"Steel Mill" by José Gregorio Alvarado Pérez

The first Knight Center Photography Contest closed on Jan. 10, awarding José Gregorio Alvarado Pérez the top prize for his photo "Steel Mill," which received 390 votes, counted as "likes" on Facebook.

José Gregorio is a professor in the School of Communication Sciences at the Autonomous University of Nuevo León, where he teaches statistics, new communication technology, group psychology, and communication technology application.

"Silent Protest" by Marta Escurra

"Hauling Potatoes" by Ernesto Francisco Martínez

His photo "Steel Mill" passed Marta Escurra's "Silent Protest" in the final days of voting, which drew 363 votes and led the race for most of the competition.

"Hauling Potatoes" by Ernesto Francisco Martínez won third place with 188 votes.

The winner of the photo contest gets a free online course offered by the Knight Center in 2012.

The contest was open to all types of photography. All photos submitted were published in an album on the Knight Center's Facebook page where anyone could vote by clicking "like." The response exceeded all expectations, with nearly 90 works submitted and more than 1,000 votes.

All the photos are still available to see on our Facebook page.

We would like to congratulate José Gregorio Alvarado Pérez on his win and hope he enjoys his free Knight Center course. We would also like to thank all the photographers for sending their work and all the voters that participated in the 2012 contest.