Pittsburgh Post-Gazette visuals staff members collected 10 awards, including Photographer of the Year, at The Northern Short Course in Photojournalism contest judged Jan. 26-27, 2018, at City University of New York.
Steph Chambers won Photographer of the Year with a collection of images and video ranging from WPIAL football, to Attila Domos’ world record cycling attempt, to a Major League Baseball umpire saving a woman from jumping off the Roberto Clemente Bridge.
“My favorite thing about photojournalism is making people feel valued,” says Ms. Chambers. “Even with something as simple as a high school football game, this could be the greatest moment of their life. And if they don’t win, I still want to show others their heart and passion, which is more inspiring than winning in itself.”
Stephanie Strasburg placed in five categories with stories including an in-depth study on Western Pennsylvania’s opioid epidemic and Pittsburgh-based Alcoa’s impact on Suriname.
Multimedia editor Steve Mellon, reporter Rich Lord, web designer Zack Tanner and photojournalist Strasburg placed in the Team Multimedia category for their in-depth package that looked at one block in a Pittsburgh neighborhood impacted by opioids, “Life and Death on Santron Ave.”
“I’m grateful every day for the people that allow us to share their stories — the happy, the sad, and all the in between. Our region is rich with a complex history, and every day we try to add a little more to the document of the human experience here. If I can make someone relate to or care about someone they’ve never met, that’s a successful day at work.” Ms. Strasburg says.
The contest is for National Press Photographers Association members in the Mid-Atlantic, New York/International and New England regions.
Quaker Valley’s Ricky Guss flies into the end zone against Central Valley during a football game on Friday, Sept. 22, 2017 at Central Valley High School. (Steph Chambers/Post-Gazette)Eyeglasses fly off the face of Matt Jenkins Castro from Pittsburgh as he reacts to a scoring opportunity against the Nashville Predators during a screening of Game 3 of the Stanley Cup final Saturday, June 3, 2017, along Broadway in Nashville. (Steph Chambers/Post-Gazette)SELECT 2017 TAB Woodland Hills football player Eric Oliver (center) breaks it down with his fellow Wolverines before a preseason practice on Thursday, July 27, 2017 at Woodland Hills High School. (Steph Chambers/Post-Gazette)Spit flies from the whistle of Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic head football coach Pat O’Shea during a preseason practice on Wednesday, Aug. 2, 2017, at Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic High School. (Steph Chambers/Post-Gazette)Penguins’ Marc-Andre Fleury signs a hat for a young fan during the Pittsburgh Penguins victory parade on Wednesday, June 14, 2017 at Grant Street and Boulevard of the Allies. (Steph Chambers/Post-Gazette)The sun rises over West Allegheny’s defending Class 5A WPIAL champion defense as they work out at 7 a.m. during a preseason practice on Wednesday, July 26, 2017 at West Allegheny High School. (Steph Chambers/Post-Gazette)Second grader Imogen Nowak cries in the arms of her father United States Army Captain Erik Nowak after he surprised her during an assembly for National Kindness Week at Quaker ValleyÕs Osborne Elementary School in Sewickley on Tuesday, March 28, 2017. Captain Nowak has been in Qatar, Iraq, Kuwait, and Turkey since September 2016. (Steph Chambers/Post-Gazette)A girl draws with the condensation on a school bus window on Friday, March 31, 2017 while riding along Penn Avenue in East Liberty. (Steph Chambers/Post-Gazette)Sunlight shines on a patron eating inside Wiener World on Wednesday, April 26, 2017 along Strawberry Way downtown. (Steph Chambers/Post-Gazette)Sgt. 1st Class Brian Karst, of the United States Army Parachute Team Golden Knights and of Vancouver, Washington, protects his head as he leaps out of an airplane during the Shop ‘n Save Westmoreland County Airshow on Sunday, June 25, 2017 at Arnold Palmer Regional Airport in Unity. (Steph Chambers/Post-Gazette)MLB umpire John Tumpane consoles a woman who attempted to jump from the Roberto Clemente Bridge on Wednesday, June 28, 2017 along the Allegheny River downtown. Tumpane, who was walking back to PNC Park from a lunch break before preparing for tonight’s Pirates game, saw the woman lift herself over the railing. He said he held her and mouthed to other pedestrians to call 911. He attempted to buy her lunch and “talk about it.” “She said, ‘I just want to end it right now. I’ll be in a better place,'” Tumpane said while waiting for emergency personnel. “She was like ‘They don’t want to help me. You know they don’t want to help.’ I said, ‘No, they want to help you. We all want to help you. Look at all these people here that care about you.'” The woman was taken by ambulance off the bridge. (Steph Chambers/Post-Gazette)Glenn Jeffries injects himself with a mix of heroin and fentanyl one final time before heading to a drug rehab center on the morning of Thursday, Nov. 17, 2017. Jeffries lives on the 100 block of Santron Avenue in Carrick, the city neighborhood hardest hit by the opioid epidemic. He says he’s been using opiates for about three years. (Steve Mellon/Post-Gazette) For use with the project “Life and Death on Santron Avenue.”Tears roll down the cheeks of a boy on the street where a 14-year-old boy was found dead on Tuesday, April 25, 2017 on the 1300 block of Ridge Street in McKeesport, Pa. Allegheny County 911 received a call about shots fired on the block at about 2:37 p.m. (Stephanie Strasburg/Post-Gazette)Justin Sevacko, Jr., 2, of Imperial, stands with his aunt’s 6-week-old puppy, Ace, as they hang out on Tuesday, July 4, 2017 in McKees Rocks. (Stephanie Strasburg/Post-Gazette)
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