NEW PHILADELPHIA – Often times when covering news, we become so laser focused on the people whose stories we are telling that nothing else really matters in those moments. This is a hallmark of professionalism and dedication to the people who appear before our camera lenses, microphones, photographers and reporters.
On May 28, when resounding congratulations from a handful of top editors at sister publications from around the state hit my messages, I wasn’t quite sure what it was all about. Then it dawned on me: the Best of Gannett Awards for work completed in 2024 had been announced in a live, online presentation. I had won Best of Gannett Small Market Photographer Award.
I had planned on watching or at least listening in but set it on the proverbial back burner many days earlier, thinking I’d likely be too busy at that time.
Of course, my intuition was correct. At the time, I was concluding coverage of a very important story I learned about from a tip.
The Dover Fire Department held a controlled burn of a home in the city, which in and of itself isn’t unusual for fire departments wanting to conduct training that closely simulates live fire situations. Except when I arrived I quickly learned of a deeper and more personal story. Ashley Sherrell Whims, sister of the late Amber Sherrell, was planning to set fire to the structure as a means to bring personal closure for herself, family, and others who were close to her sister. That house was the last place Amber was living before she died of a drug overdose in October 2021. Three days later, two people dumped Amber’s body along White Bridge Road in Goshen Township.
This was a profoundly important story to help document and share with the community, and could not be missed.
When the smoke cleared and I was asked to write about winning the internal company award, I had a hard time recalling what 10 pictures were entered. But the judges’ comments were impactful.
They said, “Dolph’s photography delights the audience. It’s fresh, exceptionally well executed and deeply human. These images remind us why photojournalism is so vital to connecting with readers and the power it has to make us feel something.”
In our industry of reporting the news and news photography in particular, participating in award competitions is not compulsory nor should contests be the driving force behind what we do. However, winning awards – internal or external − does help garner attention to the hard work and dedication involved in telling the stories that truly matter to our readers.
Thank you for letting me into your lives.
T-R staff photographer Andrew Dolph can be reached by phone at 330-289-6072, or by email at adolph3@gannett.com. You can also find him on Instagram @dolphphoto.
This article originally appeared on The Times-Reporter: Andrew Dolph: Serving our readers comes first, winning awards puts spotlight on hard work
Reporting by Andrew Dolph, The Times-Reporter / The Times-Reporter
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