An intimate photo of mourners at a vigil for a Richmond homicide victim and a portfolio of stories on a rock star, an anarchist couple and the business of riggers earned top honors at the Virginia Press Association’s annual convention April 9.
Style Weekly was the only publication in Virginia to earn best in show awards for both photography and writing. Photographer Scott Elmquist’s win marked his fifth consecutive best in show; Amy Biegelsen won best in show for writing.
In other writing categories, Melissa Scott Sinclair won first place for her portfolio of news stories; Sara Dabney Tisdale won first place for business and financial writing; and Scott Bass, Vernal Coleman and Don Harrison won first place in general news writing for their coverage of the city’s targeting of black nightclubs.
Judges lauded Style’s food and drink coverage. The annual State of the Plate restaurant issue — led by Deveron Timberlake and including work by reviewers Don Baker, Tess Autrey Bosher, Joseph Cates, John Haddad, and bar columnist Jack Lauterback — took home a first place for food writing, while second place went to the Meat Issue, by Timberlake, Coleman, Sinclair and Robey Martin. For the issue’s cover, Elmquist and Jeff Bland won first place for photo illustration. The Bar Guide received first place for leisure, lifestyle or home writing. And Timberlake’s weekly Short Order placed second in column or commentary writing.
In uncovering the lost movie “Rock ‘N’ Roll Hotel,” filmed partly in Richmond, Dale Brumfield received a first place in arts writing; Brumfield, Rich Griset and Jason Roop won third place in related efforts for multimedia feature report.
For his architecture reviews, senior contributing editor Edwin Slipek won first place in critical writing, while theater critic David Timberline won third in the category.
Led by Arts and Culture Editor Don Harrison, Style’s 2010 Music Issue and CD won first place for multimedia feature report. It included work by Brent Baldwin, Amy Biegelsen, Hilary Langford, Peter McElhinney and Mike Rutz.
In addition to his photography awards, Elmquist also received first place for his online slideshow for a remembrance of Apostle Anthony L. Taylor. Ash Daniel won first place sports news photo for a moment captured during an inner-city baseball game.
Other work commended by judges included Style’s cover presentation by Bland; Peter Galuszka’s coverage of Virginia Commonwealth University’s president under fire; Bass, Elmquist and Bland in combination picture and story for “The New Barrios”; Roop’s online video report of renovations at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts; coverage of Richmond’s unconstitutional noise ordinance by Harrison, Tisdale and Coleman; and Sinclair’s portfolio of feature stories.
In all, Style earned 15 first places, eight seconds and eight thirds in its division for writing, photography, presentation, art and multimedia journalism.
