England with a BA with honors in Economics and Finance In 1999 he received a postgraduate diploma in Photojournalism from the London College of Printing.
Bleasdale was in the final four last year for the Alexia professional grant. He represents himself in London.
His work can also be viewed on www.marcusbleasdale.com.
The judges winnowed the professional entries down from 170 to nine top applications this year, then after much discussion, picked the winner without ranking the remaining eight. Those eight, in no particular order, are Helene Caux, freelance based in New York City, American permanent resident from France; Walter Astrada, Associated Press stringer and freelance photographer in Argentina; Benjamin Rusnak, staff photographer for Food for the Poor in Boca Raton, Fla.; Karim Ben Khelifa, freelance photographer from Paris; Ernesto Bazan, freelance who lives in Havana and New York City; Jon Lowenstein, documentary photographer and teacher from Chicago, Ill.; Seamus Murphy, freelance from London, England; and Janet Jensen, staff photographer at the News Tribune in Tacoma, Wash.
The judging was done at Syracuse University on Feb. 26, 2005. Judges were Mark Edelson, Presentation Editor at The Palm Beach Post, Vin Alabiso, and Bob Gilka, former National Geographic director of photography and adjunct professor of photojournalism and picture editing at Syracuse University. More details about the judging are available in the right column.
"I noticed something that startled me during the tsunami coverage. After a few days of normal video coverage, CNN, as well as others, started to include still photographs in their coverage. I noticed that those images moved me the most. Those were the images that stayed with me. Those were the images I recalled to a friend as I discussed the tragedy. The video tape was long forgotten. The miles of footage became just background. The stills leapt out at me in stark contrast."
Aphrodite Tsairis, mother of Alexia Tsairis, made these remarks to the students at the 2005 competition judging. She and her husband Peter Tsairis are creators and sponsors of The Alexia Foundation for World Peace. Read her complete text.
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Erika Schultz
First place student scholarship winner.
Read her proposal.
View her portfolio.
Erika Schultz is a senior journalism major at Northern Arizona University. She was a 2004 Eddie Adams Workshop participant and is the assistant photo editor of the University's Lumberjack Newspaper. She won a $9,000 scholarship to study photojournalism at the Syracuse University London Centre and a $1,000 grant to produce her picture story. She also likes backpacking, rock climbing and fly-fishing. She recently began mentoring on the Navajo Nation with the Bridges to Understanding program that connects children worldwide through digital storytelling.
Second place student winner Jessa Buchalter, a senior at Syracuse University (see proposal). The second place award is a $6,000 scholarship and a grant of $500. Buchalter interned at El Diario El Tiempo in Cuenca, Ecuador in Spring '04. She crewed on a 50 ft. catamaran in the Virgin Islands in Summer '03.
Award of Excellence winners are Julie Peters, who expects a BA in visual journalism from Brooks Institute of Photography in 2006 (see proposal); Andrew Henderson, a junior history major at Western Kentucky University (see proposal). ; and Laura Pohl, a photojournalism graduate student at University of Missouri. She received a BA in Communication and Social Change from American University in Washington, D.C. in 1998 (see proposal).
Each Award of Excellence winner receives a $500 cash grant and a $1600 scholarship.
39 students from four countries applied to the competition this year.
Each student winner receives a scholarship that pays part of tuition, fees and living expenses to study photojournalism in London in the fall semester at the Syracuse University London Centre and a cash grant to help produce their proposed story.
Judging
The judging was done at Syracuse University on Feb. 26, 2005. Judges were Mark Edelson, Presentation Editor at The Palm Beach Post, Vin Alabiso, and Bob Gilka, former National Geographic director of photography and adjunct professor of photojournalism and picture editing at Syracuse University.
Edelson, seven times Newspaper Picture Editor of the Year, works with photographers, designers, reporters and editors on the packaging of stories throughout the Palm Beach Post. He joined The Post as a picture editor in 1993, and he has been the lead picture editor or designer for the Post team that has earned numerous awards at BOP, POY, SND and in the PEQCC.
He has been a judge at POY, BOP and SND. Prior to joining The Post, he was Director of Photography at The Sun-Sentinel in Ft. Lauderdale. From 1981 to 1988 he was at The Sun-Tattler in Hollywood, Fl, working first as a photographer, then photo editor, page designer and finally Graphics Director
Vincent Alabiso is president of VJA inc., The Visual Journalism Alliance, a research and consulting firm that assists leading media organizations, such as The New York Times, in seeking creative solutions in expanding the revenue potential of their photographic content. In 2004, he was Associated Press director of global business development/photo.
From 1990 to 2003, as AP Vice President and Executive Photo Editor, he oversaw AP's global photo operation and led the department to eight Pulitzer Prizes in nine years. Before rejoining AP, Alabiso had been Director of Photography for the Boston Globe which, during his tenure, was cited for best use of photography in the national Pictures of the Year competition.
Prior to the Globe, he was AP's New England Photo Editor. He began his career as a staff photographer at the Patriot Ledger in Quincy, Mass., and has also taught photojournalism at Boston University. He received a journalism degree form Northeastern University in Boston.
Alabiso was named president of the Alexia Foundation board of directors in 2004.
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