Detroit Free Press photographers won 23 honors in the annual Michigan Press Photographers Association Awards.
Among them were top recognitions for staff photographer Ryan Garza, who won Photographer of the Year for the fourth consecutive year and the Barry Edmonds Michigan Understanding Award for his work on a project that chronicled a year in cultural change in Hamtramck. Garza also won MPPA’s best of show award for that project, titled “Two Square Miles: The Evolution of Hamtramck.”
Separately, Garza is a finalist in the Siena International Photo Awards in the category of Storytelling in Daily Life and Contemporary Issues for “Two Square Miles.” Winners will be announced in October. Garza was named a finalist in the category of Daily Life Picture Story in the Pictures of the Year contest, part of the Donald W. Reynolds Journalism Institute at the Missouri School of Journalism.
Staff photographer Mandi Wright took first, second and third place in the multimedia news category with videos on the 10-year anniversary of same-sex marriage becoming legal in Michigan winning first place, and a video that chronicles a camp for children coping with a the loss of a parent or guardian due to suicide. Brian Kaufman, former executive video producer at the Free Press, was the video editor on both. Wright also won second place in the multimedia feature category for her photostory and video headlined “Freak Bike Takover,” about a group of cyclists who construct and ride wild two-wheelers.
Staff photographer David Rodriguez Muñoz won second place in the general news category for a picture of legal aid workers distributing shoes and other resources during a visit with an agricultural labor camp in South Haven
Finn Gomez, a Free Press intern in 2025, won honorable mention for a jarring photo of a boxer being hit in the face during a match.
Separately, the Free Press won first and second for best news photo in a contest held by the Michigan Press Association journalism. Garza won first place for a photo of protests at the University of Michigan, and staff photographer Eric Seals won second place for a photo of a grieving family at a funeral for two children.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Free Press wins 23 photo, video awards in Michigan contest
Reporting by Detroit Free Press staff, Detroit Free Press / Detroit Free Press
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