Think Tank Photo awarded NPPA award for outstanding achievement
posted Friday, January 15, 2016 at 12:13 PM EDT
The National Press Photographers Association (NPPA) has named Think Tank Photo as the winner of the 2016 J. Winton Lemen Fellowship Award. The award is named for charter NPAA member J. Winton Lemen, who had a distinguished photojournalist career at the Rocky Mountain News, Pittsburgh Press, and Buffalo times before establishing the photo press markets division of Eastman Kodak in 1952.
Joining the ranks of previous winners such as Canon, Nikon, Sony, Fuji, and Adobe, Think Tank Photo has been bestowed this honor for both providing outstanding service for the press photography industry and for outstanding technical achievement in photography in general.
Making this honor even more impressive is that Think Tank Photo was only founded in 2005. Designers Doug Murdoch and Mike Sturm, Pulitzer Prize winning photographer Deanne Fitzmaurice, and veteran photojournalist Kurt Rogers came together to create a company that is “focused on studying how photographers work, and developing inventive new carrying solutions to meet their needs.”
Think Tank Photo focuses on speed and accessibility when designing their gear. Their slogan is “Be Ready ‘Before the Moment’” and their line of photography carrying solutions reflects that.
As CEO and lead designer Doug Murdoch says, “When we started ThinkTank over 10 years ago, we vowed to serve the needs of NPPA members and other working photographers. It is an extreme honor to be named for such an illustrious award, especially by an organization we hold in such high regard. We believe photojournalists and other press photographers and videographers serve such a high purpose in helping convey the truth, especially in settings where they often have to put their lives at risk.”
For more information on Think Tank Photo, visit their website. Having used Think Tank carrying solutions myself, I know first-hand that they are excellent and well-designed bags that make me a more efficient photographer out in the field. Think Tank's bags are tough and I’ve found up to the challenge of most any situation.