Student Excellence in Photojournalism, Single Photo

Ziyu Zhu, “ISU Figure Skating Championship in Boston, Massachusetts,” China Xinhua News Agency

ABOUT THE WORK: Kaori Sakamoto performs during the champion exhibition session at the 2025 ISU World Figure Skating Championships in Boston, Massachusetts, the United States on March 30, 2025.

Ziyu (Julian) Zhu is a multimedia journalist born and raised in Beijing, China. He earned his undergraduate degree in Journalism from Boston University in May 2025 and is currently pursuing a Master's in Journalism at Stanford University. With a passion for photography since middle school, Julian focused on his studies in photojournalism during his time at BU. Since 2023, Julian has been a photo contributor for China Xinhua News Agency. From June to August 2024, Julian interned at The Atlanta Journal-Constitution as a multimedia journalist. Julian will be interning as a visual journalist at the Sacramento Bee upon his graduation from Stanford in June 2026. Julian received multiple recognitions for his works, including a finalist in the Spot News category at the College Photographer of the Year (CPOY) contest in October 2024, and a Best in Show award at the Boston Press Photographers Association’s (BPPA) Annual College Student Photography Contest in April 2023, etc. Some of Julian’s works have also been distributed in major media outlets such as The Wall Street Journal, The Rolling Stones, CNN, and The Associated Press. In his free time, Julian enjoys reading, analog photography, and Legos.

Honorable Mention: Sean Fan, “Candlelight vigil reflects community mourning for U-District shooting victim,” The Daily of the University of Washington

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