I am so thrilled and proud that an image from my Katrina series was awarded First Place by Malcolm Daniel, Curator in Charge, Department of Photographs, Metropolitan Museum of Art, for Photowork '09, curator of the exhibition for the Barrett Art Center.

I have donated the entire cash award to Common Ground Relief, an organization focused on rebuilding the Lower Ninth Ward.

To learn more about the good works of this organization, here is a link: Common Ground Relief

To make a donation: Common Ground Relief

When the award was announced at the exhibition's opening, I said:

"I am deeply honored and humbled by this award. André Kertész, my favorite photographer of all time, said "You don't 'see' the things you photograph, you 'feel' them." This award is dedicated to all those individuals who were abandoned on the bridge or clung to the roofs of their homes - images seared into our collective consciousness. The winning photo shows part of a chain link fence, all that is left - where a home used to be.