AP's David Guttenfelder Named BOP Photojournalist of the Year

David Guttenfelder, who covered the Kashmir earthquake and other stories in Asia for the Associated Press, claimed the top still photography award in the National Press Photographers Association 2006 Best of Photojournalism awards.

Guttenfelder, based in New Delhi as the AP's chief Asia photographer, was named BOP Photojournalist of the Year for publications with a circulation greater than 115,000. Among his images are a dramatic shot of a helicopter crashing in Afghanistan.

"This photographer has a wonderful sense of color and composition," said contest judge Ruth Fremson of The New York Times on the NPPA web site. "There is a narrative thread through all the stories. This portfolio has everything you would ask for in a single image and a photo story."

In the Photojournalist of the Year category for publications with circulation under 115,000, The Roanoke Times and The Naples Daily News each had two photographers honored. Josh Meltzer of The Roanoke Times won first place and Kyle Green from The Roanoke Times won an honorable mention. From The Naples Daily News, David Ahntholz placed second and Lexey Swall won an honorable mention

For the first time this year, the Photojournalist of the Year category included entries from both newspapers and magazines.

The BOP awards were judged and announced over several days last week. The contest, which recognizes photos taken or first published in 2005, is open to all professional photographers and there is no entry fee.

In addition to Photojournalist of the Year, Guttenfelder won 2nd place for Natural Disaster Picture Story, 3rd place in Enterprise and an honorable mention in International News.

Smiley Pool of The Dallas Morning News, who's portfolio includes Pope John Paul II's funeral, President Bush's inauguration, New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, and children with HIV in Uganda, placed 2nd for Photojournalist of the Year. Pool also won an honorable mention for Natural Disaster Picture Story and Natural Disaster Single.

Andrea Bruce of The Washington Post, who was recently named Photographer of the Year by the White House News Photographers Association, won honorable mentions for BOP Photojournalist of the Year and News Portrait and Personality.

Others nominated for Photojournalist of the Year in the larger circulation category were freelancer Massimo Mastrorillo (third place), James Nachtwey of VII/Time (honorable mention) and Simon C. Roberts of nbpictures (honorable mention).

Todd Heisler of The Rocky Mountain News won three first-place BOP awards, including Best Published Picture Story, General News and Enterprise, for his much-acclaimed photo story of families mourning loved ones killed in military service in Iraq.

In the sports categories, Donald Miralle, Jr. of Getty Images was named Sports Photojournalist of the Year. Miralle also placed second in the Sports Picture Story category for coverage of the Las Vegas Grand Sumo Tournament.

Among news agencies, Getty Images claimed the most BOP still photography awards with 13.

The contest also includes awards for photo editing, web sites and television. A full list of winners and portfolios of winning photographs are online at http://bop.nppa.org/2006/.