In Focus

Students and alumni reflect on their award-winning photos

By Mary Cate Connors

Every photo tells a story

For the past 10 years, the Office of International Programs (OIP), in collaboration with the Princeton Institute for International and Regional Studies (PIIRS), has encouraged undergraduate students to share their photos with the wider Princeton community through the International Eye Photo Contest. The contest has seen close to 3,000 submissions over the years from students of all disciplines who have participated in international experiences that span the globe.

Princeton International reached out to students and alumni from 10 contests. Below are their reflections.

City Oasis (2017) Hong Kong SAR, China. [This photo] makes me think about the importance of choosing experience over pictures. A lot of street photography can be out of the photographer’s control — weather, lighting and how people move. I took a handful of other shots of this scene that didn’t turn out the way I wanted. I had to learn to leave them, move on and realize that taking “good” pictures is only a small part of traveling. What’s more important is to observe the world around me with a curious and empathetic eye, to be humble and to learn as much as I can about the people I meet and the places I go. My international experiences at Princeton have had a tremendous influence on who I am … These experiences encouraged me to apply to be a Princeton in Asia fellow, and I [am] teaching [this] year at an amazing school in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. – Cindy Liu ’18, Computer Science (BSE) Keller Center International Research Exchange Program
A Plague of Locusts (2008) Karliova, Turkey. I took this photo during a year on leave from Princeton between my sophomore and junior years. I was working on an independent research project (generously funded by the Near Eastern studies department) in Kurdish-populated eastern Turkey when I was introduced to Burhan. He was a veterinarian living in the city of Diyarbakır and also a member of the region’s famous Beritan tribe. Burhan had family members who spent their summers living in tents, herding sheep in highland pastures. Burhan brought me with him on a trip to the pastures, where I took this photo of him walking through a locust-infested field. The locusts were another nail in the coffin of the Beritans’ tradition of pastoralism: an unusually hot summer had brought a swarm that ate up much of the grass, leaving little for the livestock – Noah Arjomand ’10, Woodrow Wilson School Summer independent research
Play (2009) Aburi, Ghana. This photo was taken inside Aburi Botanical Gardens, about an hour outside of Accra, Ghana. The gardens provided some much needed tranquility after the chaos of driving around Accra. I remember visiting the gardens with my seminar group and being fascinated by beautiful plants I’d never encountered before. Right in the middle of the botanical gardens, there is the decaying shell of a military helicopter. I remember being struck by the incongruity of this war machine in such a peaceful place. After the initial shock, I was delighted to see that kids were using this helicopter as a playground … I’ve been living in Johannesburg, South Africa, for nearly two years now. My international experiences at Princeton increased my comfort and ability to make such huge geographic changes to my life. – Niklas Peters ’11, Woodrow Wilson SchoolPIIRS Global Seminar.
Looking Ahead (2014) Gamboa, Panama. This photo was snapped one night while studying abroad in Panama with the ecology and evolutionary biology department. We were nearing the end of our stay in Gamboa, and it was frog-peeping season. So much noise at night — what a delightful ruckus! We all headed out with flashlights and looked for red eyes in the darkness. There were many red-eyed tree frogs clinging to the branches of the trees nearby, and most stayed still enough to be photographed when caught by the beams of our lights. – Katherine Raber ’16, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Semester study abroad, EEB Semester in the Field Program
Tuesday in London (2013) London, United Kingdom. This photo was taken from the South Bank of the Thames River, just outside the Tate Modern museum. I took the photo while I was waiting for my art history professor to arrive — that day we were having class at the museum to view several of the paintings we had been discussing in class. Taking advantage of study abroad while at Princeton was one of the best decisions I made. It certainly wasn’t an easy one, since it can feel like you are missing out when you are away from the Princeton campus, but I found it to be very enjoyable and rewarding, and it helped mold me into a better global citizen. I hope other students who might be wrestling with the same decision decide to go for it — you won’t regret it! – Gina Triolo ’14, Computer ScienceSemester study abroad, Queen Mary University of London
Sossusvlei (2017) Namib Desert, Namibia. This photo never fails to bring me back to Namibia, and it always reminds me of how big the world is and how small we are. The Global Seminar in Namibia is meaningful for me because it has made me contemplate on my life in various situations. Seeing how people from different parts of the world live really taught me how to be respectful of other people’s ways of living … It’s hard to realize how big sand dunes are when you’re on top of them. But when you look from afar, like this picture I took, you get a sense of how huge the sand dune is, and how small people can be. This is a good way to keep myself grounded, so I don’t become full of myself. – Yuanyuan Zhao ’19, Art and ArcheologyPIIRS Global Seminar