What We Do 2024 Winners List

The What We Do website will be updated with the 2024 winning images soon.

Feature

First Place: Caroline Sherman

Second Place: Liam Myerow

Third Place: Georgia Pressley

Honorable Mention: Kayla Bartkowski

Honorable Mention: Joseph Ciembroniewicz

News

First Place: Kayla Bartkowski

Second Place: Jess Kszos

Third Place: Quinn Freidenburg

Honorable Mention: Rebecca Villagracia

Honorable Mention: Kayla Bartkowski

Portrait

First Place: Evie Linantud

Second Place: Travis LaCoss

Third Place: Liam Myerow

Honorable Mention: Travis LaCoss

Portrait Series

First Place: Liam Myerow

Second Place: Ryan Reyes

Third Place: Travis LaCoss

Sport Feature

First Place: Jess Kszos

Second Place: Caroline Sherman

Third Place: Mikaela Engstrom

Honorable Mention: Rebecca Villagracia

Honorable Mention: Caroline Sherman

Sports Action

First Place: Joseph Ciembroniewicz

Second Place: Josh Boland

Third Place: Travis LaCoss

Honorable Mention: Kayla Bartkowski

Honorable Mention: Joseph Ciembroniewicz

Interpretive Image

First Place: Quinn Freidenburg

Second Place: Jess Kszos

NonFiction Video

First Place: Jess Kszos

Second Place: Jamie Ratchford

Third Place: Josh Boland

Honorable Mention: Georgia Pressley

Honorable Mention: Emma Truscott

Multimedia Storytelling

First Place: Sophie Proe

Second Place: Kayla Bartkowski

Third Place: Caroline Sherman

Honorable Mention: Quinn Freidenburg

Honorable Mention: Rose Chin

Interpretive Project

First Place: Sophie Proe

Photo Story

First Place: Joseph Ciembroniewicz

Second Place: Kara Gildea

Third Place: Quinn Freidenburg

Honorable Mention: Josh Boland

Picture Editing

Joseph Ciembroniewicz

Gitner Family Award

Joseph Ciembroniewicz

Overall Portfolio

Josh Boland

Competition Entry and Judging

What We Do is an annual student competition hosted by RIT NPPA. The contest is an opportunity to showcase the work being done in the photojournalism program. Each spring, RIT students enter this contest, which is judged by three RIT photojournalism alumni. What We Do includes alumni lectures, live judging, and an exhibition featuring the winners.

Important Dates:

March 18, 2024 – Entries Open

April 7, 2024 -Entries Close

April 12, 2024 (6:30 pm) – Lectures (Wegmans Theater)

April 13, 2024 (9 am – 6 pm) – Judging (GAN-4202)

SUBMISSIONS CLOSED

2024 Judges:

Traci Westcott is a University Photographer with RIT Marketing and Communications. In this role she documents daily life and development for the University Magazine, the President’s Report, and News & Events. Before RIT, Westcott worked as a photojournalist at the Post Bulletin in Rochester, Minnesota, and the Dubois County Herald in Jasper, Indiana. She’s photographed high stress situations, like police brutality protests, presidential visits, and storytelling around the impact of COVID-19, as well as daily community events, like county fairs. Her work has been recognized by Minnesota Newspaper Association, Indiana News Photographers Association and College Photographer of the Year.

Meg Oliphant is a freelance sports photographer based in Los Angeles. In recent years she has photographed major events including the Tokyo Olympics, the first edition of the Tour de France Femmes, the Super Bowl, NASCAR and NWSL Championships, and Ironman triathlons. She has worked with clients including Getty Images Sport, Togethxr, Matchroom Boxing, the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, USA Today, and MLB Photos. In 2020 she founded Women’s Sports Archive to serve as a platform to increase coverage of women’s sports and advocate for diversity of sports photographers through mentorship and resources.

Seth Gitner is an Associate Professor at the Newhouse School at Syracuse University. He has a dual appointment in the magazine, news and digital journalism, and the visual communications departments. Before Newhouse, Gitner worked as a photographer and multimedia editor at newspapers in Maryland and Virginia. While at The Roanoke Times and Roanoke.com, he pioneered integrating video and interactivity into a legacy-print newsroom. His work has been recognized by APME, Newspaper Association of America, NPPA, ONA, and Scripps Howard Foundation.

The annual What We Do photojournalism competition entries are to be submitted via the link at the bottom of this page by April 7, 2024, at 11:59 pm. Entries should be prepared exactly according to the Submission Rules and guidelines below. If an entry fails to meet any specifications of the Rules or Guidelines, RIT NPPA reserves the right to disqualify or modify without notice the entry in order to make it comply with the Rules and Guidelines. Please read all instructions carefully before entering and feel free to ask for help at the email listed below or to any NPPA board member.

General Rules

What We Do is open to ALL students at Rochester Institute of Technology, regardless of your major.
What We Do is grounded in the NPPA code of ethics.
Entrants should enter their own work. Group projects will not be accepted.
Entries must be created and prepared according to journalistic ethics. Digital manipulation, manufactured photo illustrations, double exposures, added masks, backgrounds, text, or other artistic effects are only allowed in the Interpretive Eye (IE) and Portraiture (POR) categories and must be clearly stated in the caption information.
Entries must have been taken or initially published between the dates of March 13, 2023, and the entry deadline, April 7, 2024.
Students who graduate from RIT at the end of the fall semester of the academic year of the competition are eligible to enter work completed before their graduation. For example, a student who graduates in December is eligible to enter work from their capstone and other projects, but not eligible to enter work completed at jobs/internships after their time at RIT.
Images must be submitted in JPG format sized at 6000 pixels @ 300 dpi of the longest side and Adobe RGB.
You may submit up to 30 entries. Picture stories and portfolios count as one entry each.
The deadline to submit is 11:59 pm on Sunday, April 7, 2024.

Category Definitions (and category codes)

Single Image Categories

Feature (FEA): A candid or found moment that reflects the human experience.
News (NEW): A photograph from a news event. This could be from a breaking news situation or a scheduled event where advanced planning was possible.
Sports Action (SPA): Images from a sporting event that captures peak action of individual or team sports. Jubilation, dejection, and reaction photographs should be entered into the sports feature category.
Sports Feature (SPF): Images from a sporting event that highlights subjects outside of primary game action/competition. Should increase understanding and appreciation for individual and team sports or celebrate the role athletics play in the lives of amateur and/or professional athletes and fans.
Portrait (POR): An image of a person that reveals the essence of their character.

Interpretive Image (INI): An image that showcases the photographer’s vision or unique perspective. These images can be planned, posed, or otherwise set up. Any post-production and/or digital manipulation must be disclosed in the image caption. Must be grounded in the documentary tradition and offer visual commentary on an issue or idea.

Multiple Image Categories

Portrait Series (PORS): A maximum of 12 images that reflect a strong sense of identity or narrative. Be sure to submit images sequenced as you would publish them.

Photo Story (PHOS): A maximum of 12 images compiled in a picture story or essay that reflects the human experience. Be sure to submit images sequenced as you would publish them. Please put a description of the photo story in the caption information of every image (before the individual image caption).
Interpretive Project (INP): A maximum of 12 images that showcase the photographer’s vision or unique perspective. These images can be planned, posed, or otherwise set up. Any post-production and/or digital manipulation must be disclosed in the image’s captions. Must be grounded in the documentary tradition, this project showcases a body of work that offers visual commentary on an issue or idea.
Overall Portfolio (OVP): A body of work that showcases the photographer’s vision and demonstrates versatility, expertise, and depth. Include at least five (5) entries from single-image categories and at least one (1) entry from a multiple-image or multimedia category. 45 images maximum, including black slides. Organize the portfolio with the individual photos first, followed by projects. Place a black slide at the beginning of each story (.jpg). Fill out the IPTC title and caption fields with the story title and story summary. Do not title the slide.

Multimedia Categories

Picture Editing Research (PE): A slideshow of a maximum of 12 images that would accompany the attached article discussing substantial changes in weather the world continues to face. Images from the AP, Reuters, and Getty photo wires may be used. This edit should demonstrate your journalistic and creative vision and should be sequenced in the order you want images to be viewed. (Example 01_PE_klb7024.jpg, 02_PE_klb7024.jpg etc.) Please put all images into one folder. (Example PE_klb7024.jpg)
- Picture Editing Story: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1LUWbzbjAlgJyxf61fbxWwlLXfH-CuBOs/view?usp=drive_link
Multimedia Storytelling (MM): A multimedia story or essay that reflects the human experience and may include: videos, photos, text, and audio. Upload a .docx file including your name(s), story title, and website URL with multimedia piece. Please include a single frame/image from your project, this will be used during judging and in any award display.
Non-Fiction Video (NFV): A non-fiction video that reflects the human experience. Upload a .mp4 file along with a .docx file including your name(s), story title, and description. Please include a single frame/image from your project, this will be used during judging and in any award display.

Submission Guidelines

Entries will only be accepted through the online entry form (below) and must include the following:
The last slide copyright agreement should be checked at the end of the submission process.
Read the category descriptions and make sure each entry is submitted in the appropriate category.
Entries should be JPG files sized at 6000 pixels on the long edge, 300 dpi.
Entries MUST have IPTC information according to the instructions below. Read and follow them carefully.

IPTC Metadata

Any entry with incorrect metadata will be disqualified. Captions may be considered during judging—write and copy-edit captions carefully. All metadata should be applied in Photo Mechanic, but can also be filed in Photoshop or Lightroom if you have not used Photo Mechanic. View helpful screenshots below for IPTC preparation in Photo Mechanic.

The following IPTC fields must be included:

DESCRIPTION/CAPTION Format should follow “(Story Title – Story Order – Story Synopsis) Photo Caption.” The entrant’s name must NOT be anywhere in the caption field. For single image categories, only the caption is needed in this field.
CREATOR/ PHOTOGRAPHER Entrant’s name
CREDIT – only for the Picture Editing (PE) category when the entrant is not the photographer.

File Naming

All photographs must start with the category code (i.e. for feature “FEA”), followed by the entrant’s RIT email username (i.e. “klb7024”) followed by a sequence number. (Ex. FEA_klb7024_01.jpg) Please use underscores between sections of file names.
Portfolio submissions must be arranged sequentially with singles first followed by story/stories. File names for multiple picture entries (Portfolio and Picture Story) must be sorted sequentially with singles first followed by story/stories.
The filename will help direct the image to the proper category. Ask if you need any help with your entry.

For any questions or concerns contact the What We Do Chair, Kayla Bartkowski, klb7024@rit.edu, or reach out to an NPPA officer.

SUBMISSIONS CLOSED