Kris Craig got into photography without really meaning to. He was studying animal science in a pre-veterinary program at UMass Amherst and working multiple jobs to pay for school. One of them was shooting photos of news events and features around the campus for The Associated Press. Then, an internship led to a job, which led to a change of heart. “I began working at the Middlesex News for grad school money,” he says, “but got distracted and fell in love with photography and journalism.” So Kris plunged into photography, moving on to other dailies in New Hampshire and Massachusetts before coming to The Journal in 1985. Over three-plus decades here, he’s taken thousands of terrific photos of all kinds of subjects. He’s also written a number of entries in the occasional Sunday column our photographers share, going into depth about a particular photo. And last month, his work was recognized with three first-place awards in the annual contest of the Rhode Island Press Association, in categories covering spot news, food and portraiture.

The judges’ comments were rhapsodic. “This photo has everything I look for in a portrait,” said the judge in that category: “interesting lighting, personality and the ability to understand what the article might be about just by looking at the photo.” “Composition, color, action — this photo has it all,” said the judge in the spot-news category. Kris has won numerous other awards over the years as well, including Photographer of the Year from the state press association, and prizes from the New England Associated Press News Executives Association, National Press Photographers Association and Rhode Island News Photographers Association. What’s at the heart of Kris’ work? It’s a philosophy that has served him well. “I believe that a photojournalist is a journalist first,” he says, “and appreciate how words and images together can work magic in telling a story.”

That’s a great view—one we try to make happen every day, in our newspaper pages and at providence-journal.com.

Providence Journal 5/5/2019 eEdition - Alan Rosenberg executive editor