Marge’s weathered face has borne much through the years, managing her bar in Murphysboro. Her hazel eyes have seen much as she tended to the bar nearly every day since her dad owned it years before.

Ross is staring out from the photo. Do his eyes hold something as yet untold? Whose hands rest on his shoulders?

Marge and Ross are the subjects of the two grand-prize-winning photos by two SIUC photography students. They were two of seven students who participated in the yearly international Photo Imaging Education Association competition early last year. They also brought home a first place, a second place, two thirds, and one exhibition. Dan Overturf, the faculty member of the photography department who submitted the photos, called the two grand prize wins unprecedented.

“We do very well every year, and it is only because we receive excellence from our students,” Overturf said.

Overturf has been with the department for 20 years and began coordinating contest entries when he was the department chair from 1997 to 2000. Since SIUC began entering the contest seven years ago, they have won a grand prize every year.

“A grand prize every year? That’s just unheard of. And two this year?” Overturf said. “It’s truly amazing.”

The contest receives submissions from seven countries and 105 schools. This year, there were 1,297 entrants and 4,257 images. PIEA chooses new jurors every year to prevent familiarity with the contestants or the schools.

Josh Sanseri and Andrea Behrends were this year’s grand prize winners. Behrends, a senior in photography from Crystal Lake, won a grand prize in the College/University Single Image category for “Ross.”

Behrends first became interested in photography through a photojournalism class at her high school. Upon coming to college, she abandoned photojournalism to become a full-time photographer. She said she felt she needed to know a person longer than a photojournalist does to do justice to the photo.

“It was hard for me to get personal with journalism,” she said.

Ross, the subject of the prizewinning photo, is a friend of Behrends. She said many of her photos hold a theme of relationships and how the subject relates to her. Behrends said the photo goes beyond the face of Ross – it is the person in the background that Behrends hopes will make people think.

Sanseri is a two-time grand-prize winner, winning in the same category last year. As a result of his previous win, Sanseri is traveling to Australia in February for a four-month stay, compliments of PIEA.

This year, Sanseri won in the College/University-Portfolio category for two photos, named “Marge” and “Doug.” For this category, entrants must submit five images, but the judges only pick two. The two winning images are a part of Sanseri’s graduate thesis, which focuses on small businesses and their owners.

Sanseri, a Portland, Ore., native, has traveled around the country to gather his collection. Doug is a barbecue shop owner from Peoria, and Marge owns a bar in Murphysboro. Others include a dry cleaner from Memphis, a tire-store owner from Santa Fe, a cowboy-boot-store owner in Anna and his own family’s retail furniture business.

“This portfolio is an homage to the people who are in the business for themselves,” he said. “It’s a documentary, in a kind of way.”

Sanseri described the small-business way of life as “endangered,” because big businesses are buying them out rapidly. He said his family’s business, Carl’s Furniture, began as an upholstering company by his grandfather in southern Oregon. He said it taught him a lot, including work ethic.

“I think it is important to support small businesses whenever possible,” he said.

Sanseri said he chose SIUC because the photography program is one of the best in the country.

“I think there is good instruction, good labs and a good, solid foundation from the alumni that support it,” Sanseri said.

Polly Chandler, first-prize winner in the same category, said she tries to make every photo an emotional narrative. In one of her winning photos, “Black Scarf,” the subject was her best friend, Michelle.

Chandler, a Carbondale native, is a graduate student in photography and is currently finishing the work for her thesis show April 30.

She graduated from SIUC with a bachelor’s degree in graphic design. Chandler said she was thinking about graduate school while living in St. Louis after graduation. She took her first class in photography and found it irresistible. Chandler said she tries to create an emotion in every photo.

“I try to really incorporate the subject with the background,” she said.

She said she hopes to pull something from the people who look at her images. Many of her photos revolve around the hierarchy of needs created by Abraham Maslow.

“I really believe we are all looking for contentment,” she said.