WesLive: Wesleyan's Community Blog

Emma Gorin ’12 was a finalist in the People and Portraits category for her image, “Solemi.”

While studying abroad at the Universidad Autónoma del Yucatán, in Mexico, Emma Gorin ’12 befriended 6-year-old Solemi and her friends. “All of them were fascinated by my camera and wanted their pictures taken,” Gorin says.

Gorin snapped a photo of Solemi in October 2010 and entered it into the International Photo Contest sponsored by the Office of International Studies and the Usdan University Center Art Committee. She and 33 other Wesleyan students were crowned finalists by a panel of judges, and have their art displayed in Zelnick Pavilion through Feb. 28.

About 85 students entered their photos into one of five categories including People and Portraits, Landscapes, Structures and Cityscapes, Animals and Nature, and Local Flavor and Traditions.

A student looks at “The Flower,” photographed by Arya Alizadeh ’13. Alizadeh photographed the night blooming cereus at in Bermuda. The picture took second place in the Animals and Nature category. “We Bermudians will often travel to areas around the island where these plants grow to see many blossoms coming from a single cactus,” Alizadeh explains.

All photos were taken by study abroad participants, international students, and other students who were abroad on vacation or for other purposes. First and second prize-winning photos in each category will be blown up large and hung in Usdan; the winning photographers will get to keep the enlarged photos.

The judges were Pam Tatge, director of the Center for the Arts; Bill Burkhart, university photographer and Andy Szegedy-Maszak, the Jane A. Seney Professor of Greek, professor of classical studies.  

Tim Shiner, director of student activities and leadership development, and Carolyn Sorkin, director of the Office of International Studies, coordinated the photo contest.

Tags: photographs, students