PHOTOGRAPHER Steve Humphreys of the Irish Independent has been named PPAI/AIB Photojournalist of the Year 2008. The awards were announced at a ceremony in Dublin last night.

The judging panel of leading British photographer Eamonn McCabe, Mathieu Polak, Le Monde deputy photo editor, and chairwoman Bride Rosney, Director of Communications, RTÉ, said that Humphreys’s work “conveyed the sense of a very complete portfolio”. He was “a press photographer’s photographer and a worthy winner of this year’s supreme award”.

The AIB Photojournalism Exhibition, featuring 120 prints from the 1,900 submitted opens in the AIB Bankcentre branch, Ballsbridge, Dublin, this Tuesday. The exhibition will then go on tour around the State. Masterclasses for photography students will also be held in locations throughout the country over the coming months. In addition, the winning images can be viewed by logging on to www.ppai.ie.

Results:

NEWS: 1, Steve Humphreys (Irish Independent); 2, Gary Ashe (All-Pix/Irish Daily Star); 3, Steve Humphreys.

FEATURES: Brian Lawless, (Sportsfile); 2, Julien Behal (Press Association, Ireland); 3, Paul Nicholls (All-Pix/Irish Daily Star).

SPORTS ACTION: 1, Darren Kidd (Press Eye); 2, Darren Kidd (Press Eye); 3, Brian Lawless (Sportsfile).

SPORTS FEATURE: 1, John C. Kelly (Clare Champion); 2, Darren Kidd (Press Eye); 3, Bryan O’Brien (The Irish Times).

INDIVIDUAL STUDY: 1, David Conachy (Sunday Independent); 2, Pat Murphy (Sportsfile); 3, Brenda Fitzsimons (The Irish Times).

PEOPLE: 1, Don Moloney (Press 22); 2, Valerie O’Sullivan (freelance); 3, Kim Haughton (freelance).

POLITICS: 1, Julien Behal (Press Association, Ireland); 2, Christopher Doyle, (Irish Sun); 3, Jonathon Porter (Press Eye).

ARTS: 1, Gerry Mooney (Sunday Independent); 2, Barry Cronin (freelance); 3, Graham Keogh (Hot Press).

PICTURE STORY: 1, David Conachy (Sunday Independent); 2, John C. Kelly (Clare Champion); 3, Eamon Ward (freelance/Clare People).

HUMOUR: Joe O’Shaughnessy (Connacht Tribune).