"Free Hugs" takes top spot in photo shootout

Winning photo by Kelvin Ma: Boston College student Sam Haines, 21, gives out "Free Hugs" on the corner outside the Park Street T station for the simple reason that, "It makes people happy!"

Kelvin Ma, a freelancer, took first place in the annual Dith Pran Photography and Multimedia ShootOut Competition at AAJA for his photo titled “Free Hug.”

The theme of this year’s live photography competition was “The Freedom Trail.” The trail, a walking tour, takes visitors past significant historic spots in Boston. All conventioneers were eligible to shoot between Wednesday and Friday during the convention. More than $2,000 in prizes were awarded.

The competition is in honor of New York Times photographer Dith Pran, who survived the Cambodian “Killing Fields.” The perpetual trophy and cash award will given out during the Gala Banquet on Saturday night.

Photography Winners:

First place: Kelvin Ma, freelancer, “Free Hug” wins a Think Tank Photo bag and $200 in cash from AAJA National Office and perpetual trophy and a SanDisk photo memory card.

Second place: An Rong Xu, School of Visual Arts, “Sailor Portrait”, wins a Think Tank Photo camera bag and SanDisk card.

Third place: Diana Diroy, San Jose State University, “Cemetery”, wins ThinkTankPhoto camera bag and Sandisk card.

Fourth place: Karen Zhou, freelance, “Military Dog Tags”, wins Think Tank Photo camera bag and SanDisk card.

Fifth place: Sihang Chang, students, “Bookstore”, wins Think Tank Photo camera bag and Sandisk card.

Sixth place: Hannah Lao, students, “Frog Pond”, wins Sandisk card.

To see all of the winning photos visit AAJA09 on Flickr.

Multimedia Winners:

First place: Derek Sijder, San Jose State University, “Boston Globe Pressman”, wins Think Tank Photo camera carrying cases and SanDisk card.

Second place: Derek Liu, UCLA, “Midnight Bakery”, wins a ThinkTankPhoto camera bag, wins Sandisk card.

Third place: Greg Yamamoto, Honolulu Advertiser, “Bar Owner”, ThinkTankphoto camera bag and SanDisk card

Photo judges:
Matt Lee, Boston Globe
Dai Sugano, San Jose Mercury News
Chris Prevolos, Stamford Advocate
Bernardette Tuazon, Associated Press
Marilynn Yee, New York Times

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