Shooting the Pulitzer

By NMHC

WHAT: Presentation examining Pulitzer Prize-winning photographs

WHEN: Thursday, September 27, 6:00 pm – 7:30pm

WHERE: KiMo Theatre, 423 Central Ave, NW, Albuquerque

PUBLIC INFO:   FREE; www.nmhum.org; 505.633.7370

PRESS CONTACTS: Michelle Quisenberry; micaela@nmhum.org; 505.633.7374

Shooting the Pulitzer

Hal Buell and Cyma Rubin discuss Pulitzer Prize-Winning photographs

Albuquerque, NM – The Pulitzer Prize, one of the world’s most prestigious awards made annually for excellence in journalism and the arts, will be the subject of Shooting the Pulitzer, a visual presentation on the Pulitzer’s awards to news photography. Famous Pulitzer pictures from World War II to the present will be highlighted.

Join us on Thursday, September 27, 2018 at 6:00 pm at the historic KiMo Theatre, 423 Central Ave NW, Albuquerque. This program is FREE and open to the public.

The discussion will feature a discussion with Associated Press photographer and photo editor Hal Buell and Tony and Emmy-Award winning writer, director and producer Cyma Rubin.

Buell, former head of the Associated Press’s (AP) worldwide photo service, has covered stories in 35 countries during his AP career and headed the wire services photo operation for 25 of his more than 40 years with AP. During Buell’s tenure as head of the AP picture service, AP staff won 12 Pulitzer Prizes, plus other national and international awards for photography. He has authored numerous books, including MOMENTS: The Pulitzer Prize-Winning Photographs and was a two-time member of the jury that selects the winning photos for the Pulitzer Prizes.

An appreciation of the importance of photojournalism will be the subject of Hal Buell’s presentation. He will offer special insight into visual literacy in a world of staggering photo content that flashes across the media and the internet.

“Modern technology,” Buell said, “has delivered the greatest number of pictures in the fastest time providing in many cases an overload of visually strong and influential material.”

In his fully illustrated presentation, Buell describes how the picture was made and the obstacles the photographer faced often at great risk. In some cases, via a video clip, the photographer describes his story, the environment and the challenge encountered to freeze a particular moment in time.

Buell should know a little bit about what makes a captivating photo. As a photo editor with the AP, Buell sent out probably two of the most iconic images from the Vietnam War – photographer Nick Ut’s famous “Napalm Girl” photo and the image of a Viet Cong prisoner being executed.

“Many of the Pulitzer pictures are well known, recognizable by any reader or viewer who has followed the news,” Buell said, “but their back stories are not as well known, and are often more interesting and telling than the photos themselves.”

Rubin, is a Tony and Emmy award producer, director, writer. She produced the Broadway smash-hit revival of “No, No, Nanette”, which received six Tony nominations and won four Tony Awards.

Her feature film, “Greaser’s Palace”, was named Outstanding Film of the Year at the London Film Festival. She produced educational programs for Pepsi-Cola, Movies-of-the-Week for CBS and documentaries for Japanese television.

For Turner Network Television, she produced and directed “Moment of Impact: Stories of the Pulitzer Prize Photographs” which was awarded the 1999 Emmy and Telly awards for best documentary.

Ms. Rubin conceived and did the original research for the exhibition THE PULITZER PRIZE PHOTOGRAPHS, which opened in Tokyo in 1998. In 2000, the first American exhibition of The Pulitzer Prize Photographs Capture the Moment, opened in New York City. Ms. Rubin wrote, edited and produced the exhibition book.

Ms. Rubin curated and produced THE AMERICAN SOLDIER, A Photographic Tribute, From the Civil War to the War in Iraq. It has been seen by over one million people. She edited and produced the exhibition book.

Her latest exhibition THE FORGOTTEN WAR KOREA 1950 with photographs by Pulitzer Prize winner Max Desfor, is being shown in history museums and Presidential Libraries.

A native New Yorker, Cyma Rubin graduated from North Carolina State University and from The New York School of Interior Design. From North Carolina State University, she received an Honorary Doctorate Degree of Fine Arts and the Distinguished Alumni Award in 2003. She is a member of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, the Writers Guild of America East, the Overseas Press Club, National Press Photographers Association, the executive committee of the Weill Cornell Medical Council and a trustee of the North Carolina Society of New York. She lives in New York City.

The presentation will offer a stimulating look at journalistic ethics and taste. Time will be allotted for audience engagement, Q&A.

A VIP reception will be held before the presentation. For more information and to buy tickets, go to the Humanities Council website at nmhum.org.

The New Mexico Humanities Council seeks to engage New Mexicans with history, culture and diverse humanities topics through public programming. Learn more at www.nmhum.org.