Kobe Bryant and Eight Others Die in Helicopter Crash

Five time NBA champion, four time MVP of the game, two time Olympic gold medalist, two time Finals MVP, and father of four, Kobe Bryant passed away this Sunday. A helicopter crashed in Calabasas, California on the 26th of January killing all nine passengers on board which included Bryant and his 13 year old daughter Gianna. The accident occurred sometime in the early morning of Sunday, Pacific Standard Time as Bryant was travelling with his daughter for her basketball game at noon the same day.

Bryant’s passing shook the world and garnered immediate response from millions across a variety of social media platforms. Throughout the day, NBA games honored and held moments of silence for Bryant and other victims on board the Sikorsky S-76B helicopter. Teams on the court began games by taking violations, one which was 24 seconds, and one, eight second clock violation, both of which were numbers Bryant wore during his time in the NBA. Bryant’s high school, Lower Merion in Pennsylvania, as well as the Staples Center in Los Angeles saw hundreds of mourners gather in remembrance. The future Hall-of-Famer would have turned 42 in August.

© Madison Houppert: Within Reach Grade 10, Lowville High School — © Madison Houppert: *Within Reach* Grade 10, Lowville High School

CNY Scholastic Art Awards: Photography

The 2020 Central New York (CNY) Scholastic Art Awards released their winning entries from the thousands of submissions by junior and senior high school students. The competition included 13 CNY counties and spanned a variety of mediums including photography. A total of 1,370 works was awarded among the 17 categories within the competition. An award ceremony was held last Thursday, the 21st which included special selections for the national competition as well as cash prizes, special recognitions and local awards. 125 images were selected as Gold Key winners which are all eligible and entered into Scholastics national art competition. Currently, a selection of some 1,600 works are on daily exhibition for free at Onondaga Community College’s Whitney Applied Technology Center through Feb. 28.

You can view the selected images here.

The 62nd Annual Grammy Awards

On Sunday, the 26th the 62nd Grammy Awards were held at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. The award ceremony crowned 18 year old singer Billie Eilish with Album of the Year, as well as the other three major categories, Record of the Year, Song of the Year, and Best New Artist. Amongst a slurry of allegations against the Recording Academy, including voting improprieties and sexual misconduct, the ceremony went on following the passing of former Los Angeles Lakers star Kobe Bryant, earlier that day. With memorable performances from the likes of Lizzo, who won the Best Pop Solo Performance award, and a star-filled tribute to the late Nipsey Hussle and Bryant performed by John Legend, Kirk Franklin, Meek Mill and DJ Khaled to name a few. Host Alicia Keys took to the stage saying she was heartbroken and asked the crowd, “to take a moment” and remember those lost in the helicopter crash that claimed nine lives earlier that same day.

© Volker Sander: At Work — © Volker Sander: *At Work*

2020 Art of Building Photo Competition

Celebrating its tenth anniversary of the Art of Building, the Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB) held its annual architectural photography competition. Two cash prizes of £1,500 ($1957) were awarded, one for the Public Choice Award, the other for the Judge’s Prize. Submissions arrived from over 100 countries, with thousands of images being whittled down to just 12 finalists. A photographer from Ivanovo Russia took home the Public Choice Award with over 30% of the votes while Spanish photographer Pedro Luis Ajuriaguerra Saiz won the Judge’s Prize.

You can view all 12 finalist’s images here.

All images may be subject to copyright.