Brooks Institute Achievers Get Top Awards in College Photographer of the Year Contest

Brooks Institute is proud to announce that four students and a graduate from its Visual Journalism program are the recipients of eight top awards from the 2008 College Photographer of the Year (CPoY) competition.

Ventura, CA (Vocus) December 1, 2008 -- Brooks Institute is proud to announce that four students and a graduate from its Visual Journalism program are the recipients of eight top awards from the 2008 College Photographer of the Year (CPoY) competition. The copy event is held annually at the Missouri School of Journalism in Columbia.

"Winning a contest does not make a photographer, but it can be a bellwether of talent, " said Rita Reed, CPoY director, in a statement issued by the organization. "College Photographers of the Year have gone on to become outstanding professional photographers and leaders in the field of photojournalism - the list of alumni is long and prestigious."

The competitive contest was comprised of over 13,313 still images and 169 multimedia projects entered by 566 student photographers from 121 colleges and universities in 13 different countries. It is sponsored by the University of Missouri, Nikon, National Geographic, The Poynter, the National Press Photographers Association and the Missouri Photo Workshop. Judges for this year's competition were Melissa Farlow, freelancer for National Geographic; Travis Fox, multimedia producer at Washingtonpost.com; Tammy Lechner, freelancer/co-owner of Still Productions; and Steve Rice, photographer/videographer at the Star Tribune.

Brooks Institute students and graduate Daryl Peveto received the following awards:

Spot News

Award of Excellence - Brett Ziegler

General News

Award of Excellence - Afton Almaraz

Feature

Silver - Daryl Peveto

Sports Feature

Gold - Daryl Peveto

Portrait

Award of Excellence - Ellen Webber

Award of Excellence - Daryl Peveto

Pictorial

Gold - Afton Almaraz

Illustration

Award of Excellence - Afton Almaraz

This is the 63rd year of the competition. The goal is to encourage student photographers to evaluate their own work and assemble a "best of" in order to demonstrate their vision and abilities to their peers and to industry professionals who donate their time to judge the event. Visual Journalism graduate, Daryl Peveto, who won a silver, gold, and an Award of Excellence, was also a 2006 and 2007 CPoY winner.

Brooks Institute Provost, David Litschel, noted, "Brooks Institute is proud to have its students represented in the 63rd annual CPoY Competition. The recognition that these students have received in competing against some of the best photojournalism students in the country, is testament to the viability of the curriculum and the quality of instruction in Brooks Institute's Visual Journalism program."

All of the CPoY recipients from Brooks Institute are enrolled in the school's Visual Journalism program. The program offers students the opportunity to pursue a Bachelor of Arts Degree and to engage in specialty coursework including classes in Sports Photojournalism, Documentary, Picture Story and Digital Video.

About Brooks Institute

Brooks Institute celebrates more than 60 years of educating students in the visual and media arts. With campuses in Santa Barbara and Ventura, California, the school offers Bachelor of Arts degrees in fields including Professional Photography, Visual Journalism, Film and Video Production and Graphic Design, and a Master of Fine Arts degree in Photography. Brooks' graduates are visible nationally and internationally, working for distinguished organizations including National Geographic, Smithsonian, Los Angeles Times and other national media outlets, including Hallmark Publishing, Cousteau Society, HBO, Kodak and other industry leaders in the visual media arts fields. Brooks is part of the Career Education Corporation network of schools (NASDAQ: CECO). For more information about Brooks Institute and the school's programs, visit www.brooks.edu, or call 805-966-3888.

###