Smiley Pool

Recipient of the STAR PHOTOJOURNALIST OF THE YEAR award in The Charles E. Green Awards (2024)

Smiley Pool
The dallas morning news

Smiley Pool/The Dallas Morning News

Judge’s Comments:

Smiley catches time. He finds the “decisive moment” and lets us hold onto it forever.

His 2024 portfolio moved me from joy to tears – it reminded me of the power of still photography. Every photograph in this entry is stunning, but the image that stopped me and held me is Hezly Rivera on the balance beam. The unusual crop focused me on the delicacy and power of her hands, then my eyes went to the chalk impressions of the other gymnasts’ hands on the beam. This is the marriage of news and art.

Next year marks 20 years since Smiley and The Dallas Morning News won the Pulitzer Prize for their amazing work documenting Hurricane Katrina. Time for a gallery show and a book – what a history-making career.

As David Guzman, director of visual journalism at The Dallas Morning News wrote in Smiley’s nominating letter: “He’s the ultimate photojournalist.”

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, 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 writes for the AARP and other publications. In 2022, “Too Young to Be Old,” her book with Diane Gilman, the “Jean Queen” of home shopping, was released. Her next book, “Dressing Jackie: The Story of Two Southern Belles, One First Lady and a Pink Suit” will be published in fall 2026.

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

Tara Davis-Woodhall of the United States celebrates with her husband Hunter Woodhall after winning the gold medal in the women’s long jump final at the 2024 Summer Olympics on Thursday, Aug. 8, 2024 in Saint-Denis, France.

Keio Gamble wipes his eyes as he lifts a candle with fellow mourners during a vigil for Dallas police officer Darron Burks at For Oak Cliff on Friday, Aug. 30, 2024, in Dallas. Burks was killed and two other officers were wounded in a shooting Thursday night in Oak Cliff.

Navarro County Sheriffs Deputies pause at the casket of Dallas police officer Darron Burks before funeral services at Watermark Community Church on Saturday, Sept. 7, 2024, in Dallas. Burks was shot and killed in Oak Cliff on Aug. 29.

JR Howard’s sheep follow his truck as he drives through a solar array owned by Adapture Renewables near Gainesville, Texas, on Tuesday, April 30, 2024. Howard’s company, Texas Solar Sheep, specializes in ‘solar grazing’ which uses pasture around solar arrays for sheep herding.

Dallas Mavericks center Dereck Lively II (2) dunks the ball past Minnesota Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert (27) during the first half in Game 3 of the NBA basketball Western Conference Finals on Sunday, May 26, 2024, in Dallas.

Hezly Rivera of the United States competes on the balance beam during women’s gymnastics qualifying at the 2024 Summer Olympics on Sunday, July 28, 2024, in Paris.

Sha'carri Richardson of the United States crosses the finish line to win the women's 4 x 100 meters relay final at the 2024 Summer Olympics on Friday, Aug. 9, 2024 in Saint-Denis, France.

Julian Robles of Diamond Hill (left) reacts as Gabriel Gomez of Dark Horse Boxing is announced the winner of their bout during a boxing tournament celebrating the 30th anniversary at Casa Guanajuato on Saturday, Sept. 14, 2024, in Dallas.

The grandchildren and great-grandchildren of of former U.S. Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson toss yellow roses into the late congresswoman’s grave during burial services at the Texas State Cemetery on Wednesday, Jan. 10, 2024, in Austin.

Reid Rolen, 9, plays on a tire swing as his sister Lyla, 5, and his mother Mandi Rolen look on Wednesday, Oct. 16, 2024, in Cuthand, Texas. Residents in the Sulphur River Basin will be impacted if the proposed Marvin Nichols Reservoir in northeast Texas is built. His father, Aaron Rolen, an attorney who stayed in the Dallas area after graduating from SMU, grew up in Cuthand and moved his family back in 2019. “It’s fun to watch my kids play in the same places I did,” he said.