John Kaplan

John Kaplan is one of America's most accomplished photographers. In 1992, his words and pictures project about the diverse lifestyles of 21-year-olds was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Feature Photography. In 1996, Kaplan's first book for children, Mom and Me, was named by Parents magazine as one of its best books of the year.

Kaplan's exhibition, Four Nations, which examines at four views of freedom in China, Russia, Cuba and the United States has recently completed an exhibition tour of Korea and Bolivia.

In 1989, Mr. Kaplan received the Robert F. Kennedy Award for outstanding coverage of the disadvantaged in the United States. That same year, he was named National Newspaper Photographer of the Year in the annual Pictures of the Year (POY) contest, the largest photojournalism competition in the world.

An Associate Professor at the University of Florida, Kaplan teaches photography, design and international journalism courses. He has twice been named a photography juror for the Pulitzer Prizes and is been profiled in Who's Who in America and Who's Who in the World. Mr. Kaplan is a frequent lecturer at photography and journalism workshops throughout the world and has also received national recognition for his poetry and writing.

Kaplan's photography may be viewed at: www.johnkaplan.com

A native of Colorado, Jen Sens is a masters student at the University of Florida's College of Journalism and Communications.

Before coming to Florida, Sens worked as a photojournalist a daily newspaper in Loveland, Colorado, the Loveland Reporter Herald.

She studied Spanish at a language institute in Salamanca, Spain and earned her bachelor's in journalism from the University of Montana.

The Belize trip was Sens' third experience documenting Latin American culture.