Winners of National Pictures of the Year Announced

NEWS PHOTOGRAPHERS ASSOCIATION OF CANADA SELECTS TOP PHOTOJOURNALISTS OF 2016

TORONTO, May 7, 2017 /CNW/ - Canada's top photojournalists have been awarded thousands of dollars in prize money at the 10th annual National Pictures of the Year Awards (NPOY), held May 6^th in Toronto, Ontario, by the News Photographers Association of Canada (NPAC).

As the nation's premier photojournalist competition, the NPOY is a testament to the ideal that photojournalism matters now more than ever. An esteemed panel of experts juried the hundreds of submissions and selected a total of 32 photographers who were honoured in 16 different categories for images that ranged from the ranches of Alberta to the grasslands of Mongolia. 

The NPOY recognizes the excellence of Canada's outstanding photojournalists whose compelling images collectively represented a spectacular body of work in 2016.

For the second year in a row, Toronto Star photojournalist Melissa Renwick was named 2016's Photojournalist of the Year taking the $2,000.00 cash award sponsored by The Canadian Press.

The other big winners were Zachary Prong for Photograph of the Year sponsored by SONY and Loyalist College graduate Chris Donovan who was named Student Photographer of the Year sponsored by the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology. Each received a $1000.00 cheque.

Winners in the other categories were awarded $500.00 for first place, $200.00 for second place and $100.00 for third place. First place winners received a custom print by Canvas Plus of their winning image and all received an award certificate.

The NPOY celebrates Canadian photojournalism being done by NPAC members worldwide. All the winning images and multimedia projects can be viewed on NPAC's website (www.npac.ca) and at the non-profit's exhibition in Toronto in the main lobby of First Canadian Place in the heart of Toronto's financial district, Bay Street and King  Street West. The exhibit is part of the city-wide ScotiaBank CONTACT festival and is ongoing until May 12, 2017. This exhibit is free to the public. 

2016 National News Photographers Association of Canada Winners

PHOTOJOURNALIST OF THE YEAR
Sponsored by The Canadian Press
25 Entries

Winner
Melissa Renwick / Toronto Star

Finalists
Mark Blinch / Independent
Leah Hennel / Calgary Herald
John Lehmann / The Globe and Mail

PHOTOGRAPH OF THE YEAR
Sponsored by SONY
*Selected from the group of category first-place finishers.

Zachary Prong / Independent - Khan Mohammed (Portrait / Personality category winner)

STUDENT PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR
Sponsored by SAIT

Winner
Chris Donovan / Loyalist College

Finalists
Noah Park / Loyalist College
Andrew Ryan / Loyalist College

SPOT NEWS
Sponsored by The Camera Store
43 Entries

1st Cole Burston / Independent for AFP - Rescue workers at Fort McMurray Fire
2nd Amber Bracken / Independent for The Globe and Mail - Pipeline Protest
3rd Rafal Gerszak / Independent for The Globe and Mail - Opioid Crisis
HM Cole Burston / Independent for AFP -  Evacuee Centre at Fort McMurray Fire

GENERAL NEWS
Sponsored by CNW Group
99 Entries

1st Jonathan Hayward / The Canadian Press - Bonfire at La Roche grave site.
2nd Mark Blinch / Independent for Reuters - Ghomeshi Protestor
3rd Mike Deal / Winnipeg Free Press - Search for Kevin Dilk

FEATURE
Sponsored by Winnipeg Free Press
148 Entries

1st Lars Hagberg/ Independent for The Canadian Press - Super Heroes outside hospital window
2nd Edouard Plante-Frechette / La Presse - Iraqi Soldier in prayer
3rd Jonathan Hayward / The Canadian Press - Eagle feasts on salmon

SPORTS ACTION
Sponsored by Nikon Canada
106 Entries

1st Leah Hennel / Calgary Herald - Rodeo Bronc Stomp
2nd Jon Blacker / MLB Photos - Donaldson Slides Home
3rd Mathieu Belanger / Getty Images - Boxing Match

SPORTS FEATURE
Sponsored by Sony Canada
127 Entries

1st Jean Levac / The Ottawa Citizen - Bolt and de Grasse at Rio Olympics
2nd Darren Calabrese / Independent - CrossFit athlete Lindsay Hilton
3rd Darryl Dyck / The Canadian Press - UFC Fighter Garreth McLellan

SINGLE MULTIMEDIA
Sponsored by Vistek
6 Entries

1st The Other Residential School Runaways
Nick Iwanyshyn / Maclean's 

2nd Abandoned at Birth
David Zelikovitz / Chatelaine

3rd Boxer Ryan "The Real Deal" Ford
Ryan Jackson / Independent for the Edmonton Journal

TEAM MULTIMEDIA
Sponsored by Thomson Reuters
16 Entries

1st Mission of Mercy: Toronto surgeons treat burn victims on remote Bangladesh island
Videographer: Melissa Renwick / Toronto Star
Editor: Kelsey Wilson / Toronto Star
Reporter: Marina Jimenez / Toronto Star

2nd The Last Mambabatok
Director/Cinematographer/Editor: Brent Foster / Foster Visuals
Cinematography: Pawel Dwulit / Independent 
Cinematography: Preston Kanak / Independent
Producer: Tammy Foster / Foster Visuals
Title Sequences: Alon Isocianu

3rd Trumpland: Luzerne County
Filmed by Jake Naughton / The Globe and Mail
Edited by Melissa Tait / The Globe and Mail
Reporting by Joanna Slater / The Globe and Mail
Produced by Rachel Wine / The Globe and Mail
Map by Trish McAlister / The Globe and Mail

HM The Real Faces of ISIS
Videographer: Peter Bregg / Maclean's 
Reporter: Sally Armstrong / Maclean's
Producer: Liz Sullivan / Maclean's
Editor: Liam Maloney / Maclean's

STUDENT MULTIMEDIA OF THE YEAR
Sponsored by Nikon

Winner: "The Leap"
Vivian Tabar / Loyalist College

Finalist
Anissa Calma / Centennial College

PICTORIAL
Sponsored by Canon Canada
114 Entries

1st Colin Horabin / Independent - Eagles in Flight
2nd Guillaume Nolet / Independent - Duck Hunters
3rd Darryl Dyck / The Canadian Press - Tidal Pools

PICTURE STORY – FEATURE
Sponsored by Leica
43 Entries

1st Darren Calabrese / Independent - CrossFit athlete Lindsay Hilton
2nd Melissa Renwick / Toronto Star - Former Employees of General Electric
3rd Giovanni Capriotti / Independent - Muddy York Rugby Football Club
HM Leah Hennel / Calgary Herald - The Lazy U Ranch
HM John Lehmann / The Globe and Mail - Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia

PICTURE STORY – NEWS
Sponsored by Leica
20 Entries

1st Cole Burston / Independent for AFP - Fort McMurray Fire
2nd Amber Bracken / Independent for The Globe & Mail - Pipeline Protest
3rd Edouard Plante-Frechette / La Presse - Mosul, Iraqi
HM Jason Franson / The Canadian Press - Fort McMurray Fire

PORTRAIT / PERSONALITY
Sponsored by Beau Photo
187 Entries

1st Zachary Prong / Independent - Khan Mohammed
2nd Peter Bregg / Maclean's - Zanib
3rd Fred Lum / The Globe and Mail - Deepa Mehta
HM Tyler Anderson / Independent - Latch Akesuk

SOCIAL ISSUE
Sponsored by Fujifilm
69 Entries

1st Melissa Renwick / Toronto Star - GE former employee Roger Fowler
2nd Martin Tremblay / La Presse - Haitian Cholera Outbreak
3rd Leah Hennel / Independent - Assisted Dying
HM Darryl Dyck / The Canadian Press - Cannabis Smoker

WESTERN CLIP CONTEST WINNER
Sponsored by Epson

Darryl Dyck - Independent

EASTERN CLIP CONTEST WINNER
Sponsored by Loyalist College

Mark Blinch - Independent

SOURCE News Photographers Association of Canada

Media Contact: Laura Ballance, 604-637-6646, 604-771-5176 (cell), [email protected]