The photograph shows young Evelyn Holcombe, lying on her back on a blanket on her trampoline, a whisp of her blonde hair curling under her nose as she looked into the sky.
It's Lisa Krantz's favorite among those she took for "A tragedy without end" about the survivors of a 2017 church massacre in Sutherland Springs, Texas.
Krantz was a freelance photographer for the Washington Post on the story, one of a team of reporters, photographers, videographers who won the 2024 Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting "for its sobering examination of the AR-15 semi-automatic rifle, which forced readers to reckon with the horrors wrought by the weapon often used for mass shootings in America."
Krantz is a journalism doctoral student at the University of Missouri and will graduate in the summer.
"I'm an older, nontraditional student," said Krantz, 49.
She had her first newspaper internship in 1997 and her first job in 1998, she said.
She will be an assistant professor at the University of Montana beginning in August, she said.
She was informed by an editor that the series of articles won the Pulitzer, she said.
"The thing about something like the Pulitzer is it shows the story to a whole new audience," Krantz said. "The reason for the work is to bring awareness to the devastation of gun violence."
She was one of a team of around 75 people including reporters, photographers, videographers and editors, she said.
Also on the Washington Post project were Missouri Journalism alumni Deputy National Editor Tim Elfrink, Deputy National Editor Amy Fiscus, and Photo Editor Monique Woo.
The story for which she took photographs was one of several in the series awarded the prize.
She knew one of the reporters and she knew the sources. She had worked with the reporter before in San Antonio before she went to the Washington Post. She recommended Krantz for the freelance gig.
"I'm very emotionally connected to them," Krantz said of the sources. "I knew the Post was going to do some excellent journalism. I just want people to know their story. If it contributes to that awareness of the devastation of gun violence, that's my hope."
Evelyn, the girl in the main photo, lost her mother, three siblings and her grandparents in the church shooting. Her pregnant mother, Crystal Holcombe, had thrown herself on top of then 7-year-old Evelyn to protect her.
"She lost nine members of her family," Krantz said of Evelyn.
She has her father, John Holcombe, and older brother Phillip. The story related her fondness of Subway sandwiches oozing with mayo and playing on her trampoline.
It also states she has an encyclopedic knowledge about mental health and depression. She can't imagine being an adult, the story reads.
Other of Krantz's photos show Evelyn and her dad outside their home and John Holcombe smelling his late wife's robe.
Krantz sees her return to Sutherland Springs and winning the Pulitzer for helping tell their stories as completing a circle, she said.
Roger McKinney is the Tribune's education reporter. You can reach him at rmckinney@columbiatribune.com or 573-815-1719. He's on X at @rmckinney9.
Most Popular
Comments / 0