New York Times photographer Todd Heisler said the paper’s “One in 8 Million Project” was a fantastic example of community journalism. The fabulous multimedia collection contains black and white images of local city characters that has been combined with sound that relays the person’s life story.

Heisler is a Pulitzer Prize winning photographer whose work has a unique humanity to it and eloquently captures the life and spirit of the people profiled. He answered a lot of questions from readers about the project on the paper’s blog Lens.

Heisler said he met with each subject two or three times for a number of hours, shooting on a Canon 5D in monochromatic mode that he said helped him think in black and white. Most shots were made with a 35-millimeter or a 50-millimeter lens. He then edited his shots down to 80-100 to present to the photo editor. After another hour going through the shots they…

American photojournalist Todd Heisler has been working for the New York Times since 2006 covering national news and American life. He is just one of the inspirational photographers who worked on the New York Times 2009 “One in 8 Million Project” and he has a long list of photographic award credits to his name.

In 2006, while working for the Rocky Mountain News in Denver, Colorado, he won the famed Pulitzer Prize for Feature Photography for a series of photographs titled “Final Salute”. The images profiled the funerals of Colorado Marines who returned from the Iraq war in caskets. His images also took a behind the scenes look at Major Beck, the Marine Honor Guard, who had to notify family member’s of a Marine’s death.

Father Jeff Cathey cries for the son he lost in Iraq. The image was part of the “Final Salute” series.

“Final Salute” won a number of other prizes also…

If you ever wanted an insight into the life and times of New York City residents consider this fine multimedia collection by the New York Times. The “One in 8 Million Project” combines black and white images of local residents with a voice over of their life.

The goal was to profile a different individual from New York’s 8 million residents during each week of 2009. And the collection of stories representing all of New York’s five boroughs is an incredible and colourful array of lifestyles, interests and struggle.

There’s a story about Joseph Cotton, the grandfather who frequently minds his four grand kids taking them on walks to appreciate nature and cooking good meals together. Joe Manniello came from a town near Naples in Italy and has been cutting hair inside the Port Authority Bus terminal for 36 years. He describes the customers he’s had; crazy people, prostitutes, a woman who urinated on the floor and another that…

The esteemed Pulitzer Prize for newspaper journalism, literature and musical composition are awarded semi annually and this year the deadline for submitting entries to the journalism competition is February 1, 2010.

If you have had any journalism published in an eligible newspaper or news site in 2009 you can submit for the US$10,000 prize.

The 2009 Breaking News Photography award went to Patrick Farrell of the Miami Herald for his coverage of the humanitarian disaster in Haiti after a hurricane and lethal storms struck the Caribbean nation.

The New York Times for his coverage of Barack Obama’s presidential campaign.