South – July 2026 – Photo Story/Essay

Judges Comments

Again.......Edit, Edit, Edit. The first-place entry is engaging, but it would benefit from removing photos to strengthen the narrative. Including five images of someone being bucked off is unnecessary. For second place, these stories are impactful and you selected strong images, but further editing is needed. The third entry demonstrates all the fundamentals of a photo story, though we encourage you to explore the narrative in greater depth.

Judges: Thomas R. Cordova/Long Beach Post, Sarahi Apaez/freelance, Ted Soqui/freelance