Liz O. Baylen

Los Angeles Times

Los Angeles, California

Liz O. Baylen joined the Los Angeles Times as a staff photographer in October of 2007. Since arriving she has immersed herself in combining sound with imagery. Her multimedia work continues to attract professional attention, while bringing added dimension to stories that Los Angeles Times’ readers have begun to count on.

Most of Ms. Baylen’s stories are homegrown – important issues affecting the community in which she lives. With purposeful imagery and empathy, she makes the most difficult subjects visual. Whether she’s photographing celebrity portraits, issue stories, or daily features, she always maintains the dignity of her subjects and comes away with personal moments, powerful in their subtlety.

A native of Ohio, Ms. Baylen graduated from Ohio University’s School of Visual Communications in 2001, and immediately began her career at The Washington Times. During her five years at the Times, she concentrated on in-depth photo essays, specializing in covering psychological trauma, and in the process, became a leading chronicler of mental health issues.

In 2005, she left The Washington Times to pursue a freelance career in New York. Ms. Baylen quickly developed a client base that included The New York Times, Financial Times and numerous European magazines.

Although typically focused on domestic work, her assignments have taken her around the world to locations including Lebanon, Korea, West Africa, the Caucasus, and Guantanamo Bay.

Ms. Baylen was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for her contribution to The Washington Times’ staff coverage of the DC sniper in 2002. Ms. Baylen has also won numerous awards for her work including multiple honors in the Best of Photojournalism and Pictures of the Year International competitions and the White House News Photographers Association.

Related Web sites

Liz O. Baylen’s Web site

Liz O. Baylen’s Lightstalker page

Liz O. Baylen’s POYi winning multimedia piece “A boy’s struggles.”

• Entries should be mailed or dropped off to Allison Williams — Photo Pioneer Press Newspapers, 3701 West Lake Ave. Glenview, IL 60026

Illinois Student Best of Photography (iSBOP) form

• Entries should be mailed to Brian Morowczynski – 2734 N. 74th Ct. Elmwood Park, IL 60707