About Me

Owen Ziliak (he/him) is an honors third-year photojournalism and political science student at the University of Missouri- Columbia. He hails from Chicago, IL.

Since arriving at MU, Owen has completed a myriad of photo assignments for one of Columbia’s local papers, the Columbia Missourian. Assignments range from children's Halloween parades to 21 straight hours of presidential election coverage to wildfires. In the summer of 2022, Owen was the news intern at the Sioux City Journal in Sioux City, Iowa. Owen was tasked with writing articles, taking photos and capturing video in and around Northwest Iowa. 

Currently, Owen is one of ten students selected from across the world studying photojournalism at the Danish School of Media and Journalism (DMJX) in Aarhus, Denmark and will return to the United States in June following completion of the program.

This summer, Owen will be joining the photo staff of the Chicago Sun-Times as the paper's full-time photo intern, completing assignments in and around Chicago from late June to mid-August. 

Owen’s work has appeared in the Associated Press, New York Times, San Antonio Express, Chicago Sun-Times, Lincoln Journal Star, St. Louis Post Dispatch, Kansas City Star and many other news outlets.

Call +1 847-691-7638 or email ziliakphoto@gmail.com with questions or interest. 


Awards and Honors

Hearst Journalism Awards’ Intercollegiate Photo Picture Story/Series competition, 16th place, for "Undefeated" (Columbia Missourian)

Society of Professional Journalists Mark of Excellence Awards, 2022- Winner, Feature Photography, Region 7 for "Fanning a dying flame: Missouri blacksmiths are keeping a centuries-old art alive" (Vox Magazine)

2022 LION Local Journalism Awards- Finalist, Outstanding Coverage, Medium/Large Revenue Tier for coverage on homelessness in Columbia, Mo. (Columbia Missourian)

Kodak Professional Photography Scholars Fund Recipient, January 2021-Present

Erasmus+ Grant Recipient

Dean’s List- All semesters (Fall 2020-Fall 2022)


Using Format