Monica Lopossay, Neighbor

Daughter of a truck driver and a mill worker, Monica Lopossay grew up in rural North Carolina. At 16, she raised enough money to buy her first camera by dressing in a 20-pound chicken suit and dancing on the side of a highway. The first in her family to attend college, she worked her way through as a grill cook, a tutor at a Buddhist temple and a car mechanic to earn a Bachelor of Arts degree in international studies and cultural anthropology from Guilford College and an associate's degree in photojournalism from Randolph Community College. In her last eight years working for The Baltimore Sun, she covered a wide range of events, including two trips to Iraq and one to Haiti. She was honored in 2008 with her third Pulitzer nomination for spot news, as well as several awards from the Office of The President, White House News Photographers Association and National Press Photographers Association, Best of Photojournalism. Lopossayis currently freelancing, teaching at Towson University and at multiple non-profits throughout Baltimore City.