UM Alumna Wins College Photojournalism’s Biggest Award
UM photojournalism alumna Maddie McCuddy. (UM Photo by Tommy Martino)
In one of McCuddy’s winning photographs, Greg Nowak, 78, lays in his bed on in Missoula, Montana, on Oct. 1, 2025. Nowak was once Montana’s only chess grandmaster and is known around town as the Octopus because of his slow but aggressive playing style. A self-described "sociable Christian loner," Nowak spends most days playing chess alone at different coffee shops, teaching students, and studying previous games of grandmasters. Although Nowak has no family left, chess itself feels like company and has given his life purpose and control, he says. (Photo and caption by Maddie McCuddy)
In one of McCuddy’s winning photographs, Branch Miller, 8, who is autistic, gets upset while lying on the trampoline at the home of his babysitter, Brenna Price, in Berry, Kentucky, on July 17, 2026. Price runs a babysitting business out of her home, helping parents in the community care for their children while they work. (Photo and caption by Maddie McCuddy for Boyd’s Station)
In one of McCuddy’s winning photographs, Vernon Petidt, 74, spends the remaining bits of daylight with his cats on his porch, where he spends most nights, Oddville, Kentucky, on July 21, 2026. He has collected an abundance of stray cats, prioritizing feeding all of them. Moore’s house caught on fire nearly two years ago, and he still hasn’t been able to gather the money to fix it up. Vernon imagines a future where he moves back to West Virgina, where he still has friends in the mountains. (Photo and caption by Maddie McCuddy for Boyd’s Station)
By Austin Amestoy, UM News Service
MISSOULA – University of Montana journalism alumna Maddie McCuddy already stuck quite a few feathers in her cap this year. Last month, she added her biggest yet.
College Photographer of the Year – one of the most prestigious photojournalism competitions for students in the world – awarded McCuddy their top prize for 2026. She is the first UM alum to claim first place.
“It felt like winning the Super Bowl,” McCuddy said. “Getting gold in the portfolio category was shocking. I didn’t expect it at all.”
One look at McCuddy’s resumé, and you might not be as surprised. The freelance photographer from La Center, Washington, secured top honors at the “Pulitzers of college journalism” this spring, winning the National Photojournalism Championship in the Hearst Journalism Awards Program.
Former UM journalism professor and freelance photographer Dr. Lisa Krantz – a close mentor to McCuddy – said her sweep of both competitions places McCuddy in a league of her own.
“She won the two biggest awards in collegiate journalism,” Krantz said. “It takes so much time, dedication and hard work to get to the level Maddie has reached.”
McCuddy spent her summer taking photographs for Boyd’s Station, a sought-after journalism residency in rural Kentucky. Her semesters at UM spent diving deep into the art of long-form photo storytelling served her well as she developed connections with the residents of Harrison County.
“I love getting super intimate work,” McCuddy said. “It’s hard to photograph policy, but I know how to show how policies affect people. I ask myself, ‘How do I make my work relatable?’”
She submitted a combination of photographs from her time as a UM student and in Kentucky for the College Photographer of the Year competition: an aging chess grandmaster in Missoula, lying back on his bed; a hectic
backyard scene at a Kentucky babysitting business; a 74-year-old Oddville, Kentucky, resident relaxing in the company of his family of stray cats.
Krantz said McCuddy’s talent is undeniable. She said it was remarkable to watch the 23-year-old make the most of every lesson and assignment at the UM School of Journalism.
“In photography, you have to move closer to make those more intimate photos,” Krantz said. “Maddie started getting deeper into stories, literally and metaphorically. She has a very beautiful and unique way of seeing the world through photographs.”
And McCuddy’s big year isn’t over yet. She also just received the Ian Parry Photojournalism Grant – a global competition that provides thousands of dollars in grant funding to help a talented young photojournalist bring a story across the finish line.
“The UM J-School pushed me constantly,” McCuddy said. “When I started, it felt like I was living under a rock. Now, I wouldn’t be where I am today without the classes I took and the mentors I gained.”
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Contact: Austin Amestoy, marketing and communications manager, UM College of the Arts and Media, 406-690-2783, austin.amestoy@mso.umt.edu.