Team Cobb

Kim Komenich is an associate professor and head of the photojournalism sequence at San Francisco State University. Komenich was awarded the 1987 Pulitzer Prize in Spot News Photography for photographs of the 1986 Philippine “People Power” Revolution he made while on assignment for Hearst’s San Francisco Examiner. He worked as a staff photographer and editor for the Examiner (1982-2000) and the San Francisco Chronicle (2000-2009). He is a recipient of the 1987 National Distinguished Service Award from the Society of Professional Journalists, the 1983 News Picture Story Award from World Press Photo, and three National Headliner Awards. He is the 2010 recipient of the National Press Photographers Association’s Humanitarian Award. He has photographed the ramifications of conflict in Vietnam, El Salvador, the former Soviet Union and Iraq, where photos from his three trips to the Sunni Triangle in 2005 earned him the Military Reporters and Editors’ Association’s 2006 Photography Award. Komenich has taught photojournalism and documentary photography since 1987. He is the 2021 recipient of the Excellence in Teaching Award from the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication/Viscomm. He is the 2005 recipient of the National Press Photographers Association’s Clifton C. Edom Education Award. He was a John S. Knight Fellow at Stanford University and teaching fellow at the Center for Documentary Studies at U.C. Berkeley. He was named a Dart Ochberg Fellow, working with the Dart Center for Journalism and Trauma at Columbia University, curating photo exhibitions and giving presentations to journalists about the human toll of covering traumatic events. He attended San Jose State University (B.A. Journalism, 1979) and the University of Missouri (M.A., 2007.) His 2016 book “Revolution Revisited” is part of an ongoing re-examination of the Philippine People Power revolution which includes an upcoming 70-minute documentary film as well as exhibition tours in the Philippines and the U.S.

Komenich has made six trips to the Philippines since 2010 in an effort to locate some of the subjects in his 1980’s

photos-- rich and poor-- to find out how, 30 years later, the revolution has affected their lives.

Denny Simmons has been making pictures and getting paid for it since landing his first job at the Jacksonville (Ill.) Journal-Courier after graduation from Mizzou in '93. Before that, he did a six-year stint in the U.S. Navy repairing missile radars. He has worked for "photography friendly" newspapers his entire career. Simmons was a photo editor at the St. Joseph (Mo.) News-Press, picture editor at the Waukegan (Ill.) News-Sun; "visuals content coach"; at both the Courier & Press in Evansville, Ind., and The Gleaner in Henderson, Ky. Simmons is currently serving as Deputy Director of Photography at The Tennessean. Simmons and his staff continue to fight the good fight for the telling of stories with pictures. It is never easy to find the time to invest in good storytelling, but he believes the time can be found if the desire is strong enough. He was recognized as National Press Photographers Association’s “Best of Photojournalism” 2021 Newspaper Picture Editor of the Year – Runner-up (Less than 100,000 circulation; 2008 Photographer of the Year (smaller markets): 2018 POY Runner-Up; E.W. Scripps Hall of Fame 2011 for Photojournalism; and College Photographer of the Year – 1993. Simmons is a strong believer in maintaining balance in his life, so when he isn't working, he can usually be found chasing after his wife of 30 years, Penny. Skateboards and fishing poles are always close-at-hand in case Simmons ever comes upon any smooth 'crete or good water.