Endicott Students Dominate Boston Press Photographers Association Contest
Michael Rotiroti '20
Honorable Mention One Feature
Stars and Stripes
Michael Rotiroti '20
Honorable Mention One Feature
Stars and Stripes
Nick Grace '20
First Place Feature
Hardware
Nick Grace '20
First Place Feature
Hardware
Kirsten Doherty '21
Honorable Mention Two Portrait
Purple Rain
Kirsten Doherty '21
Honorable Mention Two Portrait
Purple Rain
Brendan Carpenter '20
Third Place Sports
Soarin' Like Orr
Brendan Carpenter '20
Third Place Sports
Soarin' Like Orr
5/12/2020
The annual Boston Press Photographers Association (BPPA) Annual College Contest took place on April 23, 2020 and four Endicott students took home awards in five out of the six total categories, winning more awards than any of the other institutions that participated. All entries were judged by three working photojournalists, Jim Mahoney, award winning photojournalist formerly of the Boston Herald, Meredith Nierman, Director of Photography at WGBH, and John Tlumacki, a veteran Boston Globe staff photographer and runner up for a Pulitzer Prize for his pictures of the Boston Marathon bombing.Endicott senior majoring in Marketing and Photography, Nick Grace ’20 took home a first-place award for Best Feature photo and received third place awards in the portrait and photo story categories. "Winning the BPPA college contest is an absolute honor. I have been fortunate enough to place the past three years, each year outdoing the last. To be recognized by some of the top photojournalists in the area is truly special and I am proud of the fact that my fellow classmates and I beat out some of the top photojournalism programs in the area. I feel incredibly grateful to have received these awards and I feel that it is an amazing way to wrap up my time at Endicott,” says Grace.
“I could not have done it without the help and support of the photo faculty and staff at Endicott, especially my professor and supervisor David Le. Without them and all the support from the coaches and student-athletes, I would not be the person or photographer I am today."
Endicott junior and Photography major, Kirsten Doherty ’21 recently took an interest in sports photography. She received a first-place accolade for her sports category photo and second and third honorable mentions for her portrait photos. “I really took advantage of all the opportunities my class had to offer, such as shooting at TD Garden for the MIAA state-finals. I ended up placing first in the sports category, which not only gave me confidence, but also gave me the validation I needed to continue this path. I feel grateful for Endicott giving me the opportunity to enter the BPPA contest this year, and for all the help and encouragement from my professors,” says Doherty.
Brendan Carpenter ’20, an Endicott senior Sport Management major, received third place and third honorable mention for his photos in the sports category. “For someone who doesn’t have a lot of experience in the photography industry, I think it really helped that I knew and understood sports enough to create and time these amazing shots. Getting the call from the BPPA made me really happy since they recognized the hard work that I put in during the semester,” says Carpenter.
“I remember seconds after I took the photo [that won third place] I looked at my camera and noticed that I got him mid-air. I immediately showed my professor, David Le, because of how unique it was and how happy I was to actually get such an action shot.”
A senior photography major, Michael Rotiroti ’20 took home the first-place award for his short documentary, “A Tiny Hope,” in the multimedia category. He placed second in the sports category and received first honorable mentions in the feature and sports categories. "It’s an honor to even be mentioned in a contest like the Boston Press Photographer Association college contest. We are going up against schools like Boston College, Boston University, and Emerson, all school with incredible photojournalism programs. To win first place for my thesis project is really something special, and to also place second in sports photography in addition to two honorable mentions is really a story book ending to my time at Endicott College," says Rotiroti.
“Participating in competitions such as this reinforces the importance that experiential learning components have in an Endicott degree. These results, though no surprise to me, showcase our students’ hard work and is a tribute to their talent. Their domination in most of the categories, which includes entries from many larger and competitive institutions, is an incredible achievement and we are extremely proud of them,” says Mark Towner, Dean of the School of Visual & Performing Arts. Adding, “Students at Endicott thrive, in great part, due to the individualized attention they receive from each professor, and the attitude the College has for respecting several ways to answer the same question.”