March 4, 2008

Picture perfect

BY ADRIENNE FRANK

 

Daily Life

The world is filled with treasures—some hidden, some man-made, and some world famous. This category focuses on the daily nuances that made students’ study abroad experiences unique.

 

First place: Courtney Walters, “Walking in the Desert”

Second place: David Brisson, “Where the Earth Meets the Sky”

Third place: Ashley Wilhelm, “When the World Comes Falling Out from Underneath”

FIRST PLACE: “This photo was taken in a desert on the way to Lake Turkana [Kenya]. We stopped here for 15 minutes to take photos.” —Courtney Walters, SIS

 

SECOND PLACE

 

THIRD PLACE

 

Faces of the World

A smile in France is a smile in Chile. This category focuses on the people who gave students’ AU Abroad experiences a face they can remember.

 

First place: Rachel Bonfanti, “Man Smoking on a Tree”

Second place: Jon Duncan, “Sleeping Caravan Driver”

Third place: Alison Goh, “Happy Street Vendors”

FIRST PLACE

SECOND PLACE: “Nomadic peoples in western China move south for winter each year. In this picture of a camel caravan walking through the desert, the caravan driver has fallen asleep!” —Jonathan Duncan, SIS

 

THIRD PLACE: “These men are Muslim and their food is very different than the Chinese food most people know. They took a picture of me right before I took this of them. They also gave me their address so I could send the picture back to them.” —Alison Goh, SIS and SPA

 MORE NEWS

AU Abroad photo contest winners chronicle students’ extraordinary adventures

Junior Alison Goh’s photo of jovial street vendors in Xi’ning speaks volumes about her fall 2007 AU Abroad adventure in China.

“There is something about buying street food off vendors, haggling for every single item, seeing throngs of people everywhere at every hour, and not really knowing what you’re ordering at a restaurant that made my study abroad trip so amazing,” said Goh, a political science and international studies major. “China was full of everyday surprises and discoveries.”

And sharing a laugh with vendors at a local market was just one of them.

“Xi’ning is not a touristy city by any means; we were there to take the 26-hour train to Tibet and acclimate to the altitude,” explained Goh, who is minoring in Chinese. “I struck up a conversation with the men, and they took a picture of me with their phones while I took a picture of them with my camera.

“It is really easy to get into conversations with street vendors in China, and they love when foreigners are able to speak Chinese to them,” continued Goh. “This was one of the most heartwarming moments of my trip around China.”

Goh’s National Geographic-worthy picture was among the winners of AU Abroad’s fall 2007 photo contest. The six stunning shots—taken in all corners of the globe, from Peru to China—were selected by AU Abroad staff from nearly 200 images. The winning photographers received $50–$100 in EagleBucks.

According to Sara Dumont, director of AU Abroad, the images help students gain an understanding of what spending a semester in Egypt, England, or anywhere in between is all about.

“They give us a snapshot of students’ real-life experiences and encounters. They express the beauty in the small, everyday things, as well as the large, impressive sights,” said Dumont. “They also express the joy our students have in discovery and learning.”
Now in its seventh incarnation, the photo contest also gives Dumont and her staff plenty of picturesque promotional material for their Web site.

“We have discovered that our student photos are simply better than . . . stock photos,” she said. From Jonathan Duncan’s photo of a camel caravan in western China to David Brisson’s image of a llama grazing on the terraces of Machu Picchu, Peru, student snapshots simply give others a better taste of the AU Abroad experience, Dumont said.

Currently, about 350 students are studying abroad, taking advantage of AU’s 119 international offerings. The winning photographs from the spring semester will be announced in early summer.