PROFESSIONAL WOMEN PHOTOGRAPHERS
FIRST ANNUAL STUDENT AWARDS
January 2005

$1000 FIRST PRIZE
LYDIA OPOKU
Franklin K. Lane High School, Brooklyn

$250 HONORABLE MENTION AWARDS
   Courtesy of FUJIFILM
KATHLEEN CHING
Abraham Lincoln High School, Brooklyn
BEATRICE OSHODI
Bayard Rustin High School for the Humanities, Manhattan

Professional Women Photographers is very pleased to announce the winners for its first year of Student Awards, established for young women juniors or seniors enrolled in a New York City public high school, with a talent in photography, and with financial need, to help with their photographic supplies, equipment, or tuition fees.

The $1000 First Prize went to Lydia Opoku of Franklin K. Lane High School in Brooklyn. Two Honorable Mention Awards of $250, thanks to a generous donation by Fujifilm, went to Kathleen Ching of Abraham Lincoln High School in Brooklyn, and Beatrice Oshodi of Bayard Rustin High School for the Humanities in Manhattan.

Winning images and essays were displayed at the Awards Ceremony hosted by Empire State College, SUNY, on March 17, 2005, from 6-8pm. All three applicants demonstrated exciting burgeoning talent, and a thoughtful commitment to the art of photography. Lydia Opoku, manages to see reflections of her old home town in Ghana within quiet New York City street scenes, Kathleen Ching, is well on her way to finding the perfect awkward moment in her group portraits, and Beatrice Oshodi's portraits of children with their heads covered convey mysterious inner emotions.

The submissions were juried by a panel led by Mel Rosenthal, the Director of Photography at Empire State College, known for his work in documenting New York and its vanishing neighborhoods as in his book In the South Bronx of America, and Linda Kessler and Shelley Seccombe, two educators and photographers who are also PWP members. We look forward to future Student Awards.

First Prize
Lydia Opoku

Honorable Mention
Kathleen Ching

Honorable Mention
Beatrice Oshodi