Jeff
Mitchell of Reuters was named Photographer of the Year at the Picture
Editors’ Awards on Monday. His winning portfolio of pictures included a
shot of Tony Blair during the general election campaign. It is the
second time Mitchell has picked up the top accolade.
The
Yorkshire Post’s Simon Hulme was Regional Photographer of the Year. The
Daily Mirror was Newspaper of the Year and The Herald was Regional
Newspaper of the Year.
The new compact newspapers may be a hit
with readers but the awards judges were critical, claiming they did
little for the presentation of photographs.
Chancellor Gordon
Brown presented the awards and praised the bravery of photographers who
had covered the Beslan siege and tsunami disaster.
He told
photographers at the awards ceremony in the Guildhall, London: “It is
through your eyes, your pictures, your images, that we see the world
and we take that for granted day in, day out.
“Without you, and what you do, news and newspapers would be far duller and less effective in what they do.”
Also
speaking at the event, Times editor Robert Thomson hit out at
overzealous government media minders insisting on pooled photographs
and said: “Freedom of the press also means freedom of the photographer.”
He
introduced Brown by stating: “He is an honourable man who when he is
Prime Minister will surely allow photographers freedom of movement.”
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