2024 Q2 Singles

Quarter 2 judge, Tony Overman of the Olympian

General News

First: Holy cow! What a photo. So much depth and feeling.
Second: Powerful image that takes us right into the heat of the protest
Third: This is a super cute moment and the photographer worked the angles.
HM: Photographer waited for this moment.  Sweet moment to get.

First Place: Cristina Klenz Salvador / Freelance

Every April 8, Romani people around the world celebrate International Romani Day to honor their culture and raise awareness of the issues facing their people.Ron, who is Romani-American and an advocate for his people, is a frequent visitor to the Holocaust Museum Los Angeles, where he and his wife, Sally, have found a safe haven to express her sorrow. Ron and Sally, are ministers and raise awareness to the estimated 1.5 million Roma and Sinti who were targeted by the Third Reich throughout Europe and murdered during the Holocaust.

SECOND PLACE: Robert Gauthier, Los Angeles Times

Irvine, CA, Wednesday, May 15, 2024 - Scores of law enforcement personnel from various agencies move hundreds of demonstrating students, faculty and supporters protesting the treatment of Palestinians and the UC system’s investments in Isreali interests.

Third Place: Karen Quincy Loberg, Freelance

Sasha Karapetian, 5, photographs Frankie, 3, a Tom turkey accompanied by Steve Gresham (left) talking with Conejo Valley Parade emcee Pete Turpel along the parade route in Thousand Oaks CA on Sunday, May 5, 2024.

HM: Karen Quincy Loberg, Freelance

Morgan Tait (left) and Eric Kane, both of Austin, TX are passengers in the rumble seat of a 1930 Ford Model A Deluxe Coupe with the Conejo Valley Model A Ford Club rolling down Thousand Oaks Blvd. in the Conejo Valley Parade in Thousand Oaks CA on Sunday, May 5, 2024.

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Feature

First Place: Gina Ferazzi, Los Angeles Times

AMBOY, CA - Amboy has long served weary travelers — first as a railroad station, and later as a roadside attraction that’s especially popular with people touring the Mother Road, Route 66. But this slice of Americana has been beset by a series of crises that stretch back more than half a century.Smack in the middle of a windswept corner of the Mojave that looks like Mars, its permanent population is now zero. Its infrastructure: a smattering of vacant houses and empty outbuildings; a shuttered post office, a church with no congregants and a school with no students. Roy’s is the only operational business. And the only operational portion of that is the store, stocked with cold drinks, snacks and souvenirs, and the gas station — three mechanical pumps that require an attendant to dispense fuel, which was recently priced at $6.49 for a gallon of regular. The new owner inherited the town from his father last year and is hoping to fulfill his father’s legacy and turn the place around.Joan and Kirk Bullard sit under the awning of the Roy’s gas station and cafe on May 24, 2024 in Amboy, California.

Second Place: Robert Gauthier, Los Angles Times

Bloomington, CA, Thursday, May 16, 2024 - Felipe Ortiz, a Spanish-speaking resident of unincorporated Bloomington, in San Bernardino County. Ortiz's landlord sold the home he's renting to Howard Industrial Partners, which will demolish the home and more than 100 others in order to build a huge warehouse project. In Bloomington, a majority Latino, rural community, Ortiz has helped organize 'cabalgatas,' or traditional horesback rides that celebrate the charro cowboy lifestyle. His children relax in their backyard. Ulises and sister, Fatima are in the hammock.

Third Place: Michael Nelson, Freelance

A boy plays with a handheld windmill as he rides past the Meishan Sansu Shrine in Meishan, China 20 June 2024.

HM: Thomas Cordova, Long Beach Post

A graduate stands the front doors of the gym before the Cabrillo High School commencement ceremony at the school stadium in Long Beach on Thursday, June 13, 2024.

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Portrait

First Place: Cristina Salvador Klenz, Freelance

A native of Long Beach, California, Albert is a 38-year-old Romani-American man and part of the conservative Machvaya nation whose traditions date back more than a thousand years ago to their native India. The Machvaya spent considerable time enslaved in Romania and as part of the militia in Serbia before immigrating to the United States in the mid-1800s. Albert is a descendant of a proud and upstanding Romani family that is well know in California. Like many American minorities, some Romani families are experiencing severe economic hardship while other individuals struggle with homelessness. Albert has been living on and off the streets since the death of his mother many years ago. He is currently living in his car.

Second Place: Cristina Salvador Klenz, Freelance

A young couple stops to pose for a photo on Pacific Coast Highway near Atlantic Avenue in Long Beach.

Third Place: Cristina Salvador Klenz, Freelance

Romani American sisters Enna and Nova Adams, 10, of Fontana are from the Machvaya nation whose traditions date back more than a thousand years ago to their native India. The Machvaya spent considerable time enslaved in Romania and as part of the militia in Serbia before immigrating to the United States in the mid-1800s.

HM: Robert Gauthier, Los Angeles Times

Los Angeles, CA, Thursday, May 9, 2024 - Lauren Lemos poses with an original sandwich creation at Wax Paper in Chinatown. Wax Paper is a sandwich shop that closed in 2023 until its owners, Peter and Lauren Lemos, realized they were so financially under water that it made more financial sense to reopen the restaurant and struggle than to flat-out close it.

HM: Thomas Cordova, Long Beach Post

David Duarte is set for the 41st Annual Long Beach Pride Parade in Long Beach, Sunday, May 19, 2024.

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Pictorial

First: First is just graphically pleasing. Clean, repetitive and well balanced.
Second: This is a pretty image, but the clean silhouettes combined with the great body language on the boy in the middle make it a winner.
Third: This is a wonderful moment, framed nicely.

First Place: Michael Nelson, Freelance

A janitor passes a huge wall of sayings and place names at the high speed train terminal in Zigong, China 22 June 2024.

Second Place: Brandon Richardson, Long Beach Watchdog

Kids play in water fountains at Indian Creek Plaza in Caldewell, ID Wednesday, May 29, 2024.

Third Place: Karen Quincy Loberg, Freelance

Visitors watch the afterglow at Folsom Lake State Recreational Park on March 30, 2024 after a spike of unusually hot weather neared 100 degrees during the day in nearby Sacramento, Calif.

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Spot News

This was the fewest entries.  Not that impressed with them.  I was expecting more from the west coast.
First:  This is part of a bigger project I can tell.  This was by far the best one for this category.
Second: I like this shot but I feel the pet is lost and hard to see.  Good on the photographer for looking for this moment though
Third: This is a nice shot but it needs to be cropped on the right hand side.  I feel like I have to hunt to see what’s going on with this photo and the second place photo.

First Place: Cristina Salvador Klenz, Freelance

Around 3:35 pm Long Beach Fire Department is dispatched to 2001 Pacific Avenue in Long Beach where they encountered a deceased man who are lifting to put on a stretcher. According to the Long Beach Post, 111 homeless individuals died on the streets of the city in 2023. Although Long Beach has experienced a decrease in homelessness since 2023, there are 3,376 unhoused individuals living in the city; 49 percent of them are chronically homeless. Nationwide, drug and alcohol overdoses are the primary causes of death in the homeless population.

Second Place: Brandon Richardson, Long Beach Watchdog

Mike Finney, 71, cradles his 1-year-old shiweenie puppy Brea, which died in a house fire in East Long Beach Thursday, April 18, 2024.

Third Place: Thomas Cordova, Long Beach Post

A Long Beach SWAT officers takes up a position behind. bearcat during an hours-long search of a man who ran from the police in Long Beach, Thursday, April 25, 2024.

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Entertainment

First:   Loved this photo for its simplicity and blue warm tone.
Second: Great moment on this.  And the with the girl in the background.
Third: The lighting on this makes this and the black and white.

First Place: Thomas Cordova, Long Beach Post

Rome Lopez, 18, sings the 1978 hit I Will Survive during the Renaissance High School's celebration of its 20th anniversary with an open house in Long Beach, Friday, April 12, 2024.

Second Place: Brandon Richardson, Long Beach Watchdog

Drag queen Megami performs at Hamburger Mary's in Downtown Long Beach Wednesday, May 16, 2024.

Third Place: Scott Mitchell, Freelance

ANDY GARCIA and The CINESON All STARS with Arturo Sandoval, The City National Grove Anaheim, CA, USA, June 14, 2024.

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Sports Features

First:  This is a nice “thrill of victory, agony of defeat” photo. Says it all in one super-clean photo.
Second: Bizarre moment that makes you laugh and say “what the heck?”
Third: Creative way to do a feature for a game that may or may not have been interesting
HM: I love how this is framed. You can’t even see his face.

First Place: Gina Ferazzi, Los Angeles Times

LOS ANGELES, CA - MAY17, 2024: Dodgers Jason Heyward runs the bases in front of Cincinnati Reds shortstop Elly De La Cruz (44) after hitting a 2-run homer in the eighth inning at Dodger Stadium on May 17, 2024 in Los Angeles, California.

Second Place: Robert Gauthier, Log Angeles Times

Los Angeles, CA, Monday, May 6, 2024 - Los Angeles Dodgers first base Freddie Freeman (5) receives a fateful of sunflower seeds from teammate Teoscar Hernandez after hitting a first inning homer against Miami Marlins pitcher Roddery Muñoz (71) at Dodger Stadium.

Third Place: Robert Gauthier, Los Angeles Times

Los Angeles, CA, Monday, May 6, 2024 - An in camera multiple exposure of Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Alex Vesia (51) pitching the 9th inning against the Miami Marlins at Dodger Stadium.

HM: Thomas Cordova, Long Beach Post

First-place winner Scott Dixon gets a face full of champagne from third-place winner Alex Palou at the winnerÕs circle after the 49th Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach Sunday, April 21, 2024.

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Sports Action

First:  First is one of those magic “Matrix” moments in still photography. You can’t help but marvel at the athleticism. Love how his look brings you to the ball.
Second: The background is nice on this. Maybe a tighter crop would help this.
Third: Third is nice use of motion blur to capture the speed of racing. The car framed between the two trees helped push this photo onto the podium.

First Place: Scott Mitchell, Freelance

MLS -Major League Soccer - FC Dallas goalkeeper Maarten Paes along with the LAFC fans have their eyes on the ball as it heads toward the back of the net as LAFC defeated FC Dallas 1 to 0, BMO Stadium, Los Angeles, CA, USA, June 1, 2024.

Second Place: Gina Ferazzi, Los Angeles Times

LOS ANGELES, CA - MAY18, 2024: Dodgers left fielder Miguel Vargas (27) collides with Dodgers center fielder Andy Pages (44) forcing Pages to drop the ball on a triple hit by Cincinnati Reds outfielder Jake Fraley (27) in the fifth inning at Dodger Stadium on May 18, 2024 in Los Angeles, California.

Third Place: Thomas Cordova, Long Beach Post

Marcus Ericsson, #28, makes his way across the backstretch at the 49th Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach in Long Beach, Sunday, April 21, 2024.

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2024 Q2 Picture Story

Judged by Tony Overman of the Olympian

First Place: First is a beautiful (didn’t we say that before?) set of images from a near ghost town struggling to hang on. The colors are gorgeous, and some of the images are worthy of an art gallery.
Second: An action-packed, drama-filled story from inside a free Palestine demonstration (protest?). Chaos, drama, emotion. We felt kind of claustrophobic from being so close to the chaos.
Third: Wonderful set of portraits and moments of a man living in his car. The photos made us care about this guy.

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First Place: Gina Ferazzi, LOS ANGELES Times

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AMBOY, CA - Amboy has long served weary travelers — first as a railroad station, and later as a roadside attraction that’s especially popular with people touring the Mother Road, Route 66. But this slice of Americana has been beset by a series of crises that stretch back more than half a century.Smack in the middle of a windswept corner of the Mojave that looks like Mars, its permanent population is now zero. Its infrastructure: a smattering of vacant houses and empty outbuildings; a shuttered post office, a church with no congregants and a school with no students. Roy’s is the only operational business. And the only operational portion of that is the store, stocked with cold drinks, snacks and souvenirs, and the gas station — three mechanical pumps that require an attendant to dispense fuel, which was recently priced at $6.49 for a gallon of regular. The new owner inherited the town from his father last year and is hoping to fulfill his father’s legacy and turn the place around.Joan and Kirk Bullard sit under the awning of the Roy’s gas station and cafe on May 24, 2024 in Amboy, California.

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AMBOY, CA - MAY 24, 2024: Roy’s Motel and Cafe sign is reflected in the windshield of a vintage vehicle parked next to the sign on May 24, 2024 in Amboy, California. The new owner of the ghost town, Kyle Okura, is trying to revitalize the town by reopening the vacant cottages, motel and cafe in time for the 100 year anniversary of Route 66 in 2026.

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AMBOY, CA - MAY 24, 2024: Amateur photographer Max Moersch captures the lit Roy’s Motel sign against a dusk sky on May 24, 2024 in Amboy, California. The new owner of the ghost town, Kyle Okura, is trying to revitalize the town by reopening the vacant cottages, motel and cafe in time for the 100 year anniversary of Route 66 in 2026.

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AMBOY, CA - MAY 24, 2024: Assistant Manager Nicole Rachel stares into the desert landscape after pumping gas for a customer at Roy’s gas station and cafe on May 24, 2024 in Amboy, California. The new owner of the ghost town, Kyle Okura, is trying to revitalize the town by reopening the vacant cottages, motel and cafe in time for the 100 year anniversary of Route 66 in 2026.

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AMBOY, CA - MAY 24, 2024: Assistant manager Nicole Rachel works behind the counter at Roy’s cafe on May 24, 2024 in Amboy, California.

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AMBOY, CA - MAY 24, 2024: French tourists take a group selfie on National Trails Highway (Route 66) in front of Roy’s motel and cafe sign on May 24, 2024 in Amboy, California. The new owner of the ghost town, Kyle Okura, is trying to revitalize the town by reopening the vacant cottages, motel and cafe in time for the 100 year anniversary of Route 66 in 2026.

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AMBOY, CA - MAY 24, 2024: The faded Amboy School sign still stands even though the school is vacant and dilapidated on May 24, 2024 in Amboy, California.

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AMBOY, CA - MAY 24, 2024: Text books and papers are strewn on the floor in a large classroom framed with wall size chalkboards inside the abandoned Amboy school, which was closed in 1999 on May 24, 2024 in Amboy, California.

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AMBOY, CA - MAY 24, 2024: Playground equipment still stands among tumbleweeds in the desert landscape as seen through a broken window inside the abandoned Amboy school, which was closed in 1999 on May 24, 2024 in Amboy, California.

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AMBOY, CA - MAY 24, 2024: Assistant Manager Nicole Rachel unlocks the small historic church for tourists on May 24, 2024 in Amboy, California. The new owner of the ghost town, Kyle Okura, is trying to revitalize the town by reopening the vacant cottages, motel and cafe in time for the 100 year anniversary of Route 66 in 2026.

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AMBOY, CA - MAY 24, 2024: Assistant Manager Nicole Rachel stands in the doorway of the small historic church across the street from Roy’s motel and cafe on May 24, 2024 in Amboy, California. The new owner of the ghost town, Kyle Okura, is trying to revitalize the town by reopening the vacant cottages, motel and cafe in time for the 100 year anniversary of Route 66 in 2026.

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AMBOY, CA - MAY 24, 2024: Roy’s Motel and Cafe sign are lit against a dusk sky on May 24, 2024 in Amboy, California. The new owner of the ghost town, Kyle Okura, is trying to revitalize the town by reopening the vacant cottages, motel and cafe in time for the 100 year anniversary of Route 66 in 2026.

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Second Place: Robert Gauthier, Los Angeles Times

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Irvine, CA, Wednesday, May 15, 2024 - After weeks of demonstrators camping on the UC Irvine campus, the call was made to disperse them after a group occupied a building. Scores of law enforcement personnel from various agencies move hundreds of demonstrating students, faculty and supporters protesting the treatment of Palestinians and the UC system’s investments in Isreali interests. (

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Irvine, CA, Wednesday, May 15, 2024 - Demonstrators retreat while others resist as law enforcement personnel from various agencies methodically push forward.

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Irvine, CA, Wednesday, May 15, 2024 - Demonstrators fall while fleeing the surge of police at UC Irvine. Scores of law enforcement personnel from various agencies move hundreds of demonstrating students, faculty and supporters protesting the treatment of Palestinians and the UC system’s investments in Isreali interests.

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Irvine, CA, Wednesday, May 15, 2024 - A protester holds her hands in the sign of a heart while standing behind a makeshift barricade as police prepare to push forward. Scores of law enforcement personnel from various agencies move hundreds of demonstrating students, faculty and supporters protesting the treatment of Palestinians and the UC system’s investments in Isreali interests.

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Irvine, CA, Wednesday, May 15, 2024 - According to some students, Wednesday’s action was taken after members of the protest negotiating team were suspended by the university. “They forced our hand,” said a student who declined to give her name for fear of retaliation by the university.The action also coincided with the 76th anniversary of the Nakba, Arabic for “catastrophe,” which refers to the estimated 700,000 Palestinians who fled or were forced from their homes during the 1948 war surrounding Israel’s creation.

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Irvine, CA, Wednesday, May 15, 2024 - Student representatives met with university leadership two weeks earlier to discuss whether the school would agree to their divestment demands in exchange for an end to the encampment. But talks were not fruitful, according to student organizers, and their encampment persisted.The group had asked for an end to “violent extremism” funding, amnesty for student protesters, a commitment to an academic boycott of Israel and removal of what the group calls “Zionist programming.”

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Irvine, CA, Wednesday, May 15, 2024 - “I’ve never seen a mobilization like this,” Lorenzo Love, a Laguna Beach resident, told a Times reporter while visiting the protest to support students speaking out about the Israel-Hamas war.“These kids were peaceful,” Love said.By around 5:30 p.m., several demonstrators had been taken into custody, and officers were ripping down some of the tents and barriers. Arrests continued as a group of officers made its way into the previously-barricaded lecture hall.

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Irvine, CA, Wednesday, May 15, 2024 - By about 8:30 p.m., the second of two unlawful-assembly orders was given by police officers. At that point, several dozens protesters remained, most of whom were standing on the grass or slowly walking away. “Where is the unlawful assembly?” said one student organizer.

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Irvine, CA, Wednesday, May 15, 2024 -Many protesters considered the forceful response unnecessary, at some points chanting “Peaceful protest!” while others felt the police presence added new safety concerns. One, a global studies professor, shouted, “Shame on them! Shame on them!” while being led away by officers.

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Irvine, CA, Wednesday, May 15, 2024 - A protester Is processed after being detained at a pro-palestinian campus demonstration.

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Irvine, CA, Wednesday, May 15, 2024 - The Orange County district attorney’s office said that any person who was arrested would be charged with failing to disperse. It will be at least a week before any charging decisions are made for those arrested, the office said; all those detained have been released.“The right to peaceful assembly is a constitutional right and we encourage protesters to exercise their right to peaceful assembly; however, criminal activity which transcends peaceful assembly, including violence and vandalism of any kind, will not be tolerated,” Dist. Atty. Todd Spitzer said.

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Irvine, CA, Wednesday, May 15, 2024 - A small group of demonstrators continued its standoff with police, waving Palestinian flags and chanting, “Peaceful protest,” as officers stood watch and a police helicopter circled above.“Community came out,” one student said, standing in the middle of Aldrich Park, several hundred feet away from the police line. “We did successfully take over the building even if it was for a short period. We held our ground for hours. That’s a big win.”

Third Place: Cristina Klenz Salvador, FREELANCE

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A native of Long Beach, California, Albert is a 38-year-old Romani-American man and part of the conservative Machvaya nation whose traditions date back more than a thousand years ago to their native India. The Machvaya spent considerable time enslaved in Romania and as part of the militia in Serbia before immigrating to the United States in the mid-1800s. Albert is a descendant of a proud and upstanding Romani family that is well know in California. Like many American minorities, some Romani families are experiencing severe economic hardship while other individuals struggle with homelessness. Albert has been living on and off the streets since the death of his mother many years ago. He is currently living in his car.

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Albert keeps rubbing alcohol and sanitizer in his car to clean his hands and face. He is attentive and concerned with cleanliness.

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Albert may go several days without food. He receives a very limited income in the form of General Relief from the County of Los Angeles, which is given to adults without income or resources. “I don’t read. That’s the problem. I only read 40 or 60 words. I taught myself how to read. I went to school and told the people that I never went to school in my life and they put me in special ed for reading. Ruby (his mother) didn’t know how to read either.”

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Albert washes his clothes at a laundromat in Long Beach.

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Albert’s spends most of his day looking for customers who need bodywork on their cars in local strip malls. He approaches customers in a straightforward manner, “Sorry to bother you” and asks if he can do bodywork on their car, which is a trade he learned from his uncle Albert. He also searches for people willing to have their lights oxidized. “I make the headlights white again.” Albert buffs a customer’s headlights and the waits for an hour for her to return from inside the store to pay him. Albert may look for work all day and not make any money. Regardless, he remains polite and ends all his interactions with a simple, “God bless you.”

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Albert checks his reflection in a window to see the fit of a shirt at a Goodwill store in Long Beach, California. He shopped for designer brands, which are the types of clothes he wore before becoming homeless. His cousin says that Albert had been an intelligent and hardworking businessman.

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Albert parks his Toyota near strip malls so he can look for work. He alternates between neighborhoods in the north and Eastside of Long Beach.

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Albert is participating in a pilot program with the Los Angeles County Department of Public Social Services (DPSS), so that he can find housing through the General Relief Housing Subsidy Program. Since his car is unreliable, he takes the bus from Long Beach and then walks two miles through Compton to reach the DPSS.

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After visiting the Los Angeles County Department of Public Social Services (DPSS) in Compton for help obtaining housing, Albert returns to Long Beach and finds a $65 ticket on his car for expired tags. He received a warning from a parking enforcement attendant that his car would be towed if seen on the street again without proper registration. Albert keeps everything he owns in his car and he would lose all his possessions if the car were towed.

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Albert drinks a small bottle of whiskey to help with the pain in his infected teeth. At the young age of 38, Albert suffers from gum disease and severe tooth decay from a lack of dental hygiene and from drinking sugary beverages as a child. Albert has an appointment scheduled to have is teeth extracted and replaced with dentures.

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2024 Q2 Photo Essay

Judged by Tony Overman of the Olympian

First Place :First is an excellent edit of photos that tell so many angles of the border situation with both beautiful and story-telling images. Excellent!
Second Place: Second is a collection of fantastic images - portraits really - of those living on the streets. Great mix of sadness, happiness and despair.
Third Place: Third are a great selection of images from a pride festival. Energetic and fun.

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First Place: Robert Gauthier, Los Angeles Times

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Jacumba Hot Springs, CA, Sunday, May 12, 2024 - Officials conceded that the president’s executive action, which is likely to face legal challenges, is essentially a stopgap. The lack of additional funding for resources at the border, along with potentially limited cooperation from Mexico and migrants’ home countries, could also hamper the administration’s efforts.Migrants and asylum sleep in a makeshift camp located near the I-8 freeway, hours after crossing the border through rocky, mountainous terrain. (Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)

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Jacumba Hot Springs, CA, Sunday, May 12, 2024 - A Border Patrol agent photographs women who are lined up to be transported at a makeshift camp located near the I-8 freeway. (Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)

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Jacumba Hot Springs, CA, Sunday, May 12, 2024 - “This action will help us gain control of our border, restore order into the process,” Biden said during a press conference Tuesday. “This ban will remain in place until a number of people trying to enter legally is reduced to a level that our system can effectively manage.”Migrants wait to be transported by Border Patrol after gathering in a makeshift camp after crossing the border through rocky, mountainous terrain. (Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)

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Jacumba Hot Springs, CA, Monday, May 13, 2024 - Despite new rules restricting access to asylum for thousands of people crossing daily East of San Diego. People desperate to live in the U.S. continue to risk their lives, often walking miles in mountainous terrain at night, ready to surrender to border agents. (Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)

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Tijuana, Mexico, Tuesday, June 4, 2024 - Rosario Delia, left, from Chiapas, Mexico, and spouse Gracia Maria from El Salvador, share a moment together outside Movimiento Juventud 2000 migrant shelter, where they are living while waiting to apply for asylum in the U.S.. They have waited two months for an appointment. They said they had faced discrimination as a gay couple, including in Tijuana, and fled gang extortion.Cortez said the new rule is fair. Hopefully, it means more appointments could open up through the app, she said.“It’s not fair that someone enters irregularly while others are following the rules,” she said. “We all need to be patient.” (Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)

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Barrett Junction, CA, Tuesday, June 4, 2024 - Shortly after President Biden’s executive order to restrict asylum access took effect late Tuesday, 50 migrants completed a nine-hour trek through the mountains just north of Tecate, Mexico.(Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)

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Barrett Junction, CA, Tuesday, June 4, 2024 - They lined up single file against the brush, in a dusty clearing steps from Highway 94, and waited for Border Patrol agents to pick them up. The migrants, a group including men, women and children from Cuba, Ecuador, China and Brazil, were exhausted, nearly out of food and water. (Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)

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San Diego, CA, Wednesday, June 5, 2024 - A large border patrol bus pulls up to transport dozens of people seeking asylum at the US/Mexico border. (Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)

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San Diego, CA, Wednesday, June 5, 2024 - An asylum seeker receives food offered by the American Friends Service Committee as they wait to be detained by border patrol. (Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)

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San Diego, CA, Wednesday, June 5, 2024 - Many hadn’t heard of the order, which raises the legal standard for asylum claims and blocks access for those crossing the border illegally when average arrests are higher than 2,500 a day.Pedro Rios of the American Friends Service Committee offers a cup of noodles to an asylum seeker. (Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)

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San Diego, CA, Wednesday, June 5, 2024 - Pedro Rios of the American Friends Service Committee tidies up the area located near a tent containing food and supplies used to comfort and aid people crossing the US/Mexico border. (Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)

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Campo, CA, Monday, June 3, 2024 - Men seeking asylum are detained by border patrol after crossing the US/Mexico border hours earlier. Under an nterim rule issued by the Biden administration, the president can put the border restrictions into effect when average border arrests surpass 2,500 migrants for seven days in a row — as was the case Tuesday. The rule also raises the legal bar for an asylum claim at the border from reasonable possibility the migrant will face torture at home to reasonable probability it will happen.(Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)

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Second Place: Cristina Klenz Salvador, Freelance

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Photo Essay_Intersections In time_ Long Beach From My Car is a photo essay of images I take during my travels driving through both Long Beach and Signal Hill California. All the images are taken from within my vehicle and depict the current plights of Long Beach residents especially the unhoused. The essay also documents unusual or interesting scenes that provoke emotion in the viewer. Although Long Beach has experienced a decrease in homelessness since 2023, there are 3,376 unhoused individuals living in the city; 49 percent of them are chronically homeless. Nationwide, drug and alcohol overdoses are the primary causes of death in the homeless population.Pulling numerous bags filled with bottles and cans, a man rides his bike toward the The EDC Recycling and Transfer center at 2755 California Avenue in Signal Hill.

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Photo Essay_Intersections In time_ Long Beach From My Car is a photo essay of images I take during my travels driving through both Long Beach and Signal Hill California. All the images are taken from within my vehicle and depict the current plights of Long Beach residents especially the unhoused. The essay also documents unusual or interesting scenes that provoke emotion in the viewer. A young couple stops to pose for a photo on Pacific Coast Highway in Long Beach.

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Photo Essay_Intersections In time_ Long Beach From My Car is a photo essay of images I take during my travels driving through both Long Beach and Signal Hill California. All the images are taken from within my vehicle and depict the current plights of Long Beach residents especially the unhoused. The essay also documents unusual or interesting scenes that provoke emotion in the viewer. Although Long Beach has experienced a decrease in homelessness since 2023, there are 3,376 unhoused individuals living in the city; 49 percent of them are chronically homeless. Nationwide, drug and alcohol overdoses are the primary causes of death in the homeless population.A woman named Laura protects herself with cardboard boxes on Magnolia Avenue in Long Beach near 15th Street. On one of the boxes, the was receptively writing, “Little Laura.” Numerous people walked past Laura who was leaning against a wall near the sidewalk. One of the passersby was carrying a bag with a phrase “Eat Well, Live Well.

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Photo Essay_Intersections In time_ Long Beach From My Car is a photo essay of images I take during my travels driving through both Long Beach and Signal Hill California. All the images are taken from within my vehicle and depict the current plights of Long Beach residents especially the unhoused. The essay also documents unusual or interesting scenes that provoke emotion in the viewer. The woman at left insists that paramedics transport her to the hospital while a passerby intervenes outside the Ruby Hotel, 1896 Pacific Avenue, in Long Beach.

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Photo Essay_Intersections In time_ Long Beach From My Car is a photo essay of images I take during my travels driving through both Long Beach and Signal Hill California. All the images are taken from within my vehicle and depict the current plights of Long Beach residents especially the unhoused. The essay also documents unusual or interesting scenes that provoke emotion in the viewer.Long Beach firefighters respond to the scene of an accident on Long Beach Boulevard near the 405 Freeway in Long Beach.

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Photo Essay_Intersections In time_ Long Beach From My Car is a photo essay of images I take during my travels driving through both Long Beach and Signal Hill California. All the images are taken from within my vehicle and depict the current plights of Long Beach residents especially the unhoused. The essay also documents unusual or interesting scenes that provoke emotion in the viewer. Although Long Beach has experienced a decrease in homelessness since 2023, there are 3,376 unhoused individuals living in the city; 49 percent of them are chronically homeless. Nationwide, drug and alcohol overdoses are the primary causes of death in the homeless population.An unhoused woman walks shoeless along Del Amo Boulevard in North Long Beach.

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Photo Essay_Intersections In time_ Long Beach From My Car is a photo essay of images I take during my travels driving through both Long Beach and Signal Hill California. All the images are taken from within my vehicle and depict the current plights of Long Beach residents especially the unhoused. The essay also documents unusual or interesting scenes that provoke emotion in the viewer. A woman walks on the platform of A Line Metro along Long Beach Boulevard in Long Beach.

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Photo Essay_Intersections In time_ Long Beach From My Car is a photo essay of images I take during my travels driving through both Long Beach and Signal Hill California. All the images are taken from within my vehicle and depict the current plights of Long Beach residents especially the unhoused. The essay also documents unusual or interesting scenes that provoke emotion in the viewer. A couple embraces as the woman notices the photographer taking her photo in Signal Hill, California.

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Photo Essay_Intersections In time_ Long Beach From My Car is a photo essay of images I take during my travels driving through both Long Beach and Signal Hill California. All the images are taken from within my vehicle and depict the current plights of Long Beach residents especially the unhoused. The essay also documents unusual or interesting scenes that provoke emotion in the viewer. Although Long Beach has experienced a decrease in homelessness since 2023, there are 3,376 unhoused individuals living in the city; 49 percent of them are chronically homeless. Nationwide, drug and alcohol overdoses are the primary causes of death in the homeless population.Ray takes shelter in the doorway of the Park Broadway building next to a window display of the building’s luxury rental units located at 245 W. Broadway in downtown Long Beach.

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Photo Essay_Intersections In time_ Long Beach From My Car is a photo essay of images I take during my travels driving through both Long Beach and Signal Hill California. All the images are taken from within my vehicle and depict the current plights of Long Beach residents especially the unhoused. The essay also documents unusual or interesting scenes that provoke emotion in the viewer. Long Beach Police and Fire Department respond to a call and transport a woman with a head injury near 2120 Pacific Avenue in Long Beach.

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Photo Essay_Intersections In time_ Long Beach From My Car is a photo essay of images I take during my travels driving through both Long Beach and Signal Hill California. All the images are taken from within my vehicle and depict the current plights of Long Beach residents especially the unhoused. The essay also documents unusual or interesting scenes that provoke emotion in the viewer. Although Long Beach has experienced a decrease in homelessness since 2023, there are 3,376 unhoused individuals living in the city; 49 percent of them are chronically homeless. Nationwide, drug and alcohol overdoses are the primary causes of death in the homeless population.Johnny Hayes, who has found a home on the sidewalk adjacent to the emergency entrance of St. Mary Medical Center in Long Beach, states that he has been unhoused for one month.

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Photo Essay_Intersections In time_ Long Beach From My Car is a photo essay of images I take during my travels driving through both Long Beach and Signal Hill California. All the images are taken from within my vehicle and depict the current plights of Long Beach residents especially the unhoused. The essay also documents unusual or interesting scenes that provoke emotion in the viewer. Daeliani, Mikequan and Julian wait for the bus on Pacific Avenue near Pacific Coast Highway in Long Beach.

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Third place: Brandon Richardson, Long Beach Watchdog

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Thousands of prople turned out for the 41st annual Long Beach Pride parade and festival Sunday, May 19, 2024. The parade included dozens of entries and hundrends of participants, with Ocean Boulevard in Downtown Long Beach lined with viewers. The festival, including vendors and live musical performances took place directly after the parade at Marina Green Park.Tyler Walsh, 33, left, and Ginny Neyer, 39, kiss in front of religious protesters ahead of the 41st Long Beach Pride Parade Sunday, May 19, 2024.

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The Dykes on Bikes club rides in the 41st Long Beach Pride Parade Sunday, May 19, 2024.

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Skaters take turns shredding Pigeon's Roller Skate Shop's halfpipe on wheels during the 41st Long Beach Pride Parade Sunday, May 19, 2024.

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People gather on an apartment building patio to watch the 41st Long Beach Pride Parade Sunday, May 19, 2024.

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Paulina Perez, 40, rides in the Adelitas Revenge Gifts y Mas car during the 41st Long Beach Pride Parade Sunday, May 19, 2024.

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A performer gives a lap dance to a parade goer during the 41st Long Beach Pride Parade Sunday, May 19, 2024.

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Adelitas Revenge Gifts y Mas doles out shots of tequila during the 41st Long Beach Pride Parade Sunday, May 19, 2024.

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The SoCal Pride Color Guard twirl their banners during the 41st Long Beach Pride Parade Sunday, May 19, 2024.

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Rashawn Lamar, 38, of Romance and Dance shows off his pole dancing skills during the 41st Long Beach Pride Festival at Marina Green park Sunday, May 19, 2024.

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People dance during ReyChango's set at the 41st Long Beach Pride Festival at Marina Green park Sunday, May 19, 2024.

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Jônia Queen, director and choreographer of Raiz Brazil, dance in the crowd while she performs at the 41st Long Beach Pride Festival at Marina Green park Sunday, May 19, 2024.

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The Pride flag waves during the 41st Long Beach Pride Parade Sunday, May 19, 2024.

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