The audience came for the photography, but they reserved their loudest applause for crooner
Tony Bennett.
The Sixth Annual Lucie Awards, held the evening of October 20, drew on Bennett's star power as he presented an award for Achievement in Portraiture to photographer
Herman Leonard. “He makes it look effortless,” Bennett said, comparing Leonard's photo skills to jazz music. “His timing is impeccable.”
One of photography's few dressy events, the awards ceremony drew hundreds of photographers and photo professionals to Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center in New York.
The top Lucie award, for Lifetime Achievement, went to Italian photographer
Gianni Berengo Gardin, who was not present.
Other winners included
Josef Koudelka (Achievement in Documentary),
Patrick Demarchelier (Achievement in Fashion),
Richard Misrach (Achievement in Fine Art),
Susan Meiselas (Achievement in Photojournalism),
John Iacono (Achievement in Sports),
Erwin Olaf (Achievement in Advertising), the Visa pour l'Image festival (Spotlight Award) and
Sara Terry of The Aftermath Project (Humanitarian Award).
All the other Lucie winners were present to accept their statues except Koudelka.
These winners were all known in advance of the ceremony. The Lucie ceremony also includes the announcements of the International Photography Awards, a related competition.
This year,
Brent Stirton won the International Photographer of the Year, one of numerous prizes the Getty Images photojournalist has collected in the last year.
Photographer
John Delaney won the Discovery of the Year Award, which is open to non-professionals and students.
Photographer
Justin Maxon won the Deeper Perspective Photographer of the Year award.
In the support categories,
Michele McNally of
The New York Times won Picture Editor of the Year.
Photographer
Mark Zibert and ad agencies 180 Amsterdam and TBWA\Chiat\Day China won Print Advertising Campaign of the Year for the Adidas “Impossible is Nothing” campaign shot for the Beijing Olympics.
Terence Pepper of the National Portrait Gallery in London and
David Friend of
Vanity Fair won Curator/Exhibition of the Year for “Vanity Fair Portraits 1913-2008.”
Fashion Layout of the Year went to
Harper’s Bazaar for the story “Fairy Tales” by
Jean-Paul Goude.
21st Editions won Book Publisher of the Year for
Jamie Baldridge's book
The Everywhere Chronicles.
Photography Magazine of the Year went to
EyeMazing.
Photographer
Platon brought the audience to its feet just before he presented Picture Editor of the Year to McNally. He encouraged the crowd to stand up and give itself a round of applause for persevering in hard economic times. It was the only standing ovation of the evening.
The event was hosted by actor and comedian
Mario Cantone who got a few laughs with lines such as, “Damn you jazz musicians, always improvising!” But the best line of the night was arguably delivered by self-deprecating photographer
Elliott Erwitt, who began his introduction of Koudelka by saying, “They gave me 90 seconds, so I’ll talk slow.”
Related link
See the full list of Lucie nominees.
