Seattle photographer Gary Benson recently traveled to Romania to photograph a service project in the town of Lugoj for Young Life International. As part of the project, he photographed international students involved in the projects, along with portraits of the children at the orphanage.

The University of California Riverside/California Museum of Photography has announced the recipients of its 2000 Roy McJunkin Fellowship and 2000 Roy McJunkin Award. UCR art history graduate student Karen Barber received the McJunkin fellowship for her work curating both "Joy Before the Object: Expressions of Modernism from UCR/CMP Collections" and "Independent Visions: Woman Photographers in the UCR/CMP Collections."

UCR/CMP volunteer Virginia S. Fesunoff received the 2000 Roy McJunkin Award for her efforts in compiling museum material and transforming the material into an inventive web site project that contains visual collections of such historical events as the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and the building of California railways.

The National Press Photographers Association has announced the newly member-elected representatives for Region 10, which includes the states of Arizona, California, Nevada, and Hawaii. Craig Kohlruss, a photographer with the Fresno Bee, was elected director, and Jeff Gritchen, a photographer with the Long Beach Press-Telegram, was elected associate director.

Commercial photographer Doug Walker, of Walker Photography in Olympia, Wash., was honored with five awards at the 2001 Professional Photographers of Washington Pacific Northwest Educational Conference and Print Competition. Held in Spokane, Wash., in March, Walker received his second prestigious Kodak Gallery award for an Exceptional Photographic Image; the Best Architectural award; the Roger Dudley Trophy for the Top Commercial Image; the C.C. Yang Trophy for the Highest Aggregate Commercial Score; and the Top Image or Best of Show award from all divisions for the second time in four years.

The image was produced for Cleveland-based Edward Howard & Co., a public relations firm, for their client, The Vinyl Institute of America, and was featured recently in Architectural Record. Walker's online portfolio is viewable at walkerphoto.com.

Dave Siegel, of Phoenix-based Siegel Photographic, has caused a stir in the Phoenix/Scottsdale area by using advertising space that he normally would have committed to growing his business and tackling such community issues as child abuse, domestic violence and animal adoption.

Using graphic photos–some digitally enhanced–of unwanted animals and abused children, Siegel chose to use the paid and donated ad pages for public service announcements rather than standard marketing and advertising purposes. "I have grown weary of self-promotion with studio ads and decided to use the opportunity to donate the space," said Siegel. "Not everybody agrees with my approach, and I don't like to beat around the bush...

The Photo Review National Photography Competition for 2000 garnered almost 3,300 images from 812 domestic and international entrants, leaving juror and noted photographer William Wegman the task of selecting 96 images as competition winners.

Seattle photographer and color photography teacher Carla Fraga was juried with her "Badlands, South Dakota" entry. Mercer Island photographer and instructor Nancy LeVine won fourth prize with her photo titled "They Have Not Entirely Put Away Their Wildness, Their Animal Desire to Let Wind Flow Through Them." Seattle photographer and instructor David D. Johnson also was recognized for his "Can't See The Forest" entry.

Summerland, Calif., photographer Alison M. Jones was awarded an Honorary Master of Science in Photography by the Brooks Institute of Photography. Commended as "a respected member of the photographic industry," she was honored for a "dedication and loyalty shown to our profession." Examples of Jones' work can be found online at alisonjonesphoto.com.

Seattle-based photographer, Kevin Schafer, recently returned from the Falkland Islands, where he produced original photography for Falklands Conservation, a group working to protect these remote wildlife islands. He has also been asked to be one of the artistic contributors to Watershed Art, a 2001 project to document the Wenatchee River watershed in Eastern Washington.