Kaplan wins Overseas Press Club Award
(April 24, 2003) Photojournalism professor John Kaplan has won the 2003 Feature Photography Award presented by The Overseas Press Club of America for his photo essay on torture victims in West Africa.
The annual awards recognize outstanding journalists from newspapers, magazines, television and radio. Along with the Pulitzer Prizes in print journalism, and the Emmys and Peabody Awards in broadcasting, the Overseas Press Club awards are considered to be among the most prestigious in journalism.
Kaplan, a 1992 Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer who is an associate professor in the UF College of Journalism and Communications, was invited to speak about his project at an April 24 banquet in New York City where the award was presented. CNN anchor Judy Woodruff presented the awards, and former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger was invited to give the keynote address.
“It’s gratifying to learn that the project could be recognized on this level,” Kaplan said. “My main goal is to continue to raise public awareness about the increased use of torture worldwide and the terrible consequences that result from its use.”
Kaplan’s project, “Transcending Torture,” was published over three pages in the St. Petersburg Times. Kaplan’s portraits of survivors of the civil wars of Sierra Leone and Liberia feature first-person accounts of the atrocities. The work also was recognized recently with awards from the Robert F. Kennedy Foundation, the National Headliner Awards, the Harry Chapin Media Awards, Pictures of the Year International, the Society of News Design, National Press Photographer’s Association Best of Photojournalism competition and the Photo District Annual Best of Photography Awards.
“In my eight years here, I don’t recall that any other professor
has ever won an Overseas Press Club award,” said club Director Sonya
Fry.
Related Links
The Overseas Press Club
of America Award Winners
The Campaign for the University of Florida