A series of pictures that depicts a feature story line or single feature theme. 12 photos maximum per story. A picture story depicting the President of the United States, other U.S. politicians, or U.S. politics is NOT eligible in this category.
First Place
Salwan Georges, The Washington Post
Dane Jr.: Dane Smothers, Jr., 28, photographed at home on Wednesday, December 20, 2017, in Capitol Heights, MD. Smothers who is a rookie firefighter, was responding to his first fire call on the third month on the job when he was struck by a 57-foot-long ladder truck pulling up to the burning house at Eighth and F streets NE in Washington, D.C. Smothers Jr. had to be resuscitated at a trauma center. He lost a lung, suffered a traumatic brain injury, and had surgeries on his spine, femur and jaw. Staples held parts of him together for months and he had to learn to walk again. He is legally blind in his left eye and his left hand still doesn’t work like it should. Grafts of nerve tissue may help restore 60 percent of its use but he also has been fitted for a robotic arm to support that hand and help him hold a dish or write on a clipboard.
Second Place
Mary F. Calvert, Independent
Paul's Story: Living with Military Sexual Assault: Ten years ago, Paul Lloyd was raped by four of his fellow soldiers in the shower during boot camp. Though his injuries from the attack kept him in the hospital for 14 days, he never reported the crime. A few months later he was given a general discharge from the U.S. Army and went home to Salt Lake City to try to rebuild his life. Men of the U.S. Armed Forces are being raped and sexually assaulted by their colleagues in record numbers. According to a Pentagon survey that was released in May 2017, men make up 42% of the estimated 14,900 sexual assaults in the U.S. military.
Third Place
Jim Lo Scalzo, European Pressphoto Agency
Two Minutes to Midnight; How the US Government Prepares for Doomsday: As President Trump bets that his newly formed ‟terrific relationship” with North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un will avert a nuclear showdown, American officials continue to plan for a darker scenario: keeping the US government functioning in the wake of Armageddon. Though government officials keep the details of their post-doomsday planning classified, evidence of their decades-long efforts, some abandoned, some active‚ are hidden in plain sight around Washington, DC, and beyond.
Award of Excellence
Gabriella Demczuk, Freelance for Topic
Federal Project No. 2: From the 1950s to the early 70s, 99 percent of 560 acres of land was razed in Southwest, D.C. displacing 23,000 mostly African American residents and 1500 private businesses during the biggest urban renewal project by the federal government at that time, setting national housing policy and reaffirming the government's right to eminent domain. Today's redevelopment of Southwest, D.C. is not much different than the urban renewal movement more than fifty years ago.
Award of Excellence
Jonathan Newton, The Washington Post
Scientists studying geologic methane gas as it seeps out of Esieh Lake in NW Alaska. They are surveying the methane ebullition over the full area.: Ecologist Katey Walter Anthony discovered Esieh Lake, which is emitting a large amount of methane gas for a single Arctic lake. It's a volume that could pose a significant threat to the climate if lakes like this one turn out to be common. A scientific team study the lake and the gas emissions to get a better understanding of the issue.
Award of Excellence
Pete Marovich, American Reportage
Searching for Dream Street: In the 1980's, the steel industry that built Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and still dominated its economy, entered a death spiral. Now, over thirty years later, the city has survived its deindustrialization, but the small towns, where the majority of the region's steel mills were located, are still struggling with unemployment, a decimated tax base and a crumbling infrastructure.
Award of Excellence
Ricky Carioti, The Washington Post
Above Maryland: Morning light shines down over the countryside on August 29, 2018 in Myersville, Md.