“You don’t take a photograph. You ask quietly to borrow it.”
That quote, attributed to various artists, could easily describe how Emory University student photography contest winners have approached and participated in the cash-prize Emory Global Health Institute (EGHI) Student Photography Contest for the past 14 years.
Each year, EGHI presents $500 each to five contest winners whose artful, sensitive and ethical images capture and examine a global health issue experienced in the United States or in international settings. Some photo submissions are candid and others are staged for effect, but all tell a compelling story about the universal need for, barriers to and benefits of access to health and well-being.
The deadline for submissions to this year’s contest is Sunday, Oct. 16. All Emory undergraduate and graduate students, medical residents and fellows and postdoctoral fellows are eligible to participate.
“This is more than a contest,” says EGHI director of programs Mischka Garel. “It’s an opportunity to open our eyes to what is going on around the world and at home. We can look through the student’s lens and allow what we see to move us and help foster cultural sensitivity while inspiring positive action in global health.”
The 2022 contest — sponsored by Bob Yellowlees, an Atlanta business leader, philanthropist and photographer who founded Lumiere Gallery — focuses on photographs taken between Sept. 1, 2021, and Sept. 1, 2022. Each entrant can submit up to three photographs that document a public health, health care or global health challenge occurring anywhere in the world.
Winning photos from the 2021 contest were displayed on campus. They included:
A Misty Trail
By Sophia Lamb, Rollins School of Public Health
This photo was taken on the Mist Trail, hiking next to Vernal Falls in Yosemite National Park of California. During the lockdown and stay-at-home orders caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, people began to feel stagnant as they spent more and more time at home. This sparked a wave of interest in getting outdoors and visiting the beauty of the United States, especially the national park system.
“In my eyes,” Lamb wrote in her photograph’s description, “this picture represents taking steps towards a brighter future and better mental health. The mist may obscure the pathway a little bit, but won’t stop someone from moving forward, if they are ready to take the challenge.”
Untitled BLM
By Cody Henry, Rollins School of Public Health
This is a posed “autopsy photo” that shows a toe tag on the right foot, identifying the cause of death as “racism.” The left foot has “BLM” written in black.
Raise your voice. Raise your brush
By Chase Porter, Rollins School of Public Health
A local street artist in San Juan, Puerto Rico, uses his brush as a tool for self-expression and political activism in the wake of Hurricane Maria, which devastated Puerto Rico in 2017. The artist is seen painting next to the words, “Promesa ¡es! Pobreza,” which translates to, “Promises lead to poverty.”
“Despite being a United States territory, Puerto Rico struggled to secure disaster aid from the government,” Porter wrote. “The old promise of American prosperity … has left many Puerto Ricans feeling stripped of their identity and feeling the lack of representation.”
About Emory Global Health Institute
EGHI harnesses the power of a multidisciplinary approach to global health problems, cultivates the next generation of global health leaders, catalyzes evidence-based data into action, links global health learners and leaders and shares Emory’s scientific eminence with the world.