Kim Komenich ( ; born October 15, 1956) is an American

Pulitzer Prize The Pulitzer Prizes () are 23 annual awards given by Columbia University in New York City for achievements in the United States in "journalism, arts and letters". They were established in 1917 by the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made his fo ...

-winning photojournalist, filmmaker and university professor.

Life and work

Komenich started his career as a photographer at Forbis Studio in

Modesto Modesto ( ; ) is the county seat and largest city of Stanislaus County, California, United States. With a population of 218,069 according to 2022 U.S. Census Bureau estimates, it is the 19th-most populous city in California. Modesto is locate ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

, in 1973, before moving to the '' Manteca Bulletin'', where he worked as a photographer and reporter for one year. Komenich later attended

San José State University San José State University (San Jose State or SJSU) is a public research university in San Jose, California. Established in 1857, SJSU is the oldest public university on the West Coast and the founding campus of the California State Universit ...

, graduating in 1979 with a bachelor's degree in journalism. Later that same year, Komenich was hired as a staff photographer at the ''

Contra Costa Times The ''East Bay Times'' is a daily broadsheet newspaper based in Walnut Creek, California, United States, owned by the Bay Area News Group (BANG), a subsidiary of Media News Group, that serves Contra Costa and Alameda counties, in the East ...

'', where he worked for three years before he was hired by the ''

San Francisco Examiner The ''San Francisco Examiner'' is a newspaper distributed in and around San Francisco, California, and has been published since 1863. Once self-dubbed the "Monarch of the Dailies" by then-owner William Randolph Hearst and the flagship of the He ...

'' in 1982. Komenich also freelanced for magazines such as ''

Time Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...

'', ''

Stern The stern is the back or aft-most part of a ship or boat, technically defined as the area built up over the sternpost, extending upwards from the counter rail to the taffrail. The stern lies opposite the bow, the foremost part of a ship. O ...

'', ''

Life Life, also known as biota, refers to matter that has biological processes, such as Cell signaling, signaling and self-sustaining processes. It is defined descriptively by the capacity for homeostasis, Structure#Biological, organisation, met ...

'', '' U.S. News & World Report'' and ''

Newsweek ''Newsweek'' is an American weekly news magazine based in New York City. Founded as a weekly print magazine in 1933, it was widely distributed during the 20th century and has had many notable editors-in-chief. It is currently co-owned by Dev P ...

''. Komenich has won numerous prizes for his photography including two

United Press International United Press International (UPI) is an American international news agency whose newswires, photo, news film, and audio services provided news material to thousands of newspapers, magazines, radio and television stations for most of the 20th ce ...

(UPI) first-place awards in 1982 and 1985, the National Headliner award in 1982, a

World Press Photo World Press Photo Foundation is an independent, non-profit organization based in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Founded in 1955, the organization holds the annual World Press Photo Contest for press photography. Since 2011, World Press Photo has orga ...

award in 1983, and a first-place

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American not-for-profit organization, not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association, and produces news reports that are dist ...

award in 1985. Two years later, Komenich was awarded the 1987 Pulitzer Prize in spot news photography for his coverage of the

Philippine Revolution The Philippine Revolution ( or ; or ) was a war of independence waged by the revolutionary organization Katipunan against the Spanish Empire from 1896 to 1898. It was the culmination of the 333-year History of the Philippines (1565–1898), ...

while on assignment for the ''Examiner''. Komenich continued working as a staff photographer for the ''Examiner'' until 2000. During this time he took a leave of absence from the paper to serve as a visiting instructor at the

University of Missouri The University of Missouri (Mizzou or MU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbia, Missouri, United States. It is Missouri's largest university and the flagship of the four-campus Univers ...

, where he taught the photojournalism capstone "Picture Story and the Photographic Essay" course. While at Missouri he received the Donald K. Reynolds Graduate Teaching Award. In 2007, Komenich graduated from the

with a master's degree in journalism. From 2000–2009, Komenich served as a staff photographer and editor at the ''

San Francisco Chronicle The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and M. H. de Young, Michael H. ...

'' before accepting a full-time teaching position at his alma mater, San José State University. In 2015, Komenich accepted an assistant professor position at

San Francisco State University San Francisco State University (San Francisco State, SF State and SFSU) is a Public university, public research university in San Francisco, California, United States. It was established in 1899 as the San Francisco State Normal School and is ...

. Komenich is a 2005 recipient of the Clifton C. Edom Education Award from the

National Press Photographers Association The National Press Photographers Association (NPPA) is an American professional association made up of still photographers, television videographers, Editing, editors, and students in the journalism field. Founded in 1946, the organization is base ...

(NPPA). Komenich also served as a 1993-94 John S. Knight Fellow at

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

and served as a fall 2001 teaching fellow at the Center for Documentary Studies at U.C. Berkeley. He was also a 2006-07 Dart Ochberg Fellow at the Dart Center for Journalism and Trauma, based at

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

. In 2016, Komenich released a 70-minute documentary film and companion book titled ''Revolution Revisited,'' in which he looks back at the final days of the

Ferdinand Marcos Ferdinand Emmanuel Edralin Marcos Sr. (September 11, 1917 – September 28, 1989) was a Filipino lawyer, politician, dictator, and Kleptocracy, kleptocrat who served as the tenth president of the Philippines from 1965 to 1986. He ruled the c ...

regime in the Philippines.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Komenich, Kim 1956 births Living people American photojournalists San Jose State University alumni University of Missouri alumni San Francisco State University faculty