Why do photo contests matter? Join us for an illuminating conversation with former directors and judges of Pictures of the Year (POYi) and Pictures of the Year Asia (POY Asia) as they look at the role of photography competitions in today’s media landscape.
📅 Saturday, 15 March 2025
⏰ 9 pm Singapore / 8 am Missouri, USA
💻 Live on Zoom
With
✅ Lynden Steele, former Director, POYi
✅ Tay Kay Chin, Founding Advisor and former Director POY Asia
✅ Yong Li Xuan, POYi and POY Asia coordinator
✅ Pek Yan Lin, POY Asia coordinator
Our panelists discuss the evolving significance of competitions in the digital era, how contests influence visual storytelling standards, and their impact on newsroom priorities and photographers in the field. For photographers in today’s changing media world, this panel offers valuable perspectives on how photo contests shape our industry, and what it means for journalism.
The In Conversation series is a POY Asia and Parallax collaboration.
Our Panelists
Lynden Steele
Lynden Steele is director of photojournalism at Missouri School of Journalism Reynolds Journalism Institute, oversaw Pictures of the Year (POYi) competition until 2024, and manages the POYi archive. Previously, as assistant managing editor of photography at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch (2008 onwards), his staff won numerous prestigious awards including the 2015 Pulitzer Prize for Breaking News Photography and recognition for Ferguson coverage. Prior to St. Louis, Lynden worked at the Monroe Evening News and Copley newspapers, and was a picture editor at the White House, where he edited Portraits of a Leader: George W. Bush. Lynden is a graduate of the Missouri School of Journalism, and continues to teach at the university.
🔗 @manofsteele
Tay Kay Chin
TAY Kay Chin @kaychin (aka Kay-Chin TAY to most of his American friends) is a Singaporean photographer. A proud photojournalism graduate of the Missouri School of Journalism, he has been creating meaningful independent projects that are grounded in his strong belief in powerful images and storytelling. From 2021 to 2024, he co-directed Pictures of the Year Asia @poyasia, a competition he also co-founded.
🔗 taykaychin.com
Yong Li Xuan
Yong Li Xuan is a Singaporean photojournalist. She studied journalism and photography at Nanyang Technological University, and was a reporter at Singapore’s national broadsheet The Straits Times after graduating. Her project documenting a young woman’s struggle with depression and anxiety received a 2022 Objectifs’ Documentary Award in the emerging category, and an opportunity to exhibit the work. That same year, she was selected for the Eddie Adams Workshop. Li Xuan was a coordinator for three editions of POY Asia, which led her to the Missouri School of Journalism, where she is a graduate student and a coordinator for College Photographer of the Year (CPOY) and Pictures of the Year.
🔗 yonglx1999.wixsite.com | @yong.lx
Yan Lin Pek
Yan Lin Pek is a Singaporean photojournalist and documentary photographer. Beyond assignments, she focuses on community and social issues, capturing the world around her to highlight lesser-known aspects of society and inspire change. In 2021, she was selected for the 34th Eddie Adams Workshop and received the Bill Eppridge Photography Memorial Award for excellence in photojournalism. She is currently a staff photojournalist at Lianhe Zaobao, Singapore’s largest Chinese-language newspaper.
🔗 yanlinpek.com | @yanlin_p
