NANPA Awards and Past Winners

Each year, the NANPA Awards Committee seeks nominations for all NANPA and NANPA Foundation awards and grants. Awards and grants are usually announced in April of each year, and presented at the NANPA Annual Summit the following year. Members are encouraged to nominate deserving candidates by logging in to the Members Area and clicking on "Awards".

Following are the criteria for the NANPA Awards and lists of past winners.

NANPA Awards

Criteria:

The following are the criteria for determining awards to be given at the Annual Summit. Awards are to be divided into two broad categories: NANPA Recognition Awards and NANPA Service Awards.

NANPA Recognition Awards include any award as recognition of one's accomplishments, stature or length of service to nature photography.
NANPA Service Awards include any award given to a member who has served NANPA in an extraordinary way. These awards might go to committee leaders, a newsletter editor, etc. Service Awards may be given out at different times than Recognition Awards (e.g., the Annual Business Meeting)

The Awards Committee selects candidates for NANPA's annual awards. The committee is responsible for screening and interviewing potential award nominees submitted by members and making recommendations to the NANPA Board of Directors. The Board of Directors (with possible assistance from the Advisory Council) then selects recipients for each year's awards. Suggestions from NANPA membership are welcome. Awards need not be given annually.

LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT IN NATURE PHOTOGRAPHY

This award goes to an individual who has served nature photography for at least 20 years. The individual should have made significant contributions over an extended period of time. National name recognition is not as important as accomplishments. The individual need not be "of retirement age." However, all things being equal between two potential candidates, more consideration will be given to the older of the two.

Recipients include:

OUTSTANDING NATURE PHOTOGRAPHER AWARD

This award goes to an individual who has demonstrated unquestioned skill as a nature photographer. Length of career may be a factor, but more important are the individual's accomplishments. This person should have achieved some degree of name recognition because of their body of photographic work. Because of the large number of individuals who may be eligible for this award, specific and measurable criteria are used. The recipient must exemplify the principles, which NANPA promotes.

Recipients include:

FELLOWS AWARD

The NANPA Fellow Award is presented to members who have made significant contributions to the professional nature photography industry over a period of at least 20 years. This would encompass photographers, editors, agents, educators and other professions related to the industry.

Recipients include:

COMMUNITY RECOGNITION AWARD (formerly the Industry Recognition Award)

This award goes to a supplier of services or products to the photo industry. The award may be given to a specific individual or to a company. Since NANPA membership encompasses all elements of nature photography, including industry members, the award acknowledges their support to our field. Included in this category are manufacturers, retailers, suppliers, stock agencies, magazines and/or magazine staff, newsletters, photo service providers (labs, frame and mat, slide labeling software, etc.), galleries, etc. Criteria include length of service, importance of a product/service to nature photography, service to the nature photography world beyond what one might expect of a company, special programs or products that have revolutionized nature photography, and/or outstanding contributions to the success of NANPA.

Recipients include:

Nature's Best Photography

NANPA MISSION AWARD (formerly NANPA Recognition Award)

The NANPA Mission Award recognizes outstanding accomplishment(s) by one of our members. Nominees may include members who used their photography to stop the development of a highway through a critical wetland; members who created a photography/nature education program for teachers in their school district; members who provided a large scholarship for the purpose of a photo/environmental education. NANPA members are encouraged to submit nominees. This award exemplifies what NANPA is really all about, and the winner should epitomize the NANPA philosophy.

Recipients include:

OUTSTANDING SERVICE AWARD

Service Awards include any award given to a member who has served NANPA in an extraordinary way. These awards go to committee leaders, a newsletter editor, a coordinator for a regional meeting, a staff member, etc. Nominees come from the Board, staff, committee leaders, committee members, and from the membership.

Recipients include:

NANPA VISION AWARD

This award is given to a photographer in recognition of early career excellence and serves to encourage continuation of vision and inspiration to others in nature photography, conservation, and education.

Recipients include:

NANPA Environmental Impact Award New!

This award honors a photographic project undertaken by an individual or a team that addresses an important and urgent regional or global environmental problem. The project should be concerned with one or more species or ecosystems and illustrate perils facing the species or ecosystems and/or sustainable management solutions to help preserve them. The project will be judged on its success in raising public awareness for the need to protect our natural world and in stimulating further study of the issue(s) addressed. The individual or team directing the project may be offered a Summit Keynote presentation position. The award is open only to NANPA members or, in the case of a team project, a team headed by a NANPA member.

See information on NANPA Foundation Grants

Return to Awards Overview