2023 Photo Contest
Categories
Embracing New Cultures
- 2023 Winner: “Sensational Burn” by Dre Prendergast. Description: While walking through one of the many piazza’s I noticed a gathering larger than the others I had walked past. I stopped and to my surprise and amazement, there was a man jumping off of a unicycle and yelling GRAZIE! GRAZIE! (THANK YOU! THANK YOU!) While juggling three torches an oboe began playing behind him. Program: Medieval History in Italy
- 2023 Co-Runner Up: “EnlighTENment” by Alice Evans. Description: “I took the following photo at the Phoenix Hall Byodo-in Temple. The title is a play of words, with Enlightenment, a Buddhist term, referring to the state a Buddhist reaches when they have discovered the truth of life, stopping the cycle of reincarnation with the final destination being Nirvana (the state at which all Buddshits attempt to achieve through meditation and mindfulness), and the significance of the temple being on the ten yen coin! The temple’s reflection in the water is what drew me in to shoot, and the rule of thirds element that I envisioned, a common composition that I like my photography subjects to be positioned within.” Program: Community and Public Health in Japan
- 2023 Co-Runner Up: “A Crane’s Blessing” by Kat Innes. Description: “While at my personal favorite shrine, Itsukushima Shrine, this crane was looking down upon us with a Buddhist pagoda in the background. I saw this as a blessing since cranes symbolize happiness and longevity in Japan and this was one of my favorite days of the trip.” Program: Japanese Language in Japan
Self Discovery
- 2023 Winner: “Saluti” by Dre Prendergast. Description: “We had officially been abroad for about a week and at this moment it really began to set in that I was not at home anymore but in paradise. I learned to be a little more carefree and not stressed about the worries that life deals us at any given moment.” Program: Medieval History in Italy
- 2023 Runner up: “At the Summit of Mount Vesuvius” by Ceilidh McCallum. Description: “I’ve struggled with many physical challenges in my life, and in particular a knee surgery in 2022 that forced me to re-learn how to walk. I was the most excited for our hike up Mt. Vesuvius, but I wasn’t sure how far I’d be able to go. After a week and a half of physical demands and walking several miles a day in the extreme heat of Rome, I knew I had to at least try; and my reward was getting to the top of the mountain where all of my friends were waiting for me and getting to see the incredible view of the Bay of Naples and the surrounding valley.” Program: Medieval History in Italy
- 2023 Ed Abroad Office Choice Award: “Statue” by Isaac Macedo. Description: “I put my hand in the papers where his greatest works he (Shakespeare) wrote in.” Program: Shakespeare in London
