Golden Sweet Potato Queen Macie Pendergrass, 18, participates in a sweet potato pie eating contest during the Golden Sweet Potato Festival Festival on October 27, 2018 in Golden, Texas.(Ashley Landis / Staff Photographer)
The winners of The Dallas Morning News Journalists of the Year awards were announced today, with Ashley Landis winning The Dallas Morning News Photographer/Videographer of the Year for 2018.
Here is a look at her winning portfolio of photos, all of which were taken in the past year:
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U.S. Army veteran Richard Overton, 111, smokes a cigar at 6:41 a.m. on May 5, 2018 at his home in Austin, Texas. Mr. Overton, who is a local celebrity, rises some time between 3 and 5 a.m. and smokes about 15 cigars a day.(Ashley Landis / Staff Photographer)
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Members of the Texas Longhorns football team walk through smoke to enter the stadium before a game between TCU and the University of Texas on September 22, 2018 at Darrell K Royal - Texas Memorial Stadium in Austin. (Ashley Landis / Staff Photographer)
Little Mister Schulenburg Clay Hoffman, 4, participates in the tricycle races during the 2018 Schulenburg Festival on August 4, 2018 at Walters Park in Schulengburg, Texas. (Ashley Landis / Staff Photographer)
Ashley's photos "leave indelible marks on the human brain," said Marcia L. Allert, Director of Photography for the Morning News. "They are almost impossible to forget. They charm you, they wow you, and in some instances they take your breath away."
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A woman wears pearls and carries a photo of Barbara Bush as she and other guests leave after viewing the casket of former First Lady Barbara Bush on April 20, 2018 at St. Martin's Episcopal Church in Houston. (Ashley Landis / Staff Photographer)Musician Sarah Jaffe performs during a pop-up performance entitled "Eyes as Bright as Diamonds" to kick off the Soluna International Music & Arts Festival on April 11, 2018 at the Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center in Dallas. The performance brought together New York artist Jen Ray, musician Sarah Jaffe and several Dallas performers.(Ashley Landis / Staff Photographer)Members of the Army Honor Guard carry a casket containing the remains of Army Corporal Albert "Buddy" Mills at Dallas-Fort Worth National Cemetery on November 12, 2018 in Dallas. Mills went missing and was killed in action during the Korean War. In July, his remains were found and identified. After nearly seven decades, Albert "Buddy" Mills is finally back home. Since 1950, the fate of the Dallas native had remained a mystery to his family, who knew only that he had been listed as missing and likely killed in action during the Korean War. Then, in July, one of Mills' seven surviving nieces and nephews got a surprising call: An unidentified soldier's remains, tested at another family's request, had turned out to be those of Mills, finally giving his family the closure they thought they'd never find. (Ashley Landis / Staff Photographer)
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"Very quickly you realize she approaches dance photography like sport and sports photography like dance," said Allert. "It is clear that she respects both subjects equally and wants to show viewers the athleticism and beauty of both physical endeavors."
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Texas A&M Aggies linebacker Tyrel Dodson (25) and defensive back Donovan Wilson (6) tackle Ole Miss Landsharks defensive back Myles Hartsfield (15) during the first quarter of a college football game between Texas A&M and Ole Miss on November 9, 2018 at Kyle Field in College Station, Texas. (Ashley Landis / Staff Photographer)
For almost two years, Landis has been documenting the charm and rituals of small-town beauty pageants. With her series "Rural Royalty," she takes the viewer into small-town Texas and shows us generations of traditions in a way that makes us all feel a bit more worldly.
Copperas Cove's Miss Teen Five Hills, Carleigh Ross, 17, participates in a corn shucking competition at the Holland Corn Festival in Holland, Texas on June 16, 2018. The Copperas Cove Five Hills royal court was visiting Holland for the festival.(Ashley Landis / Staff Photographer)
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Golden Sweet Potato Queen Macie Pendergrass, 18, participates in a sweet potato pie eating contest during the Golden Sweet Potato Festival Festival on October 27, 2018 in Golden, Texas.(Ashley Landis / Staff Photographer)Miss West Fest 2018 Abby Kolar, 18, walks toward a Ferris wheel on the West Fest grounds on September 1, 2018 in West, Texas. (Ashley Landis / Staff Photographer)
In her acceptance speech on Tuesday, Landis called the award a great honor, "but my true honor is to have the chance to work with people like Vernon Bryant, Louis Deluca, Smiley Pool, Tom Fox, Rose Baca, Nathan Hunsinger and all of the great photojournalists who have helped create the fantastic legacy of The Dallas Morning News photo department. We have such an elite team of photographers and I'm so proud to be among them," she said.
Judges for the contest were Pulitzer winner Thomas French and Pulitzer finalist Kelley Benham French, both of Indiana University; Simone Landon, a graphics editor at The New York Times; and Oliver Roeder, reporter and columnist for FiveThirtyEight.
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They lauded Landis' work in their comments, saying, "Every image in Ashley's portfolio captures a dynamic story in a single frame. The subjects of her photographs all appear to be going places, moving forward even as they are frozen in time. In each crisp shot, the colors are vibrant and the composition is arresting -- every photo would look at home on a gallery wall as much as on the front page."
Michael Hamtil is a Visual Editor at The Dallas Morning News. Originally from Missouri, he finally made it to Texas in 2003. When he's not assigning, editing, coaching or advocating for visual journalism, Michael can be found enjoying his family, the outdoors and doing volunteer work. You can see more of his work at www.visual-leader.com
