Students, faculty win nine photojournalism awards

Patrick Siller

Five Central Michigan University students and a faculty member won nine photojournalism awards this weekend, including first place in college photographer of the year and the illustration category.

The Michigan Press Photographers Association honored the best in Michigan photography at its annual spring awards conference.

The MPPA awards are a highly competitive competition meant to highlight excellence in the field of photojournalism. Some of the top winners were Central Michigan University students and professors, such as Lambertville senior Sarah Miller, who took home first place for College Photographer of the Year.

“It was so unexpected and surprising because I only hoped to be mentioned,” Miller said. “It was such a big surprise because you are competing with so many great photographers.”

Central Michigan Life senior photographer Patrick Siller, a Commerce Township senior, won second place for this photo entry “High Heels in High School,” where he shows the lifestyles and passions of high school students in a New York City fashion arts high school.

Suttons Bay senior Dan Stewart was awarded first place in the spot news category for his photo entitled “Mobile Home Destroyed.”

His winning photo was of a woman being consoled by a family member after a fire burned down their mobile home, which was published at the Jackson Citizen Patriot during his summer internship.

CMU journalism professor Kent Miller represented excellence at the professional level by placing second for his photo called “Wolf Puppy.”

Miller photographed wildlife at the Denali National Park and Preserve in Alaska, which he describes as being “a great experience.”

“My whole determination was to show the connection between the people in the park and the wildlife that live there,” Miller said.

Award winners

College Photographer
of the Year
- First Place: Sarah A. Miller
- Third Place: Alex Stawinski
- Honorable Mention: Dan Stewart

Illustration
- First Place: Libby March, “Pisces Brought to Life”
- Second Place: Patrick Siller, “High Heels in High School”

Features
- Honorable Mention: Kent Miller, Freelance, “Too Close for Comfort”

Landscape/Nature/Wildlife
- Second Place: Kent Miller, Freelance, “Wolf Puppy”
- Third Place: Sarah A. Miller, “Anole”
- Honorable Mention: Kent Miller, Freelance, “Bigfoot”

See the photos online with other contest winners at mppa.org.

university@cm-life.com