West – June 2022 – Photo Story/Essay

Judges Comments

Unfortunately, we awarded nothing. Almost all of the captions really lack a good text block explaining the story. While a couple came close none of the stories have a narrative arc They’re either trite, like the veteran story, or in the case of the immigrant girl it doesn’t show me why we should have pity for this girl. Why was she attacked? Was it racial? Was it something else? The photos just end up being photos of exotic-looking people although the portrait of the girl by the window is fantastic on its own. The closest story that came to having a narrative arc was the female football story but even that doesn't tell me really who they are, professionals? Amateur? Why they are special? While it’s obvious the photographer invested a good amount of time in being there it doesn't have a single action photo to go along with the rest. A better text block and maybe an action photo or two would have gotten football an award.

Judges: Wesley Bunnell/Shore Publishing, Laurence Kesterson/Swarthmore College