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2 May 2013
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Two JMSC Alumni Win National Press Photographers Association Awards

Alex Hofford's award winning photo of a Filipino fisherman working a skipjack tuna fishing net with a single plastic air hose connected to a rusty compressor onboard the boat.

JMSC alumni Alex Hofford (MJ, 2012) and Daniel Goodman (MJ, 2011) have both won awards from the National Press Photographers Association.

Alex Hofford's award winning photo of a Filipino fisherman working a skipjack tuna fishing net with a single plastic air hose connected to a rusty compressor onboard the boat.

Award-winning photograph taken by Alex Hofford (MJ, 2012) of a Filipino fisherman compressor diving to tend to a net full of skipjack tuna.

Alex Hofford, who is the European Pressphoto Agency’s Chief Representative in Hong Kong, won the Award for Excellence in the Environment Picture Story category at the NPPA’s 2013 “Best of Journalism” competition, which concluded on Tuesday, April 23.

Hofford won the award for a series of photographs he took while on assignment for Greenpeace International, to document what Greenpeace calls destructive and illegal fishing practices in the Pacific ocean. Pictures from the series have also been published in the Discovery Channel Magazine.

Most of the photographs were shot over the course of four trips Hofford took on the Greenpeace ship Esperanza through international waters near the Philippines, Indonesia and Papua New Guinea. The photographs were commissioned by Greenpeace in order to inform the public about the damage overfishing causes to the environment and to take legal action against companies that employ illegal fishing methods.

“It’s really a contest that is put on by photojournalists for photojournalists so the award is an acknowledgement from my peers,” Hofford said. “I am quite humbled by that. Looking at the other entries and the amazing work that was done — it’s incredible to be included in such illustrious company.”

Daniel Goodman, a photographer and videographer at Business Insider, won third place in the video category of NPPA’s Monthly Multimedia contest, for his report on US veteran Dennis Cadigan’s successful fight against addiction and homelessness, on March 1.

After losing his sight in 1968 during Operation Meade River, the largest helicopter assault of the Vietnam War, Cadigan overcame an addiction to painkillers and heroin to found Phoenix Woodworks, a specialty wood business that is owned and operated by disabled veterans. Goodman’s video profile of Cadigan was published on the Business Insider website in January.

The National Press Photographers Association is a US-based organization dedicated to promoting photojournalism and supporting the profession’s high standards for quality and ethics around the world.