<bt>Back in 1976, Catherine Karnow's photo of traffic on River Road earned her $100 in the Potomac Almanac’s high school photojournalism competition.
Karnow has come a long way from her first prize when she was 16. She recently sold a photograph of the Capitol’s rotunda to the publisher of John Grisham’s new book, The Summons, for $49,000.
The photograph is being used for the cover of the hardback, paperback and audio versions of the book.
“When I opened the check, I thought it was a typo,” said Karnow from her office in San Francisco. The amount was more surprising, she added, because it was for one-time use, so she can sell the photo again.
Currently a resident of San Francisco, Karnow is a professional photojournalist whose work can be seen in National Geographic and National Geographic Travel magazines.
Karnow grew up in Potomac, the daughter of Pulitzer Prize winner Stanley Karnow. She is a 1978 graduate of Holton Arms School.
<1b>— Olwen Pongrace