Jeff Siner of The Charlotte Observer added to NC stop
September 16, 2008 by Jeff Gritchen
Jeff Siner has been a member of The Charlotte Observer’s photography staff for 20 years. He interned with The Observer in the summer of 1988 and was offered a job on his last day. Siner returned to Charlotte following school at Indiana University where he majored in journalism and minored in psychology. Originally assigned to The Observer’s Gastonia, NC office, he was transferred to the Rock Hill, SC office after six months and then downtown shortly thereafter. He would shoot daily assignments until late June 1991 when he would become the paper’s lone photo editor. For a year and a half, he would maintain this position, assigning, editing, maintaining daily and travel budgets along with evaluations before a second photo editor was hired. He would remain as a photo editor for four more years until late 1997. Upon returning to the staff, he began shooting photo essays including: Vernon’s Goodbye a story that chronicled a man’s battle with cancer for which he was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize, Death at the Track, an essay following dirt and short track racing fatalities, Death and Dying which focused on the differences between coroners and pathologists and Kayla, a young girl’s journey to Guatemala to be reunited with her mother who had been deported. During this time, he was also heavily involved in The Observers coverage of sporting events including: the Special Olympics, the AAU games, MLB’s All Star Game in Atlanta, numerous NBA games including the former Charlotte Hornets NBA playoff games, the Carolina Panthers regular season games including the playoffs and Super Bowl, NASCAR’s Daytona 500 and races in Charlotte for 20 years, and his personal favorite, weekly prep football games. He has won numerous national and state awards including being named 2002 North Carolina Press Photographer of the Year. In January 2008, he was asked to be a member of McClatchy’s Beijing 2008 Olympics team.
