Monday, Oct. 26, 2009 | 2 a.m.
Navidi
Sun Archives
- The fight over the closing of F Street (6-28-2009)
A photo essay by Sun photojournalist Leila Navidi has placed first in the Sun’s circulation category in Editor & Publisher Magazine’s 10th Annual News Photos of the Year Contest.
The competition, sponsored by the newspaper industry’s leading trade magazine, drew entries from newspapers and media organizations throughout the world.
Navidi’s collection of photos documented months of effort by Las Vegas community activists to reopen F Street, which had been closed to accommodate the construction of Interstate 15. The closure, which took residents by surprise, reduced access to downtown Las Vegas from the historically black West Las Vegas neighborhood.
When residents organized and staged a series of protests over the street’s closure, Navidi used photographs to document their efforts, which included marches, public meetings and strategy sessions in the homes of F Street residents.
“Leila’s essay is the perfect example of following a story out of City Hall and getting into the neighborhoods to experience how people are affected by bureaucracy,“ Sun Director of Photography Mark Damon said. “Many of the people that Leila photographed have been lifelong residents of F Street. Some have lived and worked there for over 50 years. It’s an emotional issue for them. That emotion became visible, and a powerful part of the story, through Leila’s photography.”
Newspaper print photos, online news photos, and video/multimedia published since Sept. 13, 2008, were eligible for award consideration.
Contest winners were selected by photo editors from major newspapers and magazines.
“Despite budget cuts at most newspapers, the number and quality of entries this year remained strong,” said the magazine’s editor, Greg Mitchell.
Navidi was the only Nevada photojournalist to be recognized in this year’s competition.
