Walking with the Giant: Fletcher Named 'Photographer of the Year'

Friday, June 06, 2008

Fletcher Named 'Photographer of the Year'

My very good friend, Jon M. Fletcher, a photojournalist for the Florida Times-Union newspaper in Jacksonville, Florida, has received a prestigious award voted by his peers. The National Press Photographers Association's (NPPA) 2007 Region Six Still Photographer of the Year award was recently announced on the organization's website.

NPPA Region Six includes the southeastern states of Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee. In addition to these seven states, Region Six also includes Antarctica, Argentina, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bouvet Island, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Falkland Islands (Malvinas), Guatamala, French Guiana, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Puerto Rico, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, Suriname, Uruguay, Venezuela, British Virgin Islands, and the US Virgin Islands.

The annual contest involves clippings of photos being submitted each month. These photos are then sent to other NPPA members to judge and assign a numeric value. Scores from each month for each photographer are totaled at the end of the year to determine the region's winner.

Jon said this award means a lot to him because it is judged by his peers, other photographers.

This is not Jon's first award, he has won several. I have written posts on this site about a couple of them: Award Winning Illustration and Ministry Now On YouTube.

I first met Jon in 2003 when he "shadowed me" for about three months for a story for the Florida Times-Union. We became great friends and since that time he has made two trips to Ghana to document our ministry in the West Africa nation. He was a hit everywhere we went especially with the children, as you can see in this rare photo of Jon in Ghana.

During his first trip Evangelist Ralph, our ministry coordinator in Ghana, would often say, "Jon is taking pictures for Jesus!" Ralph also called him "Iya deen" (I know that is surely misspelled) which means "He is quiet." Jon would rarely speak and when he did, it was quietly. He prefers to allow his photos to speak the story, as I'm sure you have noticed if you have seen his work. A professional photographer that is well acquainted with Jon and his work once told me that many photographers capture great images in photos, but Jon is able to capture the spiritual side of a scene in a photo. I agree.

Jon has served the Lord by working behind the scenes and the camera too. He has been an invaluable assistance to my ministry providing photos, illustrations, logos, technical advice and trying to teach me a few things about photography. Most importantly, he, and his family, has been a friend to me during good and bad times alike. God must surely have a special reward for him for putting up with me and my "big" ideas.

Congratulations on a well-deserved award, Jon Fletcher!

If you would like to see and read more about Jon's work with our ministry check out the following links: