GHOST TOWN SANDY: THE HURRICANE'S AFTERMATH AT NIGHT

• Prize
• Photographer
  Aristide Economopoulos, United States
• Studio
  The Star-Ledger

GHOST TOWN SANDY: THE HURRICANE'S AFTERMATH AT NIGHT
The plant is getting warmer and, as it does, our sea levels keep rising. Few events better put that phenomenon on display than Hurricane Sandy: The storm sent a wall of water raging through communities in New York and New Jersey, shredding apart the places so many people called home. That's what happened to Union Beach, N.J. Few were spared in the working-class town of 6,200. More than 500 houses were damaged, and over 110 were destroyed. Now, homeowners, local officials and contractors swarm in each day, picking up the pieces one brick at a time. Then they vanish each night, leaving Union Beach to its own devices. These photographs tell that story - capturing the haunting silence that sets in every 24 hours when the sun dips behind the horizon. The images were all taken with long exposures, ranging from 1 to 30 seconds. The only light illuminating the subject matter is ambient.

• Awards
  Aristide joined the staff of The (Newark NJ) Star-Ledger in November 2000, where he covers a variety of topics from urban violence to prep sports. He has traveled extensively documenting wide-ranging events from the Olympic Games in Athens, Greece to the recovery effort in Port au Prince, Haiti after the January 2010 earthquake. In February 2014, he was named the 2014 Photographer of The Year at the Northern Short Course in Photojournalism. At the Southern Short Course in Photojournalism he was also the Runner Up Photographer of The Year and a first place in the pictorial category. Aris was a member of the team awarded the 2005 Pulitzer Prize for Breaking News Reporting for the newspaper's comprehensive, clear-headed coverage of the resignation of New Jersey’s governor after he announced he was gay and confessed to adultery with a male lover. A portfolio of Aris’s work from the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in Manhattan was awarded first place in Pictures of the Year International. Photo District News magazine named one of his photos from that day to be one of the 10 best documentary photos of the decade. His work is on permanent display at The National September 11 Memorial Museum in Manhattan, which opened May 2014. His experinces of that day are documented in the New York Press Photographer's website. A five-time Photographer of The Year with the New York Press Photographers Association, he is the only the photographer in the history of the association to win it more than twice. His work has also been honored by numerous other organizations including World Press Photo, Pictures of the Year International, the National Press Photographers Association, Casey Medals for Meritorious Journalism and The Scripps Howard Foundation National Journalism Award., PND Photo Annual, Prix de la Photographie Paris (PX3), American Photo 29, American Photo 30, Communication Arts Annual and Best in Show at both the Southern Short Course and Atlanta Photojournalism Seminar. Aris’s photographs have been exhibited at museums and galleries throughout the United States and internationally. He also lectured at numerous institutions including presenting his work at a 2002 symposium on the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in Manhattan at the National Museum of American History in Washington, D.C. Previously he worked at the State Journal-Register in Springfield, IL and the Dubois County Herald in Jasper, IN. Economopoulos resides in Jersey City, New Jersey