Aurora photographer Jen Judge won first place in the Photojournalism category of the Images of the Year awards given by American Photo Magazine for her portraits of survivors of the earthquake in Haiti. “So much press had been focused on the physical destruction, individual tragedies were being overshadowed,” Judge told American Photo. “People had lost their homes and families. The empty background seemed symbolic of everything that had been stripped away from them.”

Aurora photographer Tyler Stableford also won runner-up in the Personal Project category for his image of an F-16 fighter pilot flying in Colorado.

To see more stock photography by Jen Judge and Tyler Stableford, visit Aurora Photos.

To see Tyler Stableford’s portfolio, visit Aurora Select.

The cover of "Afghanistan 2.0" by Sergio Ramazzotti.

Sergio Ramazzotti, a photographer with Aurora Photo’s partner agency Parallelozero, has won the Enzo Baldoni Prize for his latest photo book Afghanistan 2.0. The Enzo Baldoni Prize is one of Italy’s most prestigious photojournalism awards, and was created by the Province of Milan in memory of Italian journalists killed in war zones. This is the second time Sergio Ramazzotti has won the prize.

To see more work by Sergio Ramazzotti, visit his stock archive at Aurora Photos and his portfolio at Aurora Select.

To see more work by Parallelozero, visit Aurora Photos.

Women are Heroes - Kibera, Nairobi, Kenya - 2008 JR / Agence VU / Aurora Photos

Agence VU photographer and visual artist JR has been named the 2011 TED Prize winner for his multiple photographic projects featuring larger-than-life pasted on streets, roofs, buses and trains in countries rife with conflict and poverty. The award comes with $100,000 and the opportunity to present “One Wish to Change the World” at the next TED Conference.

Aurora Photos has represented the work of Agence VU and it’s photographers in North America since 2008.

JR began showing his portraits on the streets of Paris and Rome in 2003. In 2006, his project “Portrait of a Generation” placed portraits of residents of the lower-class Parisian banlieues into the bourgeois heart of the city. Two years later, JR embarked upon “Face 2 Face,” which paired portraits of  Israelis and Palestinians who share a common profession and pasted them on the streets of Israel, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. His most recent project, “Women Are Heroes,” used the same method to confront the low status and tribulations of women in Kenya, South-Sudan, Sierra-Leone, Liberia, Brazil, India, Cambodia, and Laos.

To see more work by JR, visit Aurora Photos.

Dropping in at Rincon Point - “It’s the best right-hand point break in California,” says Chuck Graham (pictured), adding that the breaks can be anywhere from a quarter- to a half-mile long. “By the end your legs are screaming at you.” Kevin Steele / Aurora Photos

Aurora photographer Kevin Steele was awarded first place in the Action (Sports / Adventure) category at the 2010 American Photographic Artists Awards. The image is also featured as a two-page spread in the October 2010 issue of Men’s Journal.

Aurora Photos: What does winning this award mean to you?

Kevin Steele: It means I’m on track. The past few years I’ve seen the APA Annual books with photographers I admired – there was one with both Michael Grecco and David Burnett having beautiful action images – and I thought: I can get there. For me that was a mental shift to push my creativity. My favorite images are the ones that did not win, but this one has certainly been in my portfolio this year. Financially it means a nice boost to my promotions as the booty is heavy on the marketing services side – the last thing I need is another camera.

A.P.: What is your photo competition philosophy?

K.S.: I enter the competitions that matter to me in furthering my career, as part of my marketing efforts.  PDN Annual, Communication Arts, APA Awards – these are respected competitions and carry weight with the clients I am courting. They also respect photographer’s rights. If I was a photojournalist then World Press Photo would be the one. I budget for them and this year was fortunate to be selected by both PDN (Faces) and APA.

A.P.: How do you think the winning image compares to your body of work?

K.S.: My body of work recently is all about creating dynamic portraiture. I’m really not a surf photographer. I’m a photographer that shoots people in motion;  very often “water people” and athletes. This image was a planned capture. I knew the storm swell was coming and arranged for a loaner of a 600mm lens. I think the resulting perspective, the texture of the foam (so unusual!),  and that it acts as a reflector back up into the wave makes this image work well. Many of my shots now are created, not capturing the moment as much as planning those moments with friends and models.

To view more work by Kevin Steele, visit Aurora Photos.

Trevor Hiatt pulls an invert and drops a cliff into the Rocksprings drainage south of the the Jackson Hole Mountain Resort in the Jackson Hole Backcountry. Lucas J. Gilman / Aurora Photos

Aurora photographer Lucas Gilman is the newest member of the SanDisk Extreme® Team. Lucas joins C.S. Ling, Corey Rich, Christian Pondella, and Tyler Stableford, all Aurora Contributors and SanDisk team members.

To see more of Lucas Gilman’s work, visit his archived images on Aurora Photos and his Aurora Select portfolio.

EIS field assistant, Adam LeWinter, rappels into Survey Canyon, a meltwater channel, Greenland ice sheet, July 2009. James Balog / Aurora Photos

Aurora photographer James Balog has been named a recipient of a 2010 Missouri Honor Medal for Distinguished Service in Journalism for his “Extreme Ice Survey” project and “in recognition of three decades of using the photographic image to help the public understand the impact of environmental change.” The annual award has been given out by the Missouri School of Journalism since 1930 “on the basis of lifetime or superior achievement, for distinguished service performed in such lines of journalistic endeavor.”

To see more of Jim Balog’s work, visit his archived images on Aurora Photos and his Aurora Select portfolio.

For more information about the Missouri Honor Medal, visit the Missouri School of Journalism website.

Aerial view of meltwater lakes and streams on the surface of Greenland Ice Sheet southeast of Jakobshavns Glacier, Greenland. James Balog / Aurora Photos

Aurora photographer James Balog has won a Heinz Award worth $100,000 for his “Extreme Ice Survey” project, which illustrates the effects of climate change on ice glaciers worldwide.

“The biggest [motivation] is the sense of being at this decisive moment of earth history and human history, and having the capabilities to bear witness to that,” Balog told Photo District News in an interview.

To see more of James Balog’s work, visit his archived images on Aurora Photos and his Aurora Select portfolio.

Aurora photographer Jason Florio recently won an International Photography Award in the People category.

Jason says “Whist making a 930 km circumnavigation of Gambia by foot, I made portraits of each village Alkalo (chief) I stayed with. Gambia is a rapidly developing country and one wonders how long the Alkalo system of local leadership can survive as the position is largely for prestige and unpaid. The portraits are modern interpretation of an ancient practice of gift giving by travelers in the region to Alkalos. This gift giving is called ‘silafando’ which translates to ‘ a gift to you on behalf of my journey’ . My ‘silafando’ was a print from the portrait session.”

To see more stock work by Jason Florio, visit Aurora Photos.

Portraits of my ungulate neighbors. "Lizzie #1" (left) and "Xenia" (right) © Kevin Horan

The July issue of PDN showcased the 3rd annual Faces Contest Winners, and as usual, a solid showing of Aurora Photographers graced the pages. Kevin Horan’s portrait series of goats and sheep took a spot under the Animals category. Jason Florio’s amazing series called 930km African Odyssey photographing Alkalo (chief’s) while on a walking journey around the circumference of The Gambia, West Africa received a nod in the Environmental section. Kevin Steele also was issued some ink under the Environmental category for a portrait of a rock climber while on a multi-day ascent up El Capitan in Yosemite National Park. And last but not least, Woods Wheatcroft found his way into the Environmental category with a self portrait created while throwing his camera high above his head and having the shutter click mid-air. Pick up the July issue of PDN and check out all the winners in print.

In 2009 I spent six weeks walking entirely around the circumference of The Gambia, West Africa, a 930 kilometer journey. Each night I would present myself to the Alkalo (chief) of the village, and in exchange for his/her hospitality I would make a portrait of him/her and present them with a print before I left the next morning. The name for this giving of gifts to a chief while on a journey in The Gambia is called a "Silafando." © Jason Florio

Kevin Brown, 2,600 feet above the treetops, drinks water near the end of a multi-day ascent of El Capitan in Yosemite Valley, California. © Kevin Steele

"Toss, Click, Catch" self-portrait created on a California beach while shooting on location for KAVU Inc., a Seattle-based apparel company. © Woods Wheatcroft

Also freshly in print, a nod needs to be given to new Aurora photographer Myles McGuinness for nailing a Communications Arts Award in their Photo Annual 51 edition. The image captures a surfer floating on a longboard next to a pier waiting for the next wave to roll in.

Solo by the Pier. Punk-rock surfer Jill Hansen floats on a longboard next to the pier waiting for a wave. © Myles McGuinness

Aurora photographer Stefen Chow’s images of a Kuala Lumpur shipyard in Malaysia won him first place in the Advertising – Annual Report category of this year’s Prix de la Photographie, Paris. 14,000 workers walk into the shipyard of Keppel Singapore each day, making it the the world’s largest conversion shipyard.

To see more stock work by Stefen Chow, visit Aurora Photos.

To see more assignment photography by Stefen Chow, visit Aurora Select.