P.O. Box 548, 132 Fairfield St. West, Twin Falls, ID 83303-0548 (208) 733-0931
January 20, 2022
Dear Judges, I’m proud to nominate Times-News photographer Drew Nash for the award of photographer of the year. For Times-News readers, Nash is a familiar face. He’s covered the Magic Valley’s important moments both big and small over the past decade: first days of kindergarten, graduations, art shows, court dates, wildfires and tragedies. As in 2020, these everyday stories looked different in 2021. From breaking news, to high school sports to city council coverage, Nash led our photo coverage for the first time as our only full-time photographer. Amid coronavirus, run-of-the-mill assignments became dangerous, as Idaho lacks nearly any COVID-19 safety mandates. But Nash has been creative and kept himself, his colleagues and sources safe. Over the past years, our newspaper saw great change in our staff with turnover and cuts. Nash has stepped up, running our Instagram account, spearheading our video coverage and becoming a one-man photo department as I had to reassign our second photographer to cover sports part way through the year. I believe Nash’s portfolio selections show his great range of talents, and I hope you agree. Thank you for considering him for this award. Editor Alison Smith