College Photographer of the Year, 101B Lee Hills Hall, Missouri School of Journalism, Columbia, MO (2026)

04/06/2026

Join us on Friday, April 17 for a day of photographer talks and inspiring work from professionals and students! and are excited to hold another Photofest, celebrating and sharing the work of CPOY and POY award winners.

Friday, April 17 | 9:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. CPOY/POY Photostory Fest
Smith Forum, Reynolds Journalism Institute, 401 S. 9th St., 2nd Floor
Free Lunch: View the CPOY Show at McDougall Center Gallery and enjoy Missouri BBQ

Friday, April 17 | 6:00–8:30 p.m. Reception
Come celebrate the winners at an evening awards reception at Orr Street Studios, (106 Orr Street)

Saturday, April 18 | All Day, your choice
Please join us at the Unbound Book Festival and discover a new favorite author, including a presentation by environmental photographer Kiliii Yuyan, sponsored by POY.

10/25/2025

Travis LaCoss from the Rochester Institute of Technology has received an Award of Excellence in the Documentary Photographic Project category.
______________________
Deathmatch wrestling is one of the most brutal forms of performance art. Deathmatch wrestlers employ weapons, like razor blades, thumbtacks, barbed wire, and fluorescent tubes, to inflict very real wounds in a bloody spectacle of violence. Beneath the mask of violence and gore lies a deeper truth about deathmatch wrestling. It's more than a spectacle, a barbaric display. For many, it's a form of therapy, artistic expression, a way of life, and finding a sense of community.

The full description and story will be published shortly on cpoy.org.

10/25/2025

Anna Connors from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has received an Award of Excellence in the Documentary Photographic Project category.
______________________
Jill McDonald, 46, has built her life around caring for her five-year-old son, Luca Amine-Hadir. Born in San Francisco, Calif. at the height of the pandemic, Luca lives with autism, cerebral palsy, and a severe form of intractable epilepsy. Jill and Luca’s father, Najib, pursued every possible medical treatment, including a 2021 brain surgery that removed 70% of Luca’s temporal-parietal-occipital lobe. The operation failed to control his seizures, and the relentless cycle of medical trials in the midst of both working full time jobs eventually ended their relationship, leaving Jill to parent primarily on her own.

A year ago, Jill discovered she was eligible for In-Home Supportive Services (IHSS) and the Home and Community Based Alternatives (HCBA) waiver, Medicaid services designed to keep children like him out of institutions that would cost the state millions. “It’s much more efficient to pay his mother, who actually really loves him and wants to take care of him as long as I can,” Jill said.

The full description and story will be published shortly on cpoy.org.

10/25/2025

Markus Heft from the Hanover University of Applied Sciences and Arts has received an Award of Excellence in the Documentary Photographic Project category.
______________________
"Dreamed for us" is a portrait series that brings visibility to the older q***r generation in Germany. They are often absent from public life and underrepresented in both q***r and general history. Their experiences rarely appear in schoolbooks, are not shared at family tables, and do not form part of common knowledge. Q***r history must be explicitly sought out to be found.

Each portrait is created in collaboration, showing the participants as they want to be seen and feel comfortable. The work highlights their presence, dignity, and individuality, countering a culture that often overlooks the older q***r generation.

The project is rooted in the photographer’s own search for q***r role models. Growing up, he knew almost nothing about q***r history and had no contact with the older q***r generation until he deliberately sought them out. This gave him a dual perspective: an insider’s view through his own q***rness and the perspective of a younger person looking toward the older generation.

The full description and story will be published shortly on cpoy.org.

10/25/2025

Dicte Sønnichsen from the Danish School of Media and Journalism has been named a Finalist in the Documentary Photographic Project category.
______________________
In the American West, girls are raised by their fathers to be self-reliant. From a young age, they learn how to drive a pickup truck so that they later can haul their horses in a trailer. These are girls whose biggest wish for their 21st birthday is a handgun. Girls who have never left the country or seen the ocean. They've been on horseback for as long as they can remember and aren’t afraid to get their hands dirty. They are deeply connected to the land and nature - and they’re all part of the same rodeo team in Colorado.

The American Cowboy culture is deeply embedded in the American identity and sense of self. The tradition traces back to the European immigrants who came to America in the 19th century, dreaming of a better life. Among those who settled far from everything, on the edge of the world, a unique pioneer mentality was born - one that still shapes life today in the small prairie communities where the rodeo girls come from. For the 16 girls who came to college because of rodeo, it's not just a sport. It’s a way to stay connected to their identity and the culture they come from. Rodeo shaped them to be independent and taught them responsibility.

Historically, photography projects, tv-shows and movies focusing on rodeo culture have centered around men, leaving the stories of women underrepresented. Yet, women play a crucial role in this world, whether as rodeo queens, barrel racers, ropers, ranchers, or caretakers of traditions passed down through generations.

The full description and story will be published shortly on cpoy.org.

10/25/2025

Christian Moorman from Speos International Photography School has been named a Finalist in the Documentary Photographic Project category.
______________________
This project is an exploration of the sugar estate in Guyana where my grandfather worked for 15 years, through the eyes of its most undervalued employees: the cane cutters. The sugar industry in Guyana has had an immense impact on the country’s history, and, by extension, on the history of Britain, the main beneficiary of the industry for nearly two centuries.

The sugar industry was nationalised in 1976, but the conditions for cane cutters have not changed much since colonial times. Sugar is still harvested by hand—the hours are long, the work dangerous, the pay meagre. Despite this, the cane cutters continue to work the fields of these estates, which have been harvested by generations of Guyanese workers, indentured servants, and slaves before them.

In some cases, such as at the Rose Hall Estate where this project was shot, the sugar estate represents the primary source of employment for the inhabitants of the surrounding villages. The history of these villages is inseparable from that of the estate—one is actually called the village of Cane Field—and, in a sense, its inhabitants are captive to an historical cycle of systematic exploitation that dates back centuries.

The full description and story will be published shortly on cpoy.org.

10/25/2025

Jordan Tovin from George Washington University has received Gold in the Documentary Photographic Project category.
______________________
Today, the families who gave D.C. its soul are the ones being pushed to its margins. In Shaw, a historically Black neighborhood, one multigenerational family stands as a mirror to this transformation. Brad, Reece, their four children, ages 1-10, and their extended family have long settled in the area. While building a life for their family, the couple navigates the tension between memory and development, community and displacement, alongside personal conflicts with domestic violence, alcohol, and drugs.

Their story is not isolated—it echoes the experiences of countless others who remain, resisting erasure and gentrification. This project, created in collaboration with the family, bears witness to their daily lives as they adapt, endure, and preserve what still belongs to them.

"We’re an average family trying to live through this whole situation, and we still try to be fly," the mother of this family, Reece said. "We do. We still try to make sure we have our Uggs, our Jordans, and… and our North Faces on, but that s**t hard... That s**t hard."

The full description and story will be published shortly on cpoy.org.

10/24/2025

Ethan Swope from University of California, Los Angeles has received an Award of Excellence in the Domestic Picture Story category.
______________________
In January 2025, wildfires swept through Los Angeles’s Pacific Palisades and Altadena neighborhoods, killing at least 31 people, leveling homes, forcing mass evacuations, and causing damage estimated in the tens to hundreds of billions of dollars. My photographs capture the immediate impact, firefighters overwhelmed, residents fleeing with only minutes to spare, and ashen streets where daily life once unfolded. This series documents the human toll and devastation, offering visual evidence that the climate crisis is not a distant threat but a present reality reshaping one of the world’s largest urban centers.

Winning portfolios will be published shortly on cpoy.org.

10/24/2025

Luke Johnson from George Washington University has received an Award of Excellence in the Domestic Picture Story category.
______________________
Joe Pridgen and his wife Grace recently moved from Boston to Missoula with their five-month-old daughter Samarra after Joe signed to continue his collegiate basketball career at the University of Montana.
Balancing new fatherhood, academics and athletics, Joe prioritizes being a partner to Grace and a father to Samarra. They work together to create stability and establish routine amidst the unpredictability of raising a baby.
Everything from being a father to living in Missoula is new to Joe as he works to find his identity within his new team and young family.

Winning portfolios will be published shortly on cpoy.org.

10/24/2025

Abbey Cutrer from the University of Kentucky in Lexington has received an Award of Excellence in the Domestic Picture Story category.
______________________
“If I’m not sleeping, I’m studying. If I’m not studying, I’m in class. If I’m not in class, l’m at practicum,” Samantha Kortenhoeven says, describing her life as a nursing student. Kortenhoeven, a 34-year-old nursing student at Bluegrass Community & Technical College, balances her demanding coursework with an equally challenging role as a live-in caregiver to her mother, Bobby Stephens. Kortenhoeven has survived an abusive marriage, mental health struggles and the death of her fiance. Now, she juggles her studies with caring for her mother, who battles diabetes and dementia. Despite a history of ups and downs, the two women share a resilience. “She’s not giving up on me and I’m not giving up on her, but it’s tough,” Kortenhoeven said.

Winning portfolios will be published shortly on cpoy.org.

10/24/2025

Ethan Swope from University of California, Los Angeles has received a Finalist in the Domestic Picture Story category.
______________________
In June 2025, Los Angeles saw several days of protest against planned ICE raids. Demonstrations swelled into tense standoffs with mounted police, tear gas, and flash-bangs, leading to the deployment of the National Guard. Amid the unrest, volunteers offered medical aid and legal guidance, reflecting both the strain of enforcement and the resilience of community response.

Winning portfolios will be published shortly on cpoy.org.

College Photographer of the Year

04/06/2026

10/25/2025

10/25/2025

10/25/2025

10/25/2025

10/25/2025

10/25/2025

10/24/2025

10/24/2025

10/24/2025

10/24/2025

Address

Telephone

Website

Alerts

Contact The Business

Shortcuts

Share