Alan Berner Alan Berner, a staff photographer at the Seattle Times, believes Robert Frank’s “The Americans” is the most influential work in photography of the past five decades. He wishes he had the first French edition---and a print, signed. He believes every photographer should have this book on their shelves. Berner, the current NPPA Regional Photographer of the Year, has received this honor six times. He is the recipient of a Nikon / NPPA Documentary Sabbatical Grant in 1995 to pursue an essay on the New American West. The Cowles Cup, the Associated Press Sweepstakes Award for Oregon and Washington, has been awarded to him four times. A native of St. Louis, he has degrees in philosophy and photojournalism from the University of Missouri. He has worked at five papers in his career.