Feature
A picture of a “found” situation with strong human interest, or a fresh view of an everyday scene.
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First Place
Jason Reed
Reuters
SOLAR POWERED PROTECTION
Secret Service Agents walk among an array of solar panels as they follow President Barack Obama, not pictured, at Nellis Air Force Base in Las Vegas, May 27, 2009. Obama marked the 100th day of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act by highlighting the development and use of geothermal and solar energy.
Second Place
Katie Falkenberg
The Washington Times
ENDANGERED HERITAGE
Rully Urias, seen April 5, 2009, says if his ancestors, who are buried in this family cemetery above his home in Island Creek, Ky., - which his great-great grandfather settled in the 1800s - could see the destruction of the mountains they are surrounded by as a result of mountaintop removal coal mining, they would be heartbroken. He says that this form of mining is not only destroying the mountains but also his family's way of life and their heritage.
Third Place
Michael Williamson
The Washington Post
BIN BOY
Daverena White's young son, Milique White, 4, sits in a plastic storage bin as he plays a video game at the apartment in Germantown, Md., Nov. 24, 2009, where the family now lives. His family had been homeless for months but got housing through a special county program.
Award of Excellence
Alexis C. Glenn
UPI
AMERICAN BELLE KISS
Carlo DePorto, recipient of the Col. John Gioia Patriot Award, dances with an American Belle at the USO Annual Awards dinner in Arlington, Va., on March 25, 2009. DePorto served in 3 American wars and has volunteered for the USO for more than 50 years.
Award of Excellence
Sarah L. Voisin
The Washington Post
PROSTITUTES
In downtown Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, off-duty federal policemen and others pay on April 19, 2009, to dance with women at a bar named Vaquero, or cowboy. Most of the women are prostitutes. A dance costs 10 pesos, less than a dollar, and for a little more you can go to a nearby hotel. Many of the prostitutes are economically disadvantaged drug addicts. Criminal organizations take advantage of this and facilitate their drug use, further escalating the devastating social issues caused by the drug trade.
Award of Excellence
Mary F. Calvert
The Washington Times
COLLATERAL DAMAGE
With few toys, children make their own out of old jerry cans in the Democratic Republic of Congo on April 9, 2009. More than a thousand families now live in small thatch and tarp huts outside the United Nations peacekeeping base in Kiwanja. Without peace, the Congolese people are among the poorest on the planet. The scale of violence has grown so critical that Human Rights Watch recently estimated 90,000 people who live in the Kivus have in the last few months been displaced by the fighting and the marauding militias.
Award of Excellence
Bill O'Leary
The Washington Post
PREPARATIONS
Joyce Yu, the bride, has doffed her crocs and donned her heels and is being photographed by her cousin Chris Wu, left, while her bridesmaids douse themselves with insect repellent before going outside for the wedding ceremony in Rockville, Md., on Aug. 15, 2009.
