Liz Rymarev receives Emerging Vision Photojournalist of The Year from NPPA

Lessons learned in college about giving people space to tell their stories have paid big dividends for Liz Rymarev (AB ’24).

In two short years, Rymarev has transitioned from a photojournalism student and editor-in-chief at The Red & Black, to the recipient of the Emerging Vision Photojournalist of The Year, one of the biggest awards given each year by the National Press Photographer’s Association (NPPA) for its annual Best of Photojournalism (BOP) competition.

“This really just kind of solidifies to me that I’m on the right path and that this is reassurance that I’m doing the right things,” Rymarev said.

The NPPA honor is based on a portfolio of up to 40 images by an up-and-coming photographer made in a calendar year that demonstrates a fresh approach to visual journalism through story selection and compositional techniques. In 2025, Rymarev worked as an intern for the Dallas Morning News until April, then started a job in July as staff photographer for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

Rymarev entered two series of photo stories for the BOP competition for features that she both photographed and wrote. From Dallas, she covered members of a high school girls basketball team and their journey to the state playoffs. The team lost before the state finals, but Rymarev knew the real story was not about photos on the basketball court, but the highs and lows during practices and in the locker room.

“I decided to go early, stay late, and just be in the locker room,” Rymarev said regarding the assignment. “I needed to build relationships with the girls and the coaches and get more intimate, emotional photos of the game rather than just action photos. So, that was cool for me to see what I can do whenever I am not focused on just the assignment, but rather the story and what’s in front of me.”

Mark Johnson, the John G. Alston, Sr., Professor of Sports Media, and one of Rymarev’s professors when she was a student, says that Rymarev was one of those students he knew would be successful. It was just a question of how soon.

“Liz was the type of student we all want – fully engaged, willing to do the work, excited by the pureness of possibility,” said Johnson, who also directs the Best of Photojournalism competition. “During her time here on campus, she took advantage of opportunities small and large, trips to Chattanooga and to National Press Photographers Association conferences. She craved time behind the lens, in people’s homes and businesses. Her curiosity about her world is now serving her audience in St. Louis well.”

Lessons learned from The Red & Black

This patience to tell the heart of the story is something Rymarev learned while a student at UGA. She was involved with several programs at Grady College including service as a Digital Native and a Levin Leader, but it was her experience at The Red & Black that allowed her to hone her intuition and instinct to become a nuanced journalist.

She recalls one of the most memorable stories she covered was the aftermath of the death of Devin Willock, a football player killed in a car accident following the 2022 National Championship celebration. Rymarev and fellow Red & Black reporter, Dawn Sawyer, had conducted an emotional phone interview with Willock’s mother, Sharlene, who was living in New Jersey. When it was time to put the story together, they realized they didn’t have the visual representation they needed to illustrate the story. Rymarev pitched what she called a crazy idea to the leadership of The Red & Black — let the two reporters fly to New Jersey, conduct an in-depth interview with Sharlene and Willock’s high school coaches, and take pictures. The pitch was accepted, and the result was a front-page, in-depth feature with photos. That feature won a Pacemaker Award, a prestigious award from the Associated College Press for excellence in college journalism.

What Rymarev remembers is that she didn’t take many pictures while she was in New Jersey, but instead, she spent time absorbed in their stories.

“I was just talking with them the whole time and just literally giving them the space to share their stories with me,” Rymarev recalled. “It showed me that photojournalism is more than just taking photos. It also showed me that I can do this every day, and it’s not just about the camera. It’s about listening to people and helping them share their truth and their story and to show that they’re being listened to. It was very pivotal.”

Covering community outreach in St. Louis

Rymarev’s involvement with the Covering Poverty initiative while she was a Grady College student helped her learn how to report on vulnerable communities and understand where people are coming from.

Rymarev has carried those lessons to her new job in St. Louis and covering stories like that of Larry Gray. Rymarev was assigned to cover the aftermath of the EF3 tornado that devasted areas of St. Louis in May 2025. In her research, she found that Gray had created a GoFundMe page so that he could feed people from his food stand. Rymarev found Gray, struck up a conversation and hung out with him several hours the first day. She returned several times a week for the next three weeks, some days for a quick check in and other days for longer. She heard Gray’s story and the stories of those he was helping with food, clothing and other essential needs.

“I was constantly talking with him, and asking him questions and just really listening,” Rymarev said. “I came to know all the people that came through, that got food and assistance and help from Larry, and I got to know, truly who Larry was. Photography allowed me to kind of, be present in the moment and see the impact that he’s making in people’s lives today, and then the writing allowed me to document and chronicle his life and everything that led up to why he’s doing this today.”

The feature published about Gray appeared on the front page of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and two subsequent pages filled with narrative and 12 of Rymarev’s photographs. She heard from Gray later that he received a lot of contributions to his GoFundMe page after the feature was printed.

“This award reassures to me that journalism is more important to our communities now more than ever, and despite all of the uncertainty, we can still try our best to be caretakers of people’s stories,” Rymarev said in a LinkedIn post following the announcement.

Rymarev is well on her way to doing that.

Grady College is the home of NPPA and the Best of Photojournalism contest. To view all the winners, see the Best of Photojournalism website.

Author: Sarah E. Freeman, freemans@uga.edu