Bridgestone Honours Photography Students Across Canada

New Brunswick student wins 2009 Bridgestone Photo Contest Grand Prize

OTTAWA , Feb. 4 /CNW Telbec/ - Bridgestone Canada Inc. (BSCA) today announced Amy Schriver as the 2009 Bridgestone Photo Contest grand prize winner. Schriver is a photography student at the New Brunswick College of Craft and Design in Fredericton. Her winning entry depicted a snowmen family made of tires with the following slogan, "Because your family's safety comes first." Her photo earned top honours among 315 photos submitted by 250 students representing 11 schools for the contest's eighth edition.

The Bridgestone Photo Contest, inaugurated in 2002 by BSCA aims to communicate the company's commitment to the community, environment and safety. The student photographers' challenge is to use their imagination and photographic skills to convey one of the contest themes.

"My research for a good idea stemmed from a personal past experience crossing the street and almost getting hit by a car", said Schriver. "I wanted to extend the idea of safety to the entire family but do so in a cute and humorous way."

By winning the overall grand prize, Amy's New Brunswick College of Craft and Design's department of photography received a $3,000 donation from Bridgestone Canada to further invest in the school's program and new equipment.

In addition to her $3,500 cheque from Bridgestone Canada for winning both 1st place in her educational institution and national Overall Grand Prize, Amy received a brand new Sony DSLRA500L Camera, courtesy of Sony of Canada Ltd. This is the first year Sony has contributed to the Bridgestone Photo Contest.

"As the Bridgestone Photo Contest keeps renewing itself every year, we are still impressed with the creative, cutting-edge work being done by student photographers across the country," said Jeremy Smith , Manager, Community & Corporate Relations, BSCA. "We were amazed at the passion, creativity and talent these students displayed in successfully messaging all three themes through their works."

For the first time in the contest's history, the judging committee awarded two honourable mentions: Kate Robinson , also from the New Brunswick College of Craft and Design, and Stephanie Davis from the Nova Scotia Community College. The judges felt that the two pictures were equally as compelling while dealing with two very different themes - safety and the environment.

Davis' photo represented safety, depicting a hockey player with a tire-shaped mouth guard and a helmet made out of a Bridgestone tire, while Robinson's work bolstered the environmental theme, showing a green stem with an embedded tire tread and the following slogan: "Growing greener with every mile."

The prize money was divided today between the three national winners of the contest and the top three photographers in each of the 11 competing schools. The three major awards were announced today during a ceremony at the Algonquin College in Ottawa , Ontario, one of the participating schools. At this same ceremony, cheques were also presented to the top three winners from the hosting school.

About Bridgestone Canada Inc.:

Mississauga, Ontario-based Bridgestone Canada Inc. (BSCA) is an affiliate of Bridgestone Americas Tire Operations (BATO). BSCA and Nashville , Tenn.-based BATO are subsidiaries of Bridgestone Americas, Inc., whose parent company, Bridgestone Corporation, is the world's largest tire and rubber company. BSCA and BATO develop, manufacture and market Bridgestone, Firestone and associate brand tires. The business unit is focused on wholesale and original equipment markets, supplying passenger, light truck, commercial vehicle, off road, motorcycle, agricultural and other tires to their customers in Canada and the United States , respectively. In addition, through its Bridgestone Bandag Tire Solutions Canada unit, retreading customers have access to industry-leading research and development, manufacturing, marketing and sales expertise, providing them with a total tire solution.

Winning photos: All winning photos and photos of the official presentation can be viewed on the contest web site at www.bridgestonephoto.com.

/NOTE TO PHOTO EDITORS: A photo accompanying this release is available at http://photos.newswire.ca. Images are free to accredited members of the media/

For further information: Jeremy Smith, Bridgestone Canada Inc, [phone]; William Samman, Torchia Communications, [phone], ext. 213