Derby, NEW YORK - The North American Travel Journalists Association (NATJA) has announced the winners of its 2012 Annual Awards. Photographer and travel writer David Noyes won the Grand Prize Award for photography for the third consecutive year, as well as Gold awards for:
Photography: Overall Excellence
Photography: Landscape Photograph
Local Lifestyle Internet Article
NATJA is the second largest travel media association in North America. NATJA Awards recognize excellence in travel journalism. “This year’s entries were outstanding, both in quality of the journalism, excellence and range of coverage,” said Helen Hernandez, CEO of the organization. Noyes received the Grand Prize for images from his Everest base camp trek in Nepal published in Lifestyle + Travel magazine, while his article was a finalist in the Destination Travel, International Magazine category.
In March of this year Noyes will lead a Mount Kilimanjaro summit trek in Tanzania to launch his new charitable organization Innocent Eyes Project, Inc. “As a travel writer and photographer I have been fortunate to visit some of the world’s great places,” commented Noyes. “During my travels I have met fascinating people and witnessed both the beauty and tragedy of the human condition. This year I will do more than simply share the stories of my adventures,” he continued.
Innocent Eyes Project, Inc. will harness the power of the travel community to assist grassroots child education programs working in developing countries. Two billion children, 85 percent of the world’s total, live in the developing world. Their futures and those of their children depend on whether they go to school and how much they learn. UNESCO reports that 100 million children of primary school age (15 percent of the worldwide total) are not in school. Sub-Saharan Africa now accounts for half of the world’s out-of-school children.
Noyes’ Innocent Eyes Project will be launched through a private donation, but will partner with adventure travel tour operators to help fund the project going forward and identify worthy programs in countries where they operate. They will also reach out to corporate sponsors who sell goods and services to travelers including equipment and clothing manufacturers, travel insurance providers, airlines, cruise lines, hotels and resorts, travel agents, retailers, and publishers, as well as seek small donations from millions of individual travelers.
“Clearly, this project can’t begin to confront the enormous global child education issues requiring billions of dollars and governmental resources,” says Noyes. “But together we can do some wonderful small things that will create a ripple effect and touch the lives of thousands,” he continued. “It is impossible to travel into poor or isolated corners of the developing world and not be touched by the innocent eyes of a young child. This is my way of giving back just a little bit to the people and places that have shaped my life.”
A graduate of RIT and Harvard University, Noyes has enjoyed an exciting twenty-seven year career in photography, marketing, advertising, and publishing. Noyes is a regular contributor to Lifestyle + Travel out of Bangkok and TRVL an award winning iPad magazine. Noyes was the founding editor and publisher of AAA’s Member Connection magazine and Experience Outdoors. In 2008, Noyes was the subject of a two-part China Travel Channel television special program that followed his work around Beijing.
You can see more of David Noyes’ work at: www.noyestravels.com