Toronto (Ontario) January 13, 2006 - Who ever thought that taking photos of tires could be so rewarding? Bridgestone Firestone Canada did. And so did 137 photography students from 12 schools across Canada who entered the 4th Bridgestone Photo Contest. The students are required to photograph a Bridgestone-brand tire in an artistic manner that complements their photographic abilities.

This year, the honour went to Andrew Marshall, a part-time student enrolled in the G. Raymond Chang School of Continuing Education’s Certificate in Photography Studies at Ryerson University. He was all-smiles Thursday night when he received a $3,500 cheque from Bridgestone Firestone Canada’s representative Michele Amirault for being Ryerson’s first place winner and the contest’s Grand Prize recipient. Marshall’s “Emergency Vehicles” entry earned him the top prize of $2,000 for submitting the best photo of all entries, and $1,500 as the Ryerson winner.

“It’s amazing to think that your photo is selected from among all the entries from so many established photography schools across the country. I am grateful to Bridgestone for making this possible and for providing the new wave of professional photographers the opportunity to display our abilities.” said Marshall in accepting his prize at a ceremony last night at System 4 Gallery, a Toronto fine arts and photography gallery, where this year’s 12 winning photos will be on display for the next two months.

The Bridgestone Firestone Photo Contest, inaugurated in 2002 to celebrate the creativity of Canadians enrolled in photography programs, evokes the same innovative spirit and passion for excellence that mirror one of Bridgestone’s core values: providing superior products with leading-edge technology. The student photographers combined their imagination with advancements in photographic equipment to produce works that were rooted in professionalism.

Students from twelve Canadian colleges and universities with commercial photography programs, from Newfoundland to British Columbia, participated in this year’s competition. The panel of judges evaluated 255 creative and innovative photo submissions, which were intended to showcase new and different ways to look at these seemingly simple round black objects.

Erika Jacobs and Ronald Tsang, second- and third-place prize winners respectively for Ryerson University, were also on hand to claim their $1,000 and $500 prizes. “I am so proud of the success of our students. It’s one way we measure our success as a university,” said Ryerson President Sheldon Levy. “These awards are a testament to the talent and hard work of our students and the passion our faculty and instructors bring to the classroom. Thanks to Bridgestone Firestone Canada for giving our students the opportunity to demonstrate their considerable abilities.”

“Tires have long been looked at as uncomplicated, round black necessities and the goal of this contest is to shed a different light on them,” said Michael Sigillito, director, Consumer Tire Marketing for Bridgestone Firestone Canada Inc.   “All of the entries were highly imaginative and demonstrated outstanding creativity. Considerable time and effort obviously went into each photo submission, and every entrant should be extremely proud of the quality of his or her work.” The winning entry in the 2002 contest – a Monarch butterfly fluttering on a tire – so impressed Bridgestone Americas Holding Inc., the parent of Bridgestone Firestone Canada, that the photo was used in 2003 in a corporate advertisement in the United States.

Contestants were required to submit photo entries depicting Bridgestone brand tires in a context beyond their natural environment and usage.

The 2005 contest was open to students registered in photography courses from a dozen institutions located in nine of Canada’s 10 provinces. The schools were Western Academy of Photography in Victoria; SAIT Polytechnic in Calgary; Alberta College of Art and Design in Calgary; MacKay Career Training in Saskatoon; Ryerson University’s School of Image Arts in Toronto; Ottawa’s Algonquin College; Montreal’s Dawson College; Cégep de Matane in Matane, Quebec; New Brunswick College of Craft and Design in Fredericton; Nova Scotia Community College in Halifax; Holland College in Charlottetown; and Sir Wilfred Grenfell College in Corner Brook, Newfoundland.

Three judges, representing the disciplines of automotive journalism, automotive photography and professional photography, were enlisted this year to evaluate the photos. They were Norris McDonald, the Ontario editor for the Toronto Star; Andrew Ross, editor and publisher of the automotive magazine Jobber News; and Irv Kochman, a professional photographer and co-owner of System 4 Gallery, a fine art and photography gallery in Toronto.

All winning photos, including the previous years’ winners, can be viewed on the Bridgestone Photo Contest Web site at www.bridgestonephoto.com.