2006 Student Winner

1st place

Melanie Blanding is a senior photojournalism major at Western Kentucky University. She has had internships at The Flint Journal in Flint, Mich., and at the U.S. Army Public Affairs Office at Ft. Knox, KY. She is photo editor of The Talisman, the WKU yearbook, and a staff photographer for The College Heights Herald, the WKU newspaper, and is president of the WKU NPPA student chapter. She won a $9,000 scholarship to study photojournalism at the Syracuse University London Centre and a $1,000 grant to produce her picture story.

48 students from 10 countries applied to the competition this year.

Each student winner receives a scholarship that pays part of tuition, fees and living expenses to study photojournalism in London in the fall semester at the Syracuse University London Centre and a cash grant to help produce their proposed story.

Judging

The judging was done at Syracuse University on Feb. 25, 2006. Judges were Pim Van Hemmen, director of photography at the Newark Star Ledger, Ed Kashi, freelance documentary photographer from New Jersey and Bob Gilka, former National Geographic director of photography and adjunct professor of photojournalism and picture editing at Syracuse University.