Delcia Lopez

Muralist Cristela Cano raises smudges sage to the sun, chanting in reverence at the start of the first day of the “Walking the Southern Road to Freedom” symbolic walk, commemorating the Underground Railroad path at Sal Del Rey, Monday, March 3, 2025, in Edinburg. (Delcia Lopez | dlopez@themonitor.com)

Judge’s Comments:

Delcia Lopez’s body of work demonstrates a sophisticated visual storytelling eye, adept at capturing layered images with visual clues that immediately draw the viewer in and invite them to linger. This elevated level of visual perception, combined with the essential requirements of a daily news photojournalist, allowed her portfolio to rise above the competition.

Her portfolio showcases unique perspectives on recurring events, such as documenting an Easter Weekend with remarkable breadth and diversity, and the annual Dia De Los Muertos Experience. The latter was photographed with striking detail and masterful directional light, drawing attention to culturally relevant visual clues and inviting the viewer's curiosity. Her coverage of an annual Fourth of July Parade, capturing Americans with a depth of diversity, was particularly effective in evoking happiness and pride. The photographic set chronicling the pilgrimage that traces the Valley's Underground Railroad history across 65 miles demonstrates a tireless commitment to weaving a strong, evocative narrative, allowing the viewer to truly experience the annual event. Furthermore, capturing the warm embrace of a Fire Department Battalion Chief and his daughter upon his return from wildfire deployment is the kind of powerful, intimate moment that any respectable publication would prominently display.

Delcia Lopez's impressive photographic range resonates with the best work in the field. Her ability to express a command of her layered and narrative image-making style makes her truly deserving of being honored as the Star Photojournalist of the Year Award.

Boyzell Hosey and Cengiz Yar

Judge Biographies:
Boyzell Hosey is the Senior Editor for Visual Storytelling at ProPublica, where he serves as the original architect of the organization’s Visual Storytelling Team and its flagship two-year photojournalism fellowship. A veteran visual leader, Boyzell has served as a judge for the industry's most prestigious competitions, including Pictures of the Year International (POYi) and the NPPA Best of Photojournalism. He is currently serving a three-year term as a judge for the College Photographer of the Year competition for the Hearst Journalism Awards.

Under his leadership, ProPublica’s visual editing team was named the 2024 National Picture Editing Team of the Year, and he contributed to the team’s Gold Medal Pulitzer Prize for Public Service. A former president of the NABJ Visual Task Force and a contributing presenter for the Kalish Workshop, Boyzell also serves on the advisory board for Pinellas County Schools’ Journeys in Journalism program. He previously spent over 20 years at the Tampa Bay Times, overseeing work that earned five Pulitzer Prizes.

Cengiz Yar (b. 1986) is a documentary photographer and editor based in El Paso, Texas. Cengiz has worked in visual journalism for over a decade, from reporting in the field to building groundbreaking online packages. He is currently a visuals editor at ProPublica, where he edits, photographs, and art-directs stories across the site. His primary focus is visual coverage of projects in the Midwest, Southwest, and Texas. Before joining ProPublica, he edited for publications like Rest of World, Roads & Kingdoms, and the Guardian. As a photographer his work has primarily focused on human migration and the conflicts in Iraq and Syria. He is the inaugural recipient of the James Foley Award for Conflict Reporting, a Pulitzer Prize finalist, and a Dart Center Ochberg Fellow in Journalism and Trauma. His first monograph, This Alabaster Grave, was published in 2025.

To see photos from Delcia Lopez’s prize-winning portfolio, please view the gallery below: