Sam Owens

Recipient of the STAR PHOTOJOURNALIST OF THE YEAR award in The Charles E. Green Awards (2021)

SAM OWENS
San antonio express-news

Judge’s Comments:

Sam Owens’ photographs bring us close. That’s what struck me as I looked at her portfolio of work from the aftermath of the Uvalde shooting. Her images stopped me with their intimacy. They drew me in and kept me there.

It’s not startling that her pictures evoke emotion, not with this subject matter. What’s notable is how Owens lures us to look close.

Look close…see the handwriting of little Noah Orona, who survived a gunshot, as he writes “I hate guns.”

Look close…one tear falls from the eyes of Javier Cazares, whose daughter Jackie was killed.

Look close…Kadence Kubish’s smile jumps from the center of the frame as she embraces her brother after her graduation. They lost their sister Makenna in the shooting.

It’s clear Owens built a relationship with the Uvalde families. Her closeness brings us close.

This skill is also evident in a beautifully framed shot that is not from Uvalde. Owens takes us right into a hug, as the Villanova Wildcats embrace their MVP, their arms of every skin color entwined.

I’d also like to commend the print packaging of Owens’ work, particularly the story about Kadence Kubish’s family. Design is editing, not production – and most midsize newspapers have lost the power of presentation as layoffs force page design to “production” desks. Not so at the San Antonio Express-News, at least in the pages displaying Owens’ Uvalde work.

Jan Tuckwood
Stanford University

Judge’s Bio:
Jan Tuckwood began her journalism career designing pages and editing photographs, including the work of several photojournalists who went on to win Pulitzer Prizes. As the longtime associate editor of The Palm Beach Post, in charge of special sections and features, Tuckwood won dozens of photo, writing and design awards. She is the editor of five books, including “Palm Beach County at 100: Our History, Our Home” (2009), the county’s official history book, and “Mean Season” (2004), the visual account of four hurricanes that ripped through Florida in 2004. She also has been fashion editor of The Denver Post, and she was instrumental in launching an advertising and marketing agency, Ideabar, owned by Cox Enterprises. Tuckwood is now an author who specializes in how culture, fashion and women’s roles collide. “Too Young to Be Old,” her book with Diane Gilman, the “Jean Queen” of home shopping, was released in December 2022.

To see photos from Sam Owens’ prize-winning portfolio, please see the slideshow below: