Bio
Pulitzer Prize-winning photojournalist, David Leeson, has been on staff at The Dallas Morning News since 1984. He has also worked for the Abilene Reporter News and The Times-Picayune in New Orleans.
His assignments have taken him to more than 60 countries and numerous world conflicts in 20 years.
He has been a finalist for the Pulitzer three times prior to winning the award in 2004 along with colleague Cheryl Diaz Meyer for photographs made in March and April 2003 while on the front lines with the US Army 3rd Infantry Division during the invasion of Iraq. He has also won two Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Awards and numerous regional, state and national awards.
In the fall of 2000, he began shooting video for The Dallas Morning News making him the first staff photographer in the nation shooting video full-time for a newspaper. Since then he has completed more than seven documentary films.
Two of his documentaries from the war also won honors. “War Stories†(2003) won a National Headliners award, a national Edward R. Murrow Award and a regional Emmy Award for best television documentary. “Dust to Dust†(2004) was named a finalist for best short film at the USA Film Festival.
In 2006, Leeson was named Innovator of the Year in Photojournalism by American Photo magazine for his work using frame grabs for newspaper daily still assignments. The results of his efforts have culminated in the growing trend by newspapers to use photo staff transitioned to high definition video cameras to obtain both video and stills from a single assignment.
Other recent roles have included creation of new workflows for video production to increase speed to publication, an editorial review process to increase quality of our products and development of new technologies for production of frame grabs from high definition video.