Columbian staffers honored for photojournalism

Columbian photographers Nathan Howard and Alisha Jucevic and Photo Editor Amanda Cowan have been honored for their photojournalism with four awards in the 2019 Associated Press Northwest photo contest.

Howard won the coveted Cowles Cup Award for his work documenting the joys and challenges experienced by a Vancouver family in adopting a 9-year-old boy with behavioral health challenges stemming from a traumatic early childhood and more than three years in the foster care system.

That photo package, titled “Adopting Kaine,” also won Howard honors as a non-metro multiple photo picture story.

The Cowles Cup, awarded each year since 1952, is named for William Hutchison Cowles, former publisher of The Spokesman-Review.

Jucevic, who was the previous recipient of the Cowles Cup, was honored in 2019 for a non-metro feature photo titled “Living with ALS.”

Her photo captures the love and support between Carol and Lyndon Gabriel as they face the day-to-day consequences of Lyndon Gabriel’s diagnosis with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease.

Cowan received the award for non-metro portrait for a photo titled “Hartley Grandfather.”

Her photo depicted the grandfather of Hartley Anderson, a 5-year-old girl allegedly killed by her mother’s boyfriend, as her family gathered outside of the Clark County Courthouse following the suspect’s first appearance in the case on Nov. 5, 2018.

“We’re proud of our photo staff and glad that we can share their good work with our readers,” said Columbian Editor Craig Brown.