Anthropology Photo Contest

The Department of Anthropology hosted its first 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 on May 30 where they were announced as the winners and presented with their prizes. 

Check out our winners!

Excavation of a Dammed Forest

Matthew Padgett - Graduate Student 

North Cascades National Park, Washington, USA

This photo shows a barren landscape of tree stumps, cut down as part of a logging project that preceded the construction of Ross Dam, 1939-1949. Many have notches for springboards still visible. Typically submerged, these stumps are only visible when the lake is drawn down over the summer in preparation for the Spring snow melt. This photo was taken during Seattle City Light's relicensing project, which requires an evaluation of the environmental impact these dams have on cultural, hydrological, and ecological resources. At the same time, a number of local tribes are suing the utility service, on the basis that the dams interfere with their Skagit River salmon rights.

The Run

Shining Xi - Undergraduate Student 

Stanford, California

Taken September 30, 2022, when I was on a run at 7:50. I took a picture of this moment because I think it conveys the type of emotion I want to carry throughout life. Running towards the goal when the sun is rising and the city in the back.

Water Buffaloes' New Terrain

Victoria Sampors Chiek - Undergraduate Student 

Siem Reap, Cambodia

Water buffaloes among construction debris. Taken in September 2022 in Siem Reap, Cambodia while traveling back home from fieldwork. The photo was taken because water buffaloes were now more rare in sighting outside of farmland; the juxtaposition of the water buffaloes next to construction debris is illustrative of change in the Cambodian countryside.