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The 2017 Pulitzer Prize Winner in Feature Photography
For a distinguished example of feature photography in black and white or color, which may consist of a photograph or photographs, Fifteen thousand dollars ($15,000).

Chicago Tribune, by E. Jason Wambsgans

For a superb portrayal of a 10-year-old boy and his mother striving to put the boy’s life back together after he survived a shooting in Chicago.

E. Jason Wambsgans of the Chicago Tribune accepts the 2017 Pulitzer Prize for Feature Photography from Columbia University President Lee C. Bollinger.

Winning Work

Tavon Tanner, now 11, was with his mom and twin sister on their West Polk Street porch when he was shot Aug. 8. He was in the hospital until late September. (10/14/2016)
 

Tavon Tanner tears up before surgery at Lurie Children's Hospital on Oct. 17 to remove the bullet that ripped through his pancreas, stomach, spleen, a kidney and his left lung before becoming lodged just below his shoulder. (10/17/2016)

His mom, Mellanie Washington, was there after the procedure to comfort him. (10/17/2016)
 
Tavon had wanted to see the bullet after it was removed, but it was needed by police as evidence in the case. (10/17/2016)
 
Tavon Tanner lies in his bed after a bullet was removed just below his left shoulder at Lurie Children's Hospital on Oct. 17, 2016. With him is his mother, Mellanie Washington, family and hospital staff. (10/17/2016)
 
Tavon Tanner, 11, is one of 24 children 12 or younger shot in Chicago this year. This is his story. (10/17/2016)
 
Tavon Tanner joins his cousins and sister in a dance during a family gathering on Thanksgiving. (11/24/2016)
 
Tavon Tanner makes his way to school. (11/28/2016)
 
Tavon Tanner returned to school on a part-time basis after the shooting. He is getting counseling to help him deal with the aftermath. (11/28/2016)
 
Tavon Tanner slides through the snow after attending a service at Greater Way Missionary Baptist Church on Dec. 11, 2016. (12/11/2016)
 
Tavon Tanner sits with his mother, Mellanie Washington. (10/14/2016)
 

Biography

E. Jason Wambsgans has been a staff photographer at the Chicago Tribune since 2002, covering a wide range of news and feature assignments. Wambsgans has spent the last four years intensively documenting the problem of Chicago’s gun violence. He is a native of the Detroit area and a graduate of Central Michigan University.

Finalists

Nominated as finalists in Feature Photography in 2017:

Jake May

For striking, wonderfully conceived photographs from Flint’s contaminated-water crisis that told a challenging story in human terms.

Katie Falkenberg

For a photo essay from the front lines of Brazil’s war on Zika that showed the vulnerability, fear and love of mothers coping with the crisis.

The Jury

Sherman Williams(Chair)

Assistant Managing Editor/Visual Journalism

Andrea Bruce

Photographer

David Hume Kennerly*

Photographer

Michele McDonald

Photo Editor

Deb Pastner

Director of Photography/Multimedia

Winners in Feature Photography

2016

Jessica Rinaldi

For the raw and revealing photographic story of a boy who strives to find his footing after abuse by those he trusted.
2014

Josh Haner

For his moving essay on a Boston Marathon bomb blast victim who lost most of both legs and now is painfully rebuilding his life.
2013

Javier Manzano

For his extraordinary picture, distributed by Agence France-Presse, of two Syrian rebel soldiers tensely guarding their position as beams of light stream through bullet holes in a nearby metal wall.
See All Feature Photography

2017 Prize Winners

Feature Writing

C. J. Chivers

For showing, through an artful accumulation of fact and detail, that a Marine’s postwar descent into violence reflected neither the actions of a simple criminal nor a stereotypical case of PTSD.
Commentary

Peggy Noonan

For rising to the moment with beautifully rendered columns that connected readers to the shared virtues of Americans during one of the nation’s most divisive political campaigns.
Criticism

Hilton Als

For bold and original reviews that strove to put stage dramas within a real-world cultural context, particularly the shifting landscape of gender, sexuality and race.
Editorial Writing

Art Cullen

For editorials fueled by tenacious reporting, impressive expertise and engaging writing that successfully challenged powerful corporate agricultural interests in Iowa.
See All 2017 Winners