Pictures of The Year International - History

History

Pictures of the Year International began as a news photography contest in the spring of 1944 when University of Missouri professor Clifton C. Edom and his wife, Vi, founded the “First Annual Fifty-Print Exhibition” contest. Its stated purpose was, “to pay tribute to those press photographers and newspapers which, despite tremendous war-time difficulties, are doing a splendid job; to provide an opportunity for photographers of the nation to meet in open competition; and to compile and preserve ... a collection of the best in current, home-front press pictures.”

During that first year of the contest, 60 photographers entered 223 prints. Known as the father of photojournalism, Edom’s philosophy “to tell truth with a camera” has become a motto for photojournalists and the guiding foundation for this contest. In 1945 the Edoms also founded the College Photographer of the Year contest, and in 1949 they launched the Missouri Photo Workshop.

In 1948, following a decision to invite magazine photographers to participate, the “Fifty-Print Exhibition Contest” became the “News Pictures of the Year Contest.” Then, in 1957, the University of Missouri and the National Press Photographers Association (NPPA) merged their respective contests. Through this partnership, “Pictures of the Year” was developed and continued until 2001 when NPPA and Missouri parted ways. POYi is now administered by the Donald W. Reynolds Journalism Institute at the Missouri School of Journalism.

Guided by former directors Angus McDougall, Bill Kuykendall, and David Rees, the scope of Pictures of the Year changed dramatically during the three decades from the 1970s - 2000. The number of entered images increased to tens of thousands, and in 2001 “Pictures of the Year” became an international program — “Pictures of the Year International.”

In 2006, POYi became a program of the Donald W. Reynolds Journalism Institute and named Rick Shaw as it’s full-time director. The Donald W. Reynolds Journalism Institute is the center for researching and testing new models of journalism, associated with the Missouri School of Journalism. Since then, the overall mission of POYi broadened into the most comprehensive and prestigious documentary photography program in the world.