2024 Winners
The Department of Anthropology hosted its annual photo contest. Submissions fell under three categories: Landscapes, People, and Here and Now.
The finalists were invited to attend the department coffee and bagel social where they were announced as the winners and presented with their prizes. Winners were announced on May 28th
Check out our winners!
Here & Now Winner
View from Woodlands
Alisha Elizabeth Cherian - PhD Candidate
Singapore
"Captured in August 2022 from a window in a public housing corridor, this photograph shows the Woodlands causeway connecting Singapore to Malaysia, framed by the concrete window sill and building façade. I took this shot during fieldwork because an informant shared how their late grandfather used to shuffle up to this very window from his apartment a few stories below, surveying the causeway traffic to advise family and friends on the optimal time for their journeys to Johor Bahru. On a Friday night, such as this one, the causeway would ordinarily be in gridlock. Instead, only the middle commercial lane is occupied by lorries transporting goods. A handful of passenger vehicles flank them on either side. This image captures a transient moment in the international border's phased reopening, as Covid-19 restrictions between the two countries had only just begun to ease."
People Winner
Solstice Sisters
Bella Raja - Archaeology Minor
Stonehenge, England
"This photo was taken at the Stonehenge Summer Solstice Festival in June of 2023. As an archaeology minor, I had always read about Stonehenge and it's powerful spiritual history as an archaeological site. It remains a powerful national symbol and to this day has ritual and touristic significance for many. At the festival, the women pictured in red dresses with flower garlands are part of the Shatki Sings Choir who want to honor Mother Earth with their songs at the festival. In this photo they sang "hold my hand sister" and others at the festival joined in, including me!"
Landscapes Winner
Mourne Wall
Rachael Healy - PhD Student
Slieve Donard in the Mourne Mountains, Northern Ireland
"I took this photo just below the summit of Slieve Donard, Northern Ireland's tallest mountain. I wanted to capture the Mourne Wall, a handcrafted part of material history in the Mourne Mountain range. A few weeks before doing my hike up Donard, I had learned of a restoration project undertaken by a small handful of fifth-generation Irish stonemasons, whose grandfathers were the original stonemasons who built the wall in 120 years ago. I felt like this repair project - which has just been completed and took 7 years, in often freezing temperatures - was reflective of a broader respect for community history, heritage and a reslience for rebuilding towards new futures which characterises the people and cultures in Northern Ireland."