P.O. Box 548, 132 Fairfield St. West, Twin Falls, ID 83303-0548 (208) 733-0931
January 19, 2021
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. All of those moments looked different in 2020. Nash took the COVID-19 pandemic in stride. He covered testing outside a hospital that wouldn’t let media on its grounds, came up with a project documenting families inside their homes during quarantine and challenged himself with video including a cooking series and a series of socially distanced hikes. Graduation ceremonies turned into graduation parades and senior portraits became porch portraits. Nash also covered protests and vigils for Black Lives Matter and protests against mask-wearing and other coronavirus restrictions. 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. This year 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. Nash’s portfolio selections show his range of talents from portraits to breaking news, from sports to scenic shots. Thank you for considering him for this award. Editor Alison Smith