2022 Qtr. 2 Photo Essay

Doug Pizac, Quarter 2 Judge

First place

The somber mood of the photographs match the somberness of a young woman taking medication to abort her pregnancy, and her reaction afterwards. Very touching.

Second place

Again, somber reality sets in with the Supreme Court overturning Roe vs. Wade. The isolation of the situation is strongly shown in the photographs.

The other entries lacked the complex layers and issues that the category is defined as.

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First Place: Gina Ferrazi, Los Angeles Times

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MCALLEN, TX - APRIL 28, 2022: Krystal, 26, closes her eyes the moment after taking medication to abort her 6-week pregnancy at the Whole Woman’s Health clinic on April 28, 2022 in McAllen, Texas. Texas law allows abortions up to 6-weeks, but that may end entirely if the Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade. Roe was overturned on June 24.

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MCALLEN, TX - APRIL 27, 2022: Krystal, 26, gets an ultrasound from Dr. Blair Cushing to confirm her 6-week pregnancy at the Whole Woman’s Health clinic on April 27, 2022 in McAllen, Texas. Krystal took the abortion pill the next day to end her pregnancy. Texas law allows abortions up to 6-weeks, but that may soon end entirely if the Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade. Roe was overturned on June 24.

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MCALLEN, TX - APRIL 27, 2022: Krystal, 26, gets an ultrasound from Dr. Blair Cushing, back, to confirm her 6-week pregnancy at the Whole Woman’s Health clinic on April 27, 2022 in McAllen, Texas. Krystal took the abortion pill the next day to end her pregnancy. Texas law allows abortions up to 6-weeks, but that may soon end entirely if the Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade. Roe was overturned on June 24.

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MCALLEN, TX - APRIL 27, 2022: Dr. Blair Cushing discusses options to Krystal, 26, after an ultrasound confirmed her 6-week pregnancy at the Whole Woman’s Health clinic on April 27, 2022 in McAllen, Texas. Krystal was administered the abortion pill the next day to end her pregnancy. Texas law allows abortions up to 6-weeks, but that may soon end entirely if the Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade.

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MCALLEN, TX - APRIL 28, 2022: Dr. Blair Cushing fills in patients charts after administering medication abortions at the Whole Woman’s Health clinic on April 28, 2022 in McAllen, Texas.

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MCALLEN, TX - APRIL 28, 2022: Dr. Blair Cushing gives Krystal, 26, medication to abort her 6-week 8, 2022 in McAllen, Texas. Texas law allows abortions up to 6-weeks, but that may soon end entirely if the Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade. Roe was overturned on June 24.

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MCALLEN, TX - APRIL 29, 2022: Krystal, 26, stands on the street corner outside the clinic after taking medication to abort her 6-week pregnancy at the Whole Woman’s Health clinic on April 29, 2022 in McAllen, Texas. Texas law allows abortions up to 6-weeks, but that need on June 24 when the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.

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Second Place: Gina Ferrazi, Los Angeles Times

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SAN ANTONIO, TX- JUNE 24, 2022: Dr Alan Braid sits in his office in disbelief after just being informed at 9:13am that the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade shutting down abortion services at Alamo Women’s Reproductive Services on June 24, 2022 in San Antonio, Texas. The clinic had to turn patients away once the ruling came down.

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SAN ANTONIO, TX- JUNE 24, 2022: A staff member reacts after just hearing the news that the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade shutting down abortion services at Alamo Women’s Reproductive Services on June 24, 2022 in San Antonio, Texas. The clinic had to turn patients away once the ruling came down.

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SAN ANTONIO, TX- JUNE 24, 2022: Dr Alan Braid, right, informs patients inside the waiting room that he can no longer provide abortion services since the Supreme Court had just overturned Roe v. Wade shutting down abortion services at Alamo Women’s Reproductive Services on June 24, 2022 in San Antonio, Texas. The clinic had to turn patients away once the ruling came down.

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SAN ANTONIO, TX- JUNE 24, 2022: Sitting in the waiting room, a patient who wished to be known only by her first name, Liz, contemplates her abortion choices after just being told that the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade shutting down abortion series at Alamo Women’s Reproductive Services where she had an appointment on June 24, 2022 in San Antonio, Texas. The clinic had to turn patients away once the ruling came down.

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SAN ANTONIO, TX- JUNE 24, 2022: Anti-abortion protesters pray in a circle moments after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade outside Alamo Women’s Reproductive Services on June 24, 2022 in San Antonio, Texas. The clinic had to turn patients away once the ruling came down and stop providing abortion services.

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SAN ANTONIO, TX- JUNE 24, 2022: A teary staff member hugs a patient after informing her the clinic could no longer provide abortion services after juts moments earlier the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade shutting down abortion services at Alamo Women’s Reproductive Services on June 24, 2022 in San Antonio, Texas. The clinic had to turn patients away once the ruling came down.

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SAN ANTONIO, TX- JUNE 24, 2022: A patient is brought to tears as a staff member informs her that the clinic can no longer provide services after moments earlier the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade shutting down abortion services at Alamo Women’s Reproductive Services on June 24, 2022 in San Antonio, Texas. The clinic had to turn patients away once the ruling came down.

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SAN ANTONIO, TX- JUNE 24, 2022: The waiting room at Alamo Women’s Reproductive Services is empty as just an hour prior the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade shutting down abortion services at Alamo Women’s Reproductive Services on June 24, 2022 in San Antonio, Texas. The clinic had to turn patients away once the ruling came down.

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Meet Our Judge, Doug Pizac

Doug Pizac began his career with four summer internships at National Geographic working his way up from the b/w and color labs through photography to becoming a picture editor and doing magazine layouts. He became the team photographer for the California Angels the day after graduating from Cal State Fullerton. This introduced him to AP and UPI where he worked for both of them as a freelancer, including a temp full-time job as an AP staffer.

After working a year at a paper in Owensboro, Kentucky shooting and doing layouts, he worked two years at the Tampa Tribune/Times doing the same before being recalled to Los Angeles for a 30+ year career at AP -- half in Los Angeles and half in Salt Lake City where his territory was from the Arizona border to Canada. While in Los Angeles he was given an outstanding dedication award by The Greater Los Angeles Press Club for his work during the 1992 riots.

Following AP he turned his attention to creating his own photography business and teaching college photo courses in SLC, and is now teaching communication classes part-time at the Vancouver campus of Washington State University. When not teaching or helping up and coming photographers, he has been judging AP-related state photo contests in the east for the past several years and spends his free time doing woodturning and woodworking projects in his Vancouver home workshop.

His wife is Betty Pizac who was a freelancer for AP and UPI in Seattle, and an AP-L.A. photo editor. They have two children.

2022 Qtr. 2 Picture Story

Doug Pizac, Quarter 2 Judge

This category was the most disappointing.  The definition for it is to tell a story where the loss of any images would hurt the interpretation.  Unfortunately, many of the entries had duplicate imagery which diluted their focus.

To tell a story is more than just images.  To properly portray an idea needs different elements -- an overall scene setter, medium shots and detail ones -- to get your message across.  And not only do you need these to tell the story, you also need verticals for layout purposes. These were missing from basically all the entries.  Out of the 82 photos that were entered, there were only THREE verticals, and even fewer detail and overall scene setter shots.  To create a newspaper picture page or magazine layout would be very difficult; to make a good picture page or layout would be near impossible without having to crop horizontals into verticals instead of having verticals to work with at the beginning.

Keep this in mind:  If all you shoot are horizontals, you may never have a full page photo in a magazine or on the cover of one.  And you’ll make the editors who create layouts angry at you in the meantime because you’ll be making their job all that more difficult to do.

First place

Nice matching photos of scenes from the past to what they look like today as comparisons.

Second place

Even though the majority of the shots are medium ones looking down, they at least told a story.

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First Place: Michael Nelson, Freelance

Tunisian World War II historian and director of the Patton Museum in El Guettar, Hadi Abid, points to a picture of the famous American general at the museum of artifacts and displays he has personally collected and made. He claims the desk next to him was Patton’s personal collapsable desk he used to write his accounts of the Tunisian campaign.

Sabri, a 14-year old village boy, sits on Roman era ruins that overlooks the approach US forces led by tanks took to assault Nazi forces occupying the critical Hill 609. The Americans suffered 2,453 casualties during the battle that lasted between 27 April and 1 May 1943 and was their first clear-cut victory of the campaign and has been called “the American Army’s coming-of-age”.

Tunisian Military Information Officer, Mohammed Ali Attafi, points to a map showing the North African campaign pincer movement of US forces coming from Algeria and British forces coming from Libya to battle the Axis armies in Tunisia. Almost one million combatants were involved in the seven month campaign and was one of the turning points of World War II along with the Soviet victory in Stalingrad three months earlier.

A photograph showing US soldiers conducting de-mining operations at the Kasserine train station which is still in use today. The 6-day Battle of Kasserine Pass, the first major engagement between US and Axis forces in Africa, was a major defeat for the American II Corps which suffered 3,300 killed and wounded, 3,000 captured and hundreds of tanks, armored vehicles and artillery lost. The Erwin Rommel led Afrika Korps pushed the Americans back 50 miles and led to sweeping reorganization and replacement of commanders in the US Army.

Al Willner, a foreign policy analyst and former US Army officer, looks into a fortified German position atop Longstop Hill where British soldiers battled on two ocassions for the strategic hill on the road to Tunis. They eventually prevailed on 23 April 1943 after being decisively defeated on Christmas Day 1942.

“Beneath this stone I lie in rest, our comrades and I, we did our best” is written on the tombstone of British Private J. Canvess who died on the 4th of May 1943, nine days before the surrender of Axis forces. Massicault War Cemetery is one of 11 cemeteries where 10,514 Commonwealth soldiers are buries and commemorated.

An interior corridor is pictured in the French-built command bunker complex of German General Erwin Rommel which defended the southern approaches in Tunisia from attack by British General Bernard Montgomery during the Battle for the Mareth Line from 16 March to 27 March 1943. The bunker system was built to protect France’s Tunisian colony from attack by Italian dictator, Benito Mussolini’s forces in their Libyan colony.

A historical picture of the original grave of German Army Sargent Erhard Lege is shown next to his final resting place at the German War Cemetery in Bordj-Cedria in Tunisia. The Germans and Italians suffered the defeat of their entire armies in Tunisia with an unknown number of dead and some 250,000 soldier captured when the Axis forces capitulated on 13 May 1943 ending one of the bloodiest and hardest-fought campaigns in World War II.

The grave of US Army Air Force Captain Foy Draper is pictured in the North African American cemetery in Carthage, Tunisia. Draper was from Huntington Park, California, attended the University of Southern California and was part of the gold medal and world record 4 X 100 track and field relay team with Jesse Owens in the 1936 Berlin Olympics. The Havoc bomber he piloted and his crew never returned from a mission headed to the Battle of Fondock in Tunisia on 4 January 1943.

A information booklet for visitors shows Olympian Foy Draper (2 R) as a member of the American gold medal winning 1936 Berlin Olympic team along with teammates Jesse Owens, Ralph Metcalfe and Frank Wykoff. Draper who grew up in Huntington Park, California, and attended the University of Southern California died in World War II when the Havoc bomber he piloted and his crew never returned from a mission headed to the Battle of Fondock on 4 January 1943. He is buried in the North African American Cemetery in Carthage, Tunisia.

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Second Place: Brandon Richardson, Long Beach Post

The Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach has been at the forefront of shark preservation for years. Part of the facilities efforts include the development of techniques to artificially inseminate certain species. In May, staff artificially inseminated the aquarium's zebra shark, Gatsby.Two aquarists lure Gatsby, one of the Aquarium of the Pacific's zebra sharks, into a gurneywith a piece of fish Thursday, May 12, 2022.

Zebra shark semen was shipped from South Carolina to the Aquarium of the Pacific in a refrigerated container ahead of the artificial insemination of one of the facility's sharks Thursday, May 12, 2022.

Aquarium of the Pacific staff verterinarian Lance Adams prepares to examine zebra shark semen under a microscope Thursday, May 12, 2022.

Lance Adams, the Aquarium of the Pacific's staff verterinarian, examines zebra shark semen mobility using a microscope connected to a computer monitor Thursday, May 12, 2022.

Aquarists try to lure Gatsby, one of the Aquarium of the Pacific's zebra sharks, into a gurney with a piece of fish Thursday, May 12, 2022. It took the shark several minutes to take the bait.

A group of aquarists secure Gatsby, one of the Aquarium of the Pacific's zebra sharks, in a gurney for artificial insemination Thursday, May 12, 2022.

Aquarium of the Pacific staff verterinarian Lance Adams and a team of aquarists prepare to artificially inseminate a zebra shark Thursday, May 12, 2022.

Aquarium of the Pacific staff verterinarian Lance Adams performs an ultrasound on Gatsby, one of the facility's zebra sharks, to ensure she has viable eggs before artificially inseminating her Thursday, May 12, 2022.

Lance Adams, the Aquarium of the Pacific's staff verterinarian uses a speculum to hold open the vaginal canal of Gatsby, one of the facility's zebra sharks, for artificial insemination Thursday, May 12, 2022.

Aquarium of the Pacific staff verterinarian Lance Adams injects semen into Gatsby, one of the facility's zebra sharks, Thursday, May 12, 2022.

An Aquarium of the Pacific team releases Gatsby, one of the facility's zebra sharks, after staff verterinarian Lance Adams, left, artificially inseminated her Thursday, May 12, 2022.

Gatsby, one of the Aquarium of the Pacific's zebra sharks, swims past two guests after her artificial insemination Thursday, May 12, 2022.

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Meet Our Judge, Doug Pizac

Doug Pizac began his career with four summer internships at National Geographic working his way up from the b/w and color labs through photography to becoming a picture editor and doing magazine layouts. He became the team photographer for the California Angels the day after graduating from Cal State Fullerton. This introduced him to AP and UPI where he worked for both of them as a freelancer, including a temp full-time job

as an AP staffer.

After working a year at a paper in Owensboro, Kentucky shooting and doing layouts, he worked two years at the Tampa Tribune/Times doing the same before being recalled to Los Angeles for a 30+ year career at AP -- half in Los Angeles and half in Salt Lake City where his territory was from the Arizona border to Canada. While in Los Angeles he was given an outstanding dedication award by The Greater Los Angeles Press Club for his work during the 1992 riots.

Following AP he turned his attention to creating his own photography business and teaching college photo courses in SLC, and is now teaching communication classes part-time at the Vancouver campus of Washington State University. When not teaching or helping up and coming photographers, he has been judging AP-related state photo contests in the east for the past several years and spends his free time doing woodturning and woodworking projects in his Vancouver home workshop.

His wife is Betty Pizac who was a freelancer for AP and UPI in Seattle, and an AP-L.A. photo editor. They have two children.

2022 Qtr. 1 Picture Story

Lynne Sladky, Quarter 1 Judge

First place

Such a complete story, great variety.

Second place

Excellent work to gain the trust of the homeless people living in this building.

Third place

Nice moments between the pastor and her daughter, although maybe a couple too many that are very similar.

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First Place: Mindy Schauer/Orange County Register

Lauren Genger, a licensed veterinary technician, and Veterinarian Scott Weldy, work on an anesthetized mountain lion cub last year after he was struck by a car on the 241 toll road. The animal was injured too badly to be released back into the wild. He has since been placed at the Exotic Feline Breeding Compound’s Feline Conservation Center in Rosamond, Ca.

Vet Tech Lauren Genger readies a pallas’s cat for surgery pre-COVID-19. “As the pandemic has continued, we've learned that COVID-19 can infect and cause illness in exotic cats so we've updated our standards,” she says on Monday, March 1, 2021. Staff at Lake Forest's Serrano Animal and Bird Hospital now use rubber gloves when handling cats.

A pet rat is anesthetized by vet tech Lauren Genger before surgery to remove a non-cancerous abscess at Serrano Animal and Bird Hospital in Lake Forest on Wednesday, December 29, 2021.

Vet tech Lauren Genger wears her philosophy on her wrist as she works on an animal at Serrano Animal Hospital in Lake Forest on Monday, March 1, 2021.

Lauren Genger, a licensed veterinary technician, carries an anesthetized mountain lion cub to the operating room for a procedure last year. The cub, struck by a car on the 241 toll road, was injured too badly to be released back into the wild. He has since been placed at the Exotic Feline Breeding Compound’s Feline Conservation Center in Rosamond, Ca.

A baby cougar lets out a hiss while recuperating at Serrano Animal and Bird Hospital in Lake Forest on Wednesday, December 29, 2021. The cub was only 12 weeks when he was hit by car in Monterey. Because he will never learn to hunt, he will live in a zoo after he heals.

A duck and a dog are kennel mates at Serrano Animal and Bird Hospital in Lake Forest on Wednesday, December 29, 2021, where they are both receiving treatment.

Vet tech Lauren Genger holds Butters, her sweet-tempered cat on Monday, March 1, 2021 at Serrano Animal Hospital. Butters served as a therapy pet, giving “hugs” to staff members in need. He died a few weeks after this photo was taken, sending Genger into a difficult period of grief. She had four tattoos made of butter’s paw prints in the exact spots they appear in this photo.

The sun reflects off a “You’re so Rad” pin Vet Tech Lauren Genger wears during work at Serrano Animal and Bird Hospital in Lake Forest on Wednesday, December 29, 2021.

After surgery on Wednesday, December 29, 2021, Vet Tech Lauren Genger puts her trademark “Teddy Bear Toes,” a smiling face drawn in sharpie, on the mountain lion’s paw.

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Second Place: Genaro Molina, Los Angeles Times

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With over 60,000 homeless living in Los Angeles County, many homeless have found housing in alternative places. Alex Seijas Torres, 24, and his dog Wolf have been living in an abandoned dental office in Los Angeles that has been sitting empty for 3 to 4 years. He has made a home of the building that has been red tagged by the city. He pirates electricity to fuel a small heater, a mini refrigerator and a few lights. He gathers water from the fire sprinkler system and uses a recycle container to store it. Another homeless resident Felipe “Cuba” Diaz, 50, lives in another room nearby. He makes ends meet selling recyclables that he gathers daily. Many homeless advocates have complained that there are many structures that can be refurbished and used to house the homeless. Rather than wait for a solution, Seijas and Diaz have made the most of living in this abandoned structure. Alex Seijas Torres, 24, cooks a meal on top of a dish rack from his room inside an abandoned building that once housed the Vermont Dental Implant Center in Koreatown on December 1, 2021. Torres, has been living at the site with his dog Wolf for the past two months. Torres wired electricity into the building from an outside pole so he can power a small refrigerator, microwave, stereo and a few lights. He gets water from the fire sprinklers.

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Alex Seijas Torres, 24, connects wires to pirate electricity into the unit where he resides in an abandoned building that once housed the Vermont Dental Implant Center in Koreatown on December 1, 2021.

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With over 60,000 homeless living in Los Angeles County, many homeless have found housing in alternative places. Alex Seijas Torres, 24, and his dog Wolf have been living in an abandoned dental office in Los Angeles that has been sitting empty for 3 to 4 years. He has made a home of the building that has been red tagged by the city. He pirates electricity to fuel a small heater, a mini refrigerator and a few lights. He gathers water from the fire sprinkler system and uses a recycle container to store it. Another homeless resident Felipe “Cuba” Diaz, 50, lives in another room nearby. He makes ends meet selling recyclables that he gathers daily. Many homeless advocates have complained that there are many structures that can be refurbished and used to house the homeless. Rather than wait for a solution, Seijas and Diaz have made the most of living in this abandoned structure. Alex Seijas Torres, 24, spends time with his dog Wolf in his room inside an abandoned building that once housed the Vermont Dental Implant Center in Koreatown in Los Angeles. Torres, has been living at the site with his dog Wolf for the past two months. Torres wired electricity into the building from an outside pole so he can power a small refrigerator, microwave, stereo and a few lights. His sister, who lives in an apartment in the neighborhood, is trying to find him permanent housing.

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Alex Seijas Torres, 24, calls his dog Wolf who runs in front of an abandoned building that once housed the Vermont Dental Implant Center in Koreatown in Los Angeles. The pile of garbage, right, is where homeless residents of the abandoned building leave their garbage. Torres has been living at the site, with his dog Wolf, for the past two months.

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Alex Seijas Torres, 24, enters through a hole in the wall of an abandoned building that once housed the Vermont Dental Implant Center in Los Angeles.

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Alex Seijas Torres, 24, sweeps up while collecting water in a recycle bin from a fire sprinkler inside an abandoned building that once housed the Vermont Dental Implant Center in Koreatown on December 1, 2021. Torres uses the fresh water for bathing himself and his dog.

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Felipe “Cuba” Diaz, 50, left, and his friend Sergio, spend time in Diaz’ room inside an abandoned building that once housed the Vermont Dental Implant Center in Los Angeles. Diaz spends his days collecting recyclables for money. He has lived in the abandoned structure for several months.

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Felipe “Cuba” Diaz, 50, left, leaves his home in an abandoned building that once housed the Vermont Dental Implant Center in Los Angeles. Diaz was off to collect recyclables for money. He has lived in the abandoned structure for several months.

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Felipe “Cuba” Diaz, 50, deposits garbage on a trash heap in front of an abandoned building where he lives in Los Angeles. Diaz was heading out for a day of collecting recyclables. A community of homeless people are living in the building that has been abandoned for 3 to 4 years, locals said. They all have their own rooms.

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Felipe “Cuba” Diaz, 50, walks through the darkened hallways of an abandoned building that once housed the Vermont Dental Implant Center in Los Angeles. Diaz has converted an office space in the building to his living quarters. The building has been retagged and the days are numbered for Diaz who has been living here for several months.

Third Place: Ringo Chiu, Freelance

Women Clergy Barriers-Pacific Islanders

HOLD FOR FOR REPORTER DEEPA BHARAT’S STORY “WOMEN CLERGY BARRIER-PACIFIC ISLANDERS”: Pastor Monalisa Siofele-Lolohea comforts her 3-year-old daughter Fai’ana Su’esolo ‘I Hevani Lolohea before her Sunday church service at Trinity United Methodist Church in Pomona, Calif., Sunday, March 6, 2022. Pacific Islander women who wish to serve as pastors face significant challenges because in their male-centered culture, women are viewed as supporters rather than leaders. Pastor Monalisa Siofele-Lolohea says she would love to serve her Samoan community. But because it is still difficult for congregants to accept a female pastor, Siofele-Lolohea serves a multi-ethnic pastor in Pomona, Calif.

Women Clergy Barriers-Pacific Islanders

HOLD FOR FOR REPORTER DEEPA BHARAT’S STORY “WOMEN CLERGY BARRIER-PACIFIC ISLANDERS”: Pastor Monalisa Siofele-Lolohea takes care her 3-year-old daughter Fai’ana Su’esolo ‘I Hevani Lolohea before her Sunday church service at Trinity United Methodist Church in Pomona, Calif., Sunday, March 6, 2022. Pacific Islander women who wish to serve as pastors face significant challenges because in their male-centered culture, women are viewed as supporters rather than leaders. Pastor Monalisa Siofele-Lolohea says she would love to serve her Samoan community. But because it is still difficult for congregants to accept a female pastor, Siofele-Lolohea serves a multi-ethnic pastor in Pomona, Calif.

Women Clergy Barriers-Pacific Islanders

HOLD FOR FOR REPORTER DEEPA BHARAT’S STORY “WOMEN CLERGY BARRIER-PACIFIC ISLANDERS”: Pastor Monalisa Siofele-Lolohea gets ready for her Sunday church service at Trinity United Methodist Church in Pomona, Calif., Sunday, March 6, 2022. Pacific Islander women who wish to serve as pastors face significant challenges because in their male-centered culture, women are viewed as supporters rather than leaders. Pastor Monalisa Siofele-Lolohea says she would love to serve her Samoan community. But because it is still difficult for congregants to accept a female pastor, Siofele-Lolohea serves a multi-ethnic pastor in Pomona, Calif. (

Women Clergy Barriers-Pacific Islanders

HOLD FOR FOR REPORTER DEEPA BHARAT’S STORY “WOMEN CLERGY BARRIER-PACIFIC ISLANDERS”: Pastor Monalisa Siofele-Lolohea fixes her hair before her Sunday church service at Trinity United Methodist Church in Pomona, Calif., Sunday, March 6, 2022. Pacific Islander women who wish to serve as pastors face significant challenges because in their male-centered culture, women are viewed as supporters rather than leaders. Pastor Monalisa Siofele-Lolohea says she would love to serve her Samoan community. But because it is still difficult for congregants to accept a female pastor, Siofele-Lolohea serves a multi-ethnic pastor in Pomona, Calif.

Women Clergy Barriers-Pacific Islanders

HOLD FOR FOR REPORTER DEEPA BHARAT’S STORY “WOMEN CLERGY BARRIER-PACIFIC ISLANDERS”: Pastor Monalisa Siofele-Lolohea takes care her 3-year-old daughter Fai’ana Su’esolo ‘I Hevani Lolohea before her Sunday church service at Trinity United Methodist Church in Pomona, Calif., Sunday, March 6, 2022. Pacific Islander women who wish to serve as pastors face significant challenges because in their male-centered culture, women are viewed as supporters rather than leaders. Pastor Monalisa Siofele-Lolohea says she would love to serve her Samoan community. But because it is still difficult for congregants to accept a female pastor, Siofele-Lolohea serves a multi-ethnic pastor in Pomona, Calif.

Women Clergy Barriers-Pacific Islanders

HOLD FOR FOR REPORTER DEEPA BHARAT’S STORY “WOMEN CLERGY BARRIER-PACIFIC ISLANDERS”: Pastor Monalisa Siofele-Lolohea conducts her Sunday church service at Trinity United Methodist Church in Pomona, Calif., Sunday, March 6, 2022. Pacific Islander women who wish to serve as pastors face significant challenges because in their male-centered culture, women are viewed as supporters rather than leaders. Pastor Monalisa Siofele-Lolohea says she would love to serve her Samoan community. But because it is still difficult for congregants to accept a female pastor, Siofele-Lolohea serves a multi-ethnic pastor in Pomona, Calif.

Women Clergy Barriers-Pacific Islanders

HOLD FOR FOR REPORTER DEEPA BHARAT’S STORY “WOMEN CLERGY BARRIER-PACIFIC ISLANDERS”: Pastor Monalisa Siofele-Lolohea conducts her Sunday church service at Trinity United Methodist Church in Pomona, Calif., Sunday, March 6, 2022. Pacific Islander women who wish to serve as pastors face significant challenges because in their male-centered culture, women are viewed as supporters rather than leaders. Pastor Monalisa Siofele-Lolohea says she would love to serve her Samoan community. But because it is still difficult for congregants to accept a female pastor, Siofele-Lolohea serves a multi-ethnic pastor in Pomona, Calif.

Women Clergy Barriers-Pacific Islanders

HOLD FOR FOR REPORTER DEEPA BHARAT’S STORY “WOMEN CLERGY BARRIER-PACIFIC ISLANDERS”: Pastor Monalisa Siofele-Lolohea conducts her Sunday church service at Trinity United Methodist Church in Pomona, Calif., Sunday, March 6, 2022. Pacific Islander women who wish to serve as pastors face significant challenges because in their male-centered culture, women are viewed as supporters rather than leaders. Pastor Monalisa Siofele-Lolohea says she would love to serve her Samoan community. But because it is still difficult for congregants to accept a female pastor, Siofele-Lolohea serves a multi-ethnic pastor in Pomona, Calif.

Women Clergy Barriers-Pacific Islanders

HOLD FOR FOR REPORTER DEEPA BHARAT’S STORY “WOMEN CLERGY BARRIER-PACIFIC ISLANDERS”: Pastor Monalisa Siofele-Lolohea conducts her Sunday church service at Trinity United Methodist Church in Pomona, Calif., Sunday, March 6, 2022. Pacific Islander women who wish to serve as pastors face significant challenges because in their male-centered culture, women are viewed as supporters rather than leaders. Pastor Monalisa Siofele-Lolohea says she would love to serve her Samoan community. But because it is still difficult for congregants to accept a female pastor, Siofele-Lolohea serves a multi-ethnic pastor in Pomona, Calif.

Women Clergy Barriers-Pacific Islanders

HOLD FOR FOR REPORTER DEEPA BHARAT’S STORY “WOMEN CLERGY BARRIER-PACIFIC ISLANDERS”: Pastor Monalisa Siofele-Lolohea conducts her Sunday church service at Trinity United Methodist Church in Pomona, Calif., Sunday, March 6, 2022. Pacific Islander women who wish to serve as pastors face significant challenges because in their male-centered culture, women are viewed as supporters rather than leaders. Pastor Monalisa Siofele-Lolohea says she would love to serve her Samoan community. But because it is still difficult for congregants to accept a female pastor, Siofele-Lolohea serves a multi-ethnic pastor in Pomona, Calif.

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Meet Our Judge, Lynne Sladky

After graduating from Kent State University in Ohio where I studied photography, I started my career as a photographer at a weekly newspaper in Cleveland, the Sun Newspapers. I later freelanced for numerous publications in Cleveland, including United Press International. I became a staff photographer with UPI in Miami in 1985. I then worked at the Palm Beach Post for two years before joining the AP photo staff in Miami in 1990, where I’ve been for 32 years and counting. I’ve been in Miami for most of my AP career, but I also worked in London for three years, and in San Juan, Puerto Rico for five years covering the Caribbean.