Photo by Senior Education Major Chosen as Comporium Telephone Directory Cover

Quick Facts

The contest judges said the photograph captured the essence of this year’s 125th anniversary at Winthrop University.

The photography contest was open to Winthrop University students, faculty, staff and alumni. There were 204 entries from 75 area photographers.

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ROCK HILL, S.C. – The winner of the Comporium Communications photography contest for the upcoming York County Telephone Directory cover is Marlessa Southern, a special education major from Rock Hill graduating in May.

Her photo of a woman wearing a graduation gown holding the hand of young girl wearing a graduation cap tells a timeless story of shared values among generations. The contest judges said the photograph captured the essence of this year’s 125th anniversary at Winthrop.

The winner was announced at an April 7 ceremony at the DiGiorgio Campus Center.

Glenn McFadden, executive vice president and chief operating officer at Comporium Communications, said his company has wanted to include Winthrop on the telephone directory for several years now. “We thought the 125th anniversary was a perfect time,” he said. “Winthrop has been such a big part of York County. We thought it very deserving for Winthrop to appear on the cover as recognition and appreciation of the university’s contributions.”

The photography contest was open to Winthrop University students, faculty, staff and alumni. There were 204 entries from 75 area photographers.

Southern’s winning photograph will be printed as cover artwork for the 2011-12 phone directory and will be distributed in September to more than 100,000 households and businesses across York County. She also won an iPad and $100.

Second prize and $250 went to Aubrie Salzman, a human nutrition major from Aiken, for her striking black and white photograph along Scholars Walk. The third place recipient was William Folden, an English instructor, who photographed the Withers Building, home of the Richard W. Riley College of Education. He won $100.

The honorable mention winners, who each were given a $50 gift card, were Eric Birgbauer, H'Liana Niehrah, Elisa Hedgpath, H'Alina Niehrah, Lance Graham, Sally Lenski-Brown and John Rhodes.

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