Brooks Students Earn 8 Top Awards in National College Photographer of the Year Competition

Students from Brooks Institute of Photography in Santa Barbara, California, were the recipients of eight awards in the prestigious College Photographer of the Year (CPoY) competition held at the Missouri School of Journalism in Columbia. Some 12,500 images entered by 517 student photographers from 98 different colleges and universities were submitted to the competition.

Santa Barbara, CA (PRWeb) December 4, 2006 -- Students from Brooks Institute of Photography in Santa Barbara, California, were the recipients of eight awards in the prestigious College Photographer of the Year (CPoY) competition held at the Missouri School of Journalism in Columbia. Some 12,500 images entered by 517 student photographers from 98 different colleges and universities were submitted to the competition.

According to CPoY director Rita Reed in a statement issued by the organization, "Winning a contest does not make a photographer, but it can be a bellwether of talent. 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 contest is sponsored by the University of Missouri, Nikon, National Geographic, The Poynter, the National Press Photographers Association and the Missouri Photo Workshop. The results of the five-day competition were announced in November, 2006. Brooks Institute students received the following awards:

Spot News: Gold medal, Ramsay DeGive

General News: Award of Excellence, Matthew Williams

Pictorial: Gold medal, Matt Mallams; Bronze medal, Brenda Manookin; Award of Excellence, Matt Mallams

Illustration: Bronze medal, Daryl Peveto

Personal Vision: Gold medal, Elyse Butler

International Picture Story: Bronze medal, Matthew Williams

Sports Portfolio: Award of Excellence, Sam Adams

This is the 61st 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. Several of the 2006 winners - Mallams, Butler, and DeGive - are past CPoY winners.

"We are always proud when our students earn awards in national competitions of this caliber. It reflects the fact that they have merged their own unique vision and talents with what they are learning in school, resulting in their ability to create this kind of award-winning work," said Brooks president, Dr. Greg Strick. "This year, we are especially pleased given that a number of the students who received CPoYs have won in prior years. When our students win so consistently, it's a testament to the strength of our faculty and to the outstanding photography education that Brooks provides."

All of the CPoY awardees from Brooks Institute are enrolled in the school's renowned Visual Journalism program that allows students to pursue Bachelors and Masters degrees and offers the opportunity to engage in specialty coursework including classes in Real World Photojournalism, Documentary, Picture Story and Digital Video.

About Brooks Institute

Brooks Institute of Photography recently celebrated its 60th year of educating students in the visual media. With its campuses in Santa Barbara and Ventura, California, the school has more than 2000 students pursuing Masters and Bachelors degrees in fields including professional photography, visual journalism, film and video production and visual communication. 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 visual media fields.

For more information about Brooks Institute and the school's Film & Video Production program, visit www.brooks.edu

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