Rangefinder Magazine
December 2006

Insight/On the Cover by Bill Hurter
 

The Pictures of the Year issue celebrates the images and imagemakers that have had a lasting impact on our lives. The photographers featured are primarily photojournalists and editorial photographers, as it is their job to bring the world to our doorstep, often at great personal risk. One haunting story, which continues to affect all who see it, is also the winner of this year’s Pulitzer Prize for Feature Photography. For the past year, Rocky Mountain News (Denver, CO) photographer Todd Heisler and writer Jim Sheeler followed Marine Major Steve Beck as he took on the most difficult assignment of his career: casualty notification, an assignment synonymous with the proverbial knock on the door notifying families of the loss of a loved one in combat. Heisler’s images are riveting and intensely intimate and belie his passion for his storytelling craft. In an interview with Rangefinder contributor Judith Bell Turner-Yamamoto (page 108), Heisler recalls hearing an idea that has defined his career: “Every story is important to someone; every idea resonates with some part of your readership.” Heisler was drawn to the heroic Marines, who have such a difficult job, helping the families transition through this most painful time.

Other great photographic achievements are also featured in this issue. The Pictures of the Year International (POYi) (page 10) and the World Press Photo awards (page 42) similarly honor the great photojournalists and their stories from around the world. These two contests are huge, this year drawing 39,000 and 83,000 entries, respectively. For pictorial splendor, see the Canon APPA (Australian Professional Photography Awards) winners (page 16). Another unique contest is the Pilsner Urquell International Photography Awards (IPA) (page 120), which produces such notable winners as the Fine Art, Advertising, People, Nature, Editorial, Architectural, and International Photographers of the Year. Other contests we cover in the Pictures of the Year issue include: WPPI’s 8x10 contest (page 94), Nikon’s incredible Small World Photo Contest (page 34), O’Reilly’s Photoshop Cook-off (page 66), Red Bull’s Illume photo contest (page 118), the Art of Photography Show (page 54) and Julia Dean’s New Documentarian Award for a Long Term Project (page 114). Congratulations to all of the winners!

Bill Hurter, Editor

 

ON THE COVER:

PHOTOGRAPHER: Todd Heisler
PHOTO: From Rocky Mountain News Pulitzer Prize-winning story, “Final Salute”
CAMERA: Canon EOS-1D Mark II
EXPOSURE: 1/15 at f/2.8, ISO 1600
CREDIT: © Todd Heisler/Rocky Mountain News
COMMENTS: For a year, photographer Todd Heisler and writer Jim Sheeler followed Major Steve Beck as he did casualty notification for the Marines. Their Rocky Mountain News piece, “Final Salute,” won the 2006 Pulitzer Prize for Feature Photography.

From the Rocky Mountain News story: “When 2nd Lt. James Cathey’s body arrived at the Reno Airport, Marines climbed into the cargo hold of the plane and draped the flag over his casket as passengers watched the family gather on the tarmac. During the arrival of another Marine’s casket last year at Denver International Airport, Major Steve Beck described the scene as one of the most powerful in the process: ‘See the people in the windows? They’ll sit right there in the plane, watching those Marines. You gotta wonder what’s going through their minds, knowing that they’re on the plane that brought him home,’ he said. ‘They’re going to remember being on that plane for the rest of their lives. They’re going to remember bringing that Marine home. And they should.’”

To read more on the difficult work of Major Steve Beck and his fellow Marines, and to see the moving images taken by Todd Heisler, see Judith Bell’s article on page 108.