About the Judges
From left: Pat Semansky / Independent, Ariel Zambelich / The Baltimore Banner, Jake May / The Flint Journal and MLive.com
Pat Semansky is a freelance photographer and photo editor in Washington, D.C. He began his photography career in New Orleans after relocating there from his home in California to volunteer with Hurricane Katrina recovery efforts. In 2010, Pat joined the Associated Press as a staff photojournalist, first to assist with coverage of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. He later worked in the AP’s Baltimore and Washington offices, where he covered the White House, Congress, two World Series, five Olympics and seven Super Bowls. After 13 years with the AP, he joined the Biden Administration’s White House Photo Office as a photo editor. Pat graduated from Santa Clara University in California with a B.A. in English.
Ariel Zambelich is the Visuals Director at The Baltimore Banner, where she leads a team that collaborates on telling stories through photojournalism, video, illustration and design. She previously worked at The Wall Street Journal, The Intercept, NPR Visuals, and WIRED. She spent 6 years on the board of the Authority Collective, an organization that amplifies the voices of female-identifying and nonbinary lens-based creators of color through community action. She was also an organizer with the Freelance Solidarity Project, a union for freelance media workers.
Jake May is an award-winning community photojournalist at The Flint Journal and MLive.com. A 2017 Pulitzer Prize finalist for his work on the Flint water crisis, Jake is committed to telling local stories with impact in Flint and throughout Michigan. Jake’s photographs and stories have received local, national and international acclaim, including earning the NPPA’s Best of Photojournalism Small Market Photographer of the Year three times. His aim with his camera is to build trust while utilizing a listening ear, sharp eye and an empathetic, heartfelt approach to reflect the stories of those he has the privilege to meet — putting the journalism into photojournalism.