A keen eye for political life

Judges for the White House News Photographers Association this week recognized what readers of The Washington Times already knew: Liz O. Baylen uses her camera to find the emotions behind the Page One stories at home and abroad.

Miss Baylen, 25, a staff photographer for The Times since 2001, claimed six of the 13 awards won by this newspaper in the association’s “The Eyes of History 2005” contest for still photography. She took the prize for Political Photo of the Year, the highest honor for coverage of official Washington.

Miss Baylen, who was born in Los Angeles and grew up in Ohio, joined The Times after receiving a bachelor’s degree in photojournalism from Ohio University. She previously had interned at The Times and at the Toledo Blade in Ohio.

“For me, it’s all about the relationship I build with the people I photograph,” Miss Baylen says. “Photojournalism is my way to meet people and understand people, the way they live and work and why they do it. I’m there to learn who that person is.”