C. TODD SHERMAN’S winning photograph, first published Nov. 27, shows S.L. Caldwell protected against the threat of anthrax as he makes his rounds as a postal carrier.(The Vicksburg Post/C. TODD SHERMAN)

[05/14/02]A news picture by Vicksburg Post photojournalist C. Todd Sherman has been selected the 2001 Associated Press Mississippi Photo of the Year.

It shows S.L. Caldwell of the U.S. Postal Service delivering mail on Harrison Street in Vicksburg on Nov. 27 in the days immediately after contaminated mail was discovered.

Caldwell was wearing a mask and rubber gloves to deliver the mail because the bacteria anthrax had been found in numerous states and the District of Columbia. Postal workers and recipients of the mail had died.

Sherman said he found the photo on a routine search for feature pictures on Mission 66.

“I pulled over and spoke to him,” Sherman said. “He said he was wearing the gloves and mask to protect himself from any possible anthrax exposure.”

Caldwell told Sherman his next deliveries would be on Harrison Street. Sherman found the house with the American flag hanging and waited for the picture.

“Given what was going on after Sept. 11, I knew that an image of the postal worker wearing the protective gear would be indicative of how the world had changed,” he said.

Associated Press photographers from five states and the State Photo Center in Washington selected Sherman’s photograph.

He will receive $125 and a plaque, and his winning photograph will be showcased on PhotoStream, the Associated Press photo network.

Sherman graduated from the University of Southern Mississippi in May 2000 with a degree in journalism photography. He began working at The Vicksburg Post in April 2001.