Tom Hanson Photojournalism Award Winner Announced

The Canadian Journalism Foundation and The Canadian Press announce inaugural award winner

TORONTO , Feb. 4 /CNW/ - The Canadian Journalism Foundation (CJF) and The Canadian Press are pleased to announce the winner of the inaugural Tom Hanson Photojournalism Award is Adrien Veczan. Veczan, a 24-year-old freelance photojournalist whose work has appeared in the Toronto Star and the Sydney Morning Herald among others, will be joining The Canadian Press for a six-week internship later this year.

Graeme Roy, Director of News Photography at The Canadian Press and chair of the award's selection committee, notes how difficult it was to select a winner. "We had an incredibly positive response to the award," he says. "The volume of submissions we received far exceeded our expectations."

Although the selection committee's job was challenging, Roy says it was a pleasure to review each portfolio as the quality of the submissions was outstanding. Choosing a winner literally came down to a frame-by-frame comparison.

"We hope that we can build on this very solid foundation for next year, and have even more young photographers submit their portfolios for this important award," says Roy.

Catherine Hanson , Tom's wife and a member of the selection committee, also looks forward to the award's continued success.

"It's exciting that Tom's legacy will live on through talented new photographers making their own way in the news industry with an experience at The Canadian Press, Tom's second family," she says. "Congratulations to the winner, Adrien - I wish him much success and great adventures in his photojournalism career."

About the Tom Hanson Photojournalism Award

The Canadian Journalism Foundation and The Canadian Press teamed up in 2009 to launch a new photojournalism award in memory of award-winning photojournalist Tom Hanson . The Tom Hanson Photojournalism Award offers a six-week paid internship at The Canadian Press head office in Toronto for a photojournalist in the early stages of his or her career. For more details, visit http://cjf-fjc.ca/awards_tomhanson.htm.

About Tom Hanson

Tom Hanson was a swashbuckling photojournalist whose images from the Oka conflict to the cut-and-thrust of the House of Commons told vivid stories. He was an award-winning photographer for The Canadian Press who travelled around the world and across the country, shooting some of the most iconic news and sports images of the last 15 years. When Hanson died suddenly at age 41 in 2009, his family, friends, colleagues at The Canadian Press and the country's photojournalism community wanted to find an appropriate way to honour his memory, talent and spirit. The result was the creation of the Tom Hanson Photojournalism Award.

For further information: Heather McCall, Program Manager, The Canadian Journalism Foundation, [email protected] or [phone]; Graeme Roy, Director of News Photography, The Canadian Press, [email protected] or [phone]