March 31, 2004
Student photojournalists snare honors
CARBONDALE, Ill. -- Photojournalists from Southern Illinois University Carbondale dominated the annual collegiate competition of the Illinois chapter of the National Press Photographers Association, held March 27 in Chicago.
Galva native Derek L. Anderson, SIUC senior in photojournalism and a staff photographer at the Daily Egyptian, won Student Photographer of the Year for the second year in a row.
Second place went to Carterville's Max A. Bittle, a freshman in photojournalism and a staff photographer at the weekly Carterville Courier newspaper; third place went to Jessica D. Edmond of Diehlstadt, Mo., a former DE staffer, and Amanda D. Whitlock ofRantoul, presently DE photo editor, received one of three honorable mentions.
In all, seven SIUC photojournalism students snared 28 of the 45 awards in the photography competition, sponsored each spring by the Illinois Press Photographers Association.
"Our students did very well and my teaching colleague Phil Greer and I are quite proud of them," said associate professor James D. Kelly, head of the SIUC photojournalism sequence -- housed in the School of Journalism. The academic specialty belongs to the College of Mass Communication and Media Arts.
Promoting excellence in undergraduate academics is among the goals of Southern@150, the blueprint for the development of the University by the time it celebrates its 150th anniversary in 2019.
Contest judges this year included veteran news photographers working in Illinois and Wisconsin.
A complete list of the 2003 Illinois Student Best of Photojournalism contest winners from SIUC, by category:
News Photography
- Second place: Derek Anderson
- Two Honorable Mentions: Max Bittle
Feature Photography
- Second place: Derek Anderson
- Third place: Yindi Chen
- Honorable Mentions: Max Bittle and Anthony O. Souffle of Collinsville
Sports Action
- First place: Max Bittle
- Second place: Max Bittle
- Third place: Derek Anderson
- Honorable Mention: Amanda Whitlock
Sports Feature
- Second place: Max Bittle
- Third place: Amanda Whitlock
- Honorable Mention: Max Bittle
- Honorable Mention: Derek Anderson
Portrait/Personality
- Third place: Meredith Mercier of Kappa
- Honorable Mention: Derek Anderson
Pictorial
- Second place: Derek Anderson
- Honorable Mentions: Meredith Mercier and Amanda Whitlock
Picture Story
- Second place: Amanda Whitlock
- Third place: Jessica Edmond
- Honorable Mentions: Max Bittle and Derek Anderson