Gallery of winning photos and photographers' statements

Assaf Harel

A fourth-year anthropology major in the spring of 2006, Assaf Harel was born in Israel. He took a photography class at the age of 11 and was “immediately hooked,” he says. He sees anthropology as a “word-driven” discipline, but he considers visual representations of reality “an important method of expanding anthropological understanding.” His winning photos are from a three-month study of “Disengagement” of Israeli settlers from the Gaza Strip. Assaf  plans to use both writing and photography as he pursues a Ph.D. in anthropology, study that he says is essential in his attempt to probe “the unique socio-cultural dynamics” of Israeli-Palestinian relationships.

Jordan Pennock

Jordan Pennock grew up in Albion, Calif., a small coastal town in Mendocino County. Always interested in artistic expression, he took up photography as a high school junior, and it has become his primary medium. He won his Lyon Prize honors as a sophomore majoring in conservation and resource studies. He says his major, his photography, and his “passion for the environment and social justice” may lead him to documentary photography projects comparing the development of environmental ethics in urban and rural communities. He hopes to arrange an around-the-world journey to work on the project. “No matter what happens,” he says, “I will continue to pursue photography.”

Daniel Yaffe

A senior majoring in development studies at the time of his award, Daniel Yaffe is from San Diego. He became interested in photography at 13, when his father gave him his first real camera and showed him how to use it on the Southern California bluffs above the Pacific Ocean. Daniel has “a strong sense of connectedness with the subjects,” said a Lyon Prize judge of his photos of Ghanaian children. “He has a deliberate seeing that brings your eyes into the faces of the children and makes you want to know more about them.” After graduation, Daniel’s plan was to “pick up my camera and go somewhere,” striving “to make my time meaningful, while still pursuing my passions.”