NPPA student chapter of the National Press Photographers Association ritnppa@gmail.com

2023 Category: News



First Place: Vincent Alban

Shaq Rodriguez pours a bottle of liquor on the casket of Alexis Mercedes as a ritual of respect before he is buried at Riverside Cemetery in Rochester, N.Y., Nov. 30, 2022. “We always had fun when we were together, sparring, drinking, dancing,”says Rodriguez. “There’s something very beautiful about what you see there, that how we show him respect.”

Second Place: Vincent Alban

Titiana Bogar, the mother of Ly’Saun Curry, cries out after a balloon release honoring Curry on the two-year-anniversary of his death on Oct. 2, 2022. Curry, who was 18, was killed while walking home from his construction job on Oct. 2, 2020. Orange was his favorite color, and his friends and family use it to honor him through clothing and accessories. Bogar has become a mentor to Curry’s friends, as they all deal with his passing.

Third Place: Daniel Sarch

John Hart II searches through the debris of his home after a house explosion directly across the street at 1010 N. Weinbach Ave., in Evansville, Ind., Aug. 11, 2022. “We’re staying at the Hampton Inn now,” Hart said. Hart has lived in this home since 1976.

Honorable Mention: Daniel Sarch

Debbie Frederick, left, puts an aromatherapy necklace up to Benji Frederick’s, 1, nose in the cry room during the ceremony to bid their farewells to 300 National Guard leaving for deployment in Iraq to help with coalition security forces in the Christian Fellowship Church in Evansville, Ind., Aug. 9, 2022. “He loves to smell it,” Frederick said.