Mary Lou Foy (born August 17, 1944) is an American

photojournalist Photojournalism is journalism that uses images to tell a news story. It usually only refers to still images, but can also refer to video used in broadcast journalism. Photojournalism is distinguished from other close branches of photography (such ...

. She served as picture editor at ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

'' from 1990 to 2006 and was president of the

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

in 1992.

Education

Foy attended Auburn High School and

Auburn University Auburn University (AU or Auburn) is a public land-grant research university in Auburn, Alabama. With more than 24,600 undergraduate students and a total enrollment of more than 30,000 with 1,330 faculty members, Auburn is the second largest uni ...

, receiving a B.A. in journalism from the latter in 1966. She attended graduate school at the

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida, traces its origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its ...

in journalism and environmental engineering.

Career

In 1971, became the first female photojournalist to work for the ''

Gainesville Sun ''The Gainesville Sun'' () is a newspaper published daily in Gainesville, Florida, United States, covering the North-Central portion of the state. The paper is published by Lynni Henderson, the paper's Executive Editor is Douglas Ray and the edi ...

''. In 1974, she joined the staff of the

Fort Lauderdale A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...

Sun-Sentinel The ''Sun Sentinel'' (also known as the ''South Florida Sun Sentinel'', known until 2008 as the ''Sun-Sentinel'', and stylized on its masthead as ''SunSentinel'') is the main daily newspaper of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, as well as surrounding Br ...

'', and in 1976 became the first woman photojournalist on the staff of the ''

Miami Herald The ''Miami Herald'' is an American daily newspaper owned by the McClatchy Company and headquartered in Doral, Florida, a List of communities in Miami-Dade County, Florida, city in western Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County and the M ...

''. Foy rose from that position to become picture editor of the ''Herald'', before being hired by ''

'' in 1990 as national/style picture editor. She served in that position at the ''Post'' until 2006. Foy served as secretary of the National Press Photographers Association in 1984 and 1985, vice president in 1991, and president of that organization in 1992. She received the Samuel Mellor Award in 1984, the Joseph Costa Award in 1998, the Morris Berman NPPA Citation in 2003, and twice received the NPPA's President's Award in 1984 and 1986. In the
Atlanta Photojournalism Seminar
' in the year 1979, had winners in each type of category, Spot News, General News, News picture story, etc. Foy was placed third in the category ''News Picture Story'' as also being part of the Miami Herald community. The
Neiman Reports article
' Foy talks about her career and what she has experienced: "This was The Gainesville Sun. 1971. A lifetime ago. The sole woman on the photo staff and one of only four in the state of Florida shooting for a daily paper. Three years later I walk into The Ft. Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel: 'We already have one woman and wouldn’t mind having another,' said the director of photography." Foy was passionate to chasing the news around, near, and in Florida. In the
Nieman Reports article
' Foy mentions: "But I loved chasing news in Florida, the Caribbean and Central America and meeting deadlines on important stories like the Miami riots, Haitian interdiction, Cuban refugees." Her work was created in the 1970s and the 1980s. Therefore, her pictures were black and white. In the
Flashback Miami Herald website
', for example, displays photos of an older attraction that was named,
"Parrot Jungle"
'. This website has photos taken from the 1980s and the names and dates of the photographers are underneath each picture. This shows who has taken the pictures. Mary Lou Foy has a picture she took in the 80's and it is now on the website to this day. She took a picture at the Parrot Jungle with two young teenage girls who seem to be feeding two parrots, and yet, the quality is still black and white. Then after a while in the 80's on the
official Miami Herald website
', Foy was taking pictures with color as well. On an article on the Miami Herald website titled

', The article talks about a topic/theme of air travel. The photo was of an air plane, ready to take off. Foy was that photographer for the article.

References

* Foy, Mary Lou. "Feminine Touch", ''Nieman Reports'' Vol. 52 No. 2 Summer 1998, 42.

External links

* EDGAR Online.
Whitehall Enterprises Inc. Form 10KSB
', Item 9. Accessed July 8, 2007. * National Press Photographers Association.
Honors and Recognitions
'. Accessed July 8, 2007. * National Press Photographers Association.
Past National Officers
'. Accessed July 8, 2007. * Office of Alumni Affairs, Auburn University.

'. Accessed July 8, 2007. {{DEFAULTSORT:Foy, Mary Lou 1944 births Living people American photojournalists Auburn High School (Alabama) alumni Auburn University alumni University of Florida alumni American women photographers Journalists from Alabama American women photojournalists