A photograph documenting a southern Maine family’s struggle to find an affordable home was a finalist for a 2020 Pulitzer Prize, WCSH reports.
Photojournalist Erin Clark of The Boston Globe got the honor in the feature photography category for her work that followed the struggles of the family as it fell into homelessness and found new housing.
Clark described the photo’s subjects in an Instagram post:
“In July, the Lupien family was evicted from their apartment in Southern Maine. Left with no other options, they moved into a campground with their three special needs children. For the next five months, they bounced between campgrounds and a dozen churches before finding an apartment they could afford,” she wrote.
“I’m laying here looking at the disheveled living room and kitchen, totes stacked or half full… our lives coming undone, but my kids love me… I don’t feel like I deserve any of it. But I’m grateful they do,” Mariah LeMieux-Lupien said.
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The Pulitzer Prizes, which are present by Columbia University, were first awarded in 1917. There are 15 Journalism Pulitzer categories and seven Book, Drama and Music categories. There is a prize of $15,000 and the winner of the Public Service category is awarded a gold medal.
The prizes recognize the achievements of journalism in the U.S. in reporting, writing and photography categories.
Big winners included The New York Times, ProPublica and Anchorage Daily News, WCHC reports.