2008 Woodie Awards
Portrait photo takes first place at May Gallery
By: Lanz Christian Banes
Issue date: 4/19/07 Section: LifeStyle
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Senior Jennifer Wenger's portrait of homeless man Lyov Myshkynov was named Best in Show, garnering her a $150 gift certificate to Schiller's Camera and Video at 9240 Manchester Road. In addition, the university purchases the piece for $150 to hang in the halls near the May Gallery on the second floor of the Sverdrup building.
"Holy crap, I had no idea," said a visibly excited Wenger during the opening reception and awards ceremony.
Her portrait was part of a photographic essay on homeless people and featured Myshkynov on the right side of the background while an out-of-focus chess set dominated the left foreground. The image was created in a booth at Denny's.
This year's show was judged by Terrell Carter, a painter and director of the gallery at St. Louis Community College-Forest Park, and Jerry Tuvo, a commercial photographer with a studio in downtown St. Louis. Both were unable to attend the opening.
Fifty images from 26 student photographers, five of whom were given prizes, were chosen for the show. Four of these prizes ranged from a $50 gift certificate to Schiller's for a photograph by senior Sara Spinner to Wenger's total $300 prize.
Juried Show prizes were increased by $25 this year, said Bill Barrett, chairman of the electronic and photographic media department and director of the May Gallery.
In addition, junior Max Gersh, photography editor for The Journal, was named the recipient of the $2,000 Nancy Bell Underwood Scholarship.
The scholarship award was judged by Alise O'Brien, an architectural and interior photographer; Jennifer Silverberg, a Riverfront Times photographer; and Jan Sago, coordinator of the photography program at St. Louis Community College-Meramec.
Underwood, a 1990 photography alumna, was photography editor of The Journal during her years at Webster, said Susan Stang, a photography professor and Underwood's former teacher.
In addition, Underwood was the darkroom manager and assistant to the coordinator of the May Gallery, who at that time was Stang. Underwood was killed in a car accident in Michigan March 13, 1993 - the last day of her part-time job at a local paper before she was supposed to start a full-time photojournalism position in Kentucky.
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