2024 Portrait/Personality - 2024 NPPA Best of Photojournalism

First Place

Pasha and Vova

Sergei Stroitelev/Independent

Second Place

Losing Jessica

David Goldman/Associated Press

Sandy Phillips, right, sits for a portrait at her friend’s home in Lone Tree, Colo., Tuesday, Sept. 5, 2023, with her husband, Lonnie, behind a photo of her daughter, Jessica Ghawi, who was killed in the 2012 mass shooting at an Aurora, Colorado movie theater. Suffering through their own personal loss after the mass shooting, the couple set out to help other parents like them, traveling to shooting sites around the country. The trip continued for a decade.

Third Place

Hardcore Hillbilly

Alex Kent/Independent

Honorable Mention

Flint Royalty

Jake May/The Flint Journal

Story Summary: Prom is a right of passage in Flint, Michigan. Hundreds of parents line up to get a look at each seniors finest attire, whether that be a dapper suit, a gown to make your jaw drop or the nails, eyelashes or jewelry as senior’s shine on their once-in-a-lifetime moment. It’s more than a dance. It’s a chance for students to dress to the nines and to be treated with the highest respect — an honor they’ve not only earned, but deserve. They are kings and queens for a night. They are royalty. Flint royalty. Caption: Friends help fan out the bottom of the dress as Zaliyah Haddix arrives at the Westwood Heights Hamady “A Night of Elegance” theme prom on Saturday, May 13, 2023 at the Sloan Museum of Discovery in Flint.