First Place
Marvin Joseph, The Washington Post
Child Preacher: Ezekiel Stoddard, 11, says God spoke to him in a dream when he was 8. “God said you are going to lay hands on the sick and preach to the poor.” Ezekiel is part of a centuries-long tradition, one that spans the globe. Even as the world becomes ever more modern and sophisticated, child preachers remain a subject of fascination and debate. Skeptics have suggested that they are more motivated by attention and pushy parents than God. How, after all, can a child understand the Gospel or the intricacies of ministry?
Second Place
Matt McClain, The Washington Post
Swimming Holes: Swimming holes are sacred places to many people. Unlike their concrete relatives in cities and suburbs, they’re remote and usually not crowded. They are a symbol of a simpler time when people were more tied to their natural surroundings.
Third Place
Linda Davidson, The Washington Post
The Great Escape: Tabitha Rouzzo, 17, aims to get away from the social traps that her family has embraced; teenage pregnancy, low-paying jobs or social welfare to survive, a night on the town drinking and bumping through life without a plan in New Castle, Pa., a post-industrial town. Rouzzo is growing up in poverty like numerous other kids in this town. But Tabitha is different and beyond her age. She longs to go to college and is willing to work for it. If she graduates from high school, she would be the first in her family to do so. Rouzzo leads a social and energetic life. She maintains good grades, goes to church, participates in track and field, and works part time at two jobs. A plan has been laid. If her SAT scores aren’t enough to secure a scholarship, she’s already joined the Naval reserves to maintain pocket money and get an education.
Award of Excellence
Brendan Hoffman, freelance for Prime
Stand the Middle Ground: Amid the fertile fields of Iowa sits Webster City, a town of 8,000 people in the midst of an existential crisis. The tree-lined streets of handsome single-family homes and a main street packed with local businesses are the very picture of middle class America. But in 2011, the local Electrolux factory closed and moved production of washing machines to Mexico, laying off nearly all of a workforce that once topped 2,000. Now, the community is struggling to understand its place in a changing world while trying to hang on to a fading American dream.
Award of Excellence
Matt McClain, The Washington Post
The District At Dark: A look at an urban city and it’s inhabitants at night. As darkness descends upon Washington, the city takes on a different rhythm. After many of the commuters and government workers have left, nighttime becomes frenetic with street musicians, impromptu chess matches, bustling restaurants and clubs.