A man hugs and kisses his grandson after the boy led a pro-Palestinian chant at the gate of the White House in Washington D.C., where hundreds of thousands of people participated in the pro-Palestinian March on Washington protest on Nov. 4, 2023. Photo by Taylor Coester.

COM Photographers Win Top Prizes at Boston Contest

Taylor Coester (COM’24) won Best in Show, the top prize in the News and Story categories, and three other awards last week at the annual Boston Press Photographer Association’s contest for college photographers.

Matthew Eadie (COM’24) took home first place in the Portrait category, and Emma Hagert (COM’24) won first place in the Video category. All in all, Boston University student photographers won 18 out of 26 awards.

“Taylor started taking summer journalism classes at Boston University in her senior year of high school,” says Stephen Haines, a COM lecturer in journalism and former photo editor for the Boston Globe. “She was focused on photojournalism then, and she continues to be to this day. Taylor’s work is thoughtful, sensitive and caring. Taylor is patient and often sees what others miss. Her work this year was fantastic, and it blew up the BPPA competition.” 

Haines added that Taylor was also the first president of the National Press Photographers Association Student Chapter at Boston University. “Her complete dedication to the profession is paying dividends,” he adds. “I’m sure we will hear more from Taylor.”

Following is a list of all of the award recipients and their schools:

Best in Show:

• Taylor Coester/Boston University

News:

1. Taylor Coester/Boston University
2. Andrew Burke-Stevenson/Boston University
3. Madi Koesler/Boston University

• Honorable Mention: Taylor Coester/Boston University

Feature:

1. Andrew Burke-Stevenson/ Boston University
2. Andrew Burke-Stevenson/Boston University
3. Andrew Burke-Stevenson/Boston University

• Honorable Mention: Clare Ong/Boston University
• Honorable Mention: Clare Ong/Boston University

Sports:

1. Jonny Ratner/Endicott College
2. Jonny Ratner/Endicott College
3. Dylan Goodman/Harvard University 

• Honorable Mention: Dylan Goodman/Harvard University
• Honorable Mention: Dylan Goodman/Harvard University

Portrait:

1. Matthew Eadie/Boston University
2. Leanna Puccio/Endicott College
3. Taylor Coester/Boston University

• Honorable Mention: Taylor Coester/Boston University

Story:

1. Taylor Coester/Boston University
2. Taylor Coester/Boston University
3. Taylor Coester/Boston University

• Honorable Mention: Hiroki Heginbotham/University of Massachusetts Boston

Video:

1. Emma Hagert/Boston University
2. Mingkun Gao/Boston University
3. Julian Giordano/Harvard University

View all the winning photographs and video on the BBPA website.