Photographer and retired schoolteacher Walter Bodle of Seattle has received the Daily Points of Light Award, which commends extraordinary volunteers. Bodle won the award after he mobilized his community through his nonprofit organization, Youth in Focus. The program helped over 200 inner-city Seattle youths experience firsthand the power of photography through photographic field trips and contact with volunteer mentors.

The Points of Light Foundation, the Corporation for National Service, and the Knights of Columbus sponsor the award.

The Philippines Rediscovered is the title of photographer Stuart Dee’s latest work. The coffee-table book includes over 260 color photographs that capture the stunning beauty of the Philippines. Born and raised in the Philippines, Dee immigrated to Canada over 20 years ago. He spent several months over the last five years amassing more than 15,000 images of the country. The book can be ordered at www.studeeo.com.

Portland, Oregon-based wildlife and nature photographer Gerry Ellis will document the Chihuahuan Desert of northern Mexico and the southwestern United States for the World Wildlife Fund (WWF). Ellis will capture the essense of the character of the desert, identified as one of the earth’s most biologically diverse and endangered ecoregions. The images will be used to help communicate the biological significance of this rare and fragile desert ecosystem.

Ellis previously collaborated with the WWF to capture the remote tropical rain forests of Papua New Guinea.

Jim Fagiolo, a Seattle-based studio photographer, has just finished working with National Geographic on an adventure series book featuring British mountain climber George Mallory, whose body was found recently near the summit of Mount Everest. The book is due out in October.

Portrait photographer Davis Freeman will document some of the Northwest’s senior visual artists for the Seattle Arts Commission. The images will be part of the City of Seattle’s year 2000 portable works collection. In addition, Freeman’s work was recently shown in a solo, private exhibition at the Young & Rubicam gallery in New York City. Freeman is a pioneer in the Illustratype process, a form of solarized Polaroid manipulation.

Taschen America will publish master photographer and naturalist Frans Lanting’s latest book, PENGUIN in November. True to his trademark style, the book is a personal interpretation of the penguins Lanting met, rather than a natural history of all penguins. This portfolio of 110 photographs was made during three expeditions to the penguins’ icy kingdoms, including the Falkland Islands, a circumnavigation of South Georgia. and the edge of Antarctica.

In 1997, Lanting produced a widely acclaimed wildlife photography book titled Eye to Eye: Intimate Encounters with the Animal World.

Wenatchee, Wash.-based photographer John Marshall has just completed Washington II, a panoramic journey through Washington state’s diverse regions. The 130 images present an intimate picture of the state’s yellow wheat fields, misty coastlines, snow-covered mountains, and vibrant city life.

Marshall specializes in documenting Washington. He has also published Washington, Portrait of Washington, and Washington Apple Country.

Kevin McGowan of Strode-McGowan Photography in Tacoma, Wash., has received four top awards for his commercial photography. In 1999 he received trophies for the Best General Commercial photograph and the Best Architectural Photograph from the Professional Photographers of Washington. He also received awards for Best Commercial/Industrial Photograph in the Professional Photographers of America Western States Regional Competition and the prestigious Kodak Gallery Award for Best Commercial Photograph.

Canadian architectural and interiors photographer Rob Melnychuk will be photographing projects in the United States during the next 10 years. Melnychuk received an 01 visa from the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service. The visa is granted to individuals who "demonstrate distinction and a degree of skill and recognition above that ordinarily encountered in their field."

Graham Nash and Mac Holbert have received the 1999 Technical Contribution Award in Creative Photography from The Center for Photographic Art (CPA) in Carmel, Calif. Nash and Holbert were honored for their innovation and dedication as pioneers in forming the world’s first fine-art digital printmaking studio — Nash Editions. The pair co-founded Nash Editions in 1991. In addition to his photographic interests, Nash is well known as a musician and an activist. The award was presented to the pair by Kim Weston, the grandson of the great American photographer Edward Weston.

Canadian photographers Barry Peterson and Blaise Enright-Peterson have just completed a two-year photographic study of writers in British Columbia, titled Lit Happens. The study features intimate portraits of famous, infamous, and emerging poets, playwrights, and fiction and nonfiction writers. Original text from each writer is included with the photographs. The images will be on display from Oct. 11 through Nov. 7 at the Atrium Public Gallery in the lobby of the Hong Kong Bank of Canada in Vancouver, B.C.

Seattle-based photographer Roger Ressmeyer will lead a project for Getty Images to acquire and develop specialist collections for the company. Ressmeyer will be responsible for licensing, acquiring, and producing new images using Getty Images’ world-class photographers. Getty is the leading international provider of visual content for both the professional and consumer markets.

In addition, Ressmeyer’s Canon Photo Safari in Hawaii, with co-star William Shatner, will air on ESPN at 9:30 a.m. on Oct. 23. In July, Ressmeyer also published two online projects, one featuring Apollo 11 moonwalker Buzz Aldrin and another focusing on the greatest space-flight photos from the Apollo era.