The Missouri School of Journalism’s Pictures of the Year International program presented Sir Elton John with a welcoming gift during a one-on-one meeting with the singer before his October 5, 2007 concert at Mizzou Arena.

Elton received a portfolio of 20 documentary photos from the program’s archive that depict the fight against the AIDS/HIV epidemic. Elton, who has a private photo gallery in Atlanta, is a major contributor to AIDS and HIV research through his organization, The Elton John AIDS Foundation.

“This gift to Sir Elton John is a symbol of our respect for his love of photography and admiration for his noble efforts,” said POYi Director Rick Shaw. POYi, one of the oldest photojournalism competitions in the world, is part of the Donald W. Reynolds Journalism Institute at MU’s School of Journalism.

"It was just he and I on this dusty roadie crate, and he was genuinely moved," Shaw said. "There was not a lot of banter, he just sort of said, ‘Wow, I’m really moved by this. This is really impressive.’ You could tell he was genuinely taken by it."

"It was a situation where there was no pretense," Shaw said yesterday. "It was simply a genuine gift that said, ‘Welcome to Missouri; we recognize and respect your cause, and here you go,’ " Shaw said. "We tried not to make it a big deal."

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