When filmmaker John Waters hands you an award, you know you're doing something right. On May 1, CITY magazine won the National Magazine Award for Best Photo Portfolio, taking home the Ellie for Horacio Salinas' stunning fashion story, "White Heat," published in CITY's April 2006 issue. CITY was nominated twice in the new category, with photographer Kenji Toma's "Penitentiary," published in the 2006 Spring Fashion issue, joining "White Heat" as one of five finalists. CITY beat out Vogue (Annie Leibovitz), W (Bruce Weber), and Details (Michael Thompson) to win its second-ever National Magazine Award. In 2004, CITY captured the Best Photography award.

"When it comes to creative photography, CITY magazine competes on another level," Waters, a presenter, told an audience of 1,000 editors, publishers, and magazine insiders at the American Society of Magazine Editors' annual awards gala, held at New York's Jazz at Lincoln Center Tuesday night. "In 'White Heat,' Horacio Salinas plays with the very idea of what a fashion shoot can be," Waters said. "A series of clever contrasts -- black and white, industrial and delicate, iconic and ethereal -- turn a few items of clothing into a simple, graceful, and fully realized artistic vision." Creative Director Fabrice Frere accepted the award for CITY. "It's great to see that ASME still champions independent publishers and publications like CITY along with the big boys and girls of publishing," Frere said. To see the winning and nominated stories, go to www.city-magazine.com/asme07