I was hired as Staff Photographer of the Houston Press in the late Fall of 2002 and laid off in January of 2009. The Houston Press was one of the newspapers in the New Times Group before merging with Village Voice Media. I was the last Staff Photographer in the entire chain of almost 20 newspapers across the country and this magazine contains 86 of my favorite photographs from those years. During my time at the Press, I shot hundreds of covers and won awards for my news, feature and sports photos. One of the best aspects of the job was having my own weekly photocolumn called BayouSphere. I even wrote a feature story that went on to win an award. Probably the biggest story I worked on was Hurricane Ike. But traveling to South Texas and then on to Real de Catorce in Mexico for a story about Peyote was pretty fun. Other epic stories included a two-day canoe trip down the Houston Ship Channel, traveling along the U.S.-Mexico border with the Border Patrol in Laredo, Texas and following a youth football team through an entire season. Some of the awards I collected during this period include: • Five 1st Place Photo Package Awards from the Houston Press Club • Photojournalist of the Year from the Houston Press Club • Runner Up Pictures of the Year from Editor & Publisher • Juror Award of Merit in the Street Photography/Documentary category from the International Fine Art Photography Competition in Paris • Two Finalist Awards from the Western Publishing Association All images copyright Daniel Kramer/VVM Daniel Kramer Houston, Texas www.dankphotos.com 832-978-2046