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Students Share Global Experiences through Photography

Olivia DrakeNovember 6, 20189min
Best photo of People copy
Delila Flores '19 won Best Photo of Daily Life for her image titled “Machete Abuela," taken in San Vincente, Puebla, México. "This is my bisabuela walking through the campo, the fields, where she uses her machete for her livelihood. She uses it to cut the weeds, to protect herself from the snakes, and as a walking stick. Despite being 92 years old, she is still a strong woman who has defended her land and taught her daughters, my abuela and my mamá to do the same," Flores said.
Delila Flores ’19 won Best Photo of Daily Life for her image titled “Machete Abuela,” taken in San Vicente, Puebla, México. “This is my bisabuela walking through the campo, the fields, where she uses her machete for her livelihood. She uses it to cut the weeds, to protect herself from the snakes, and as a walking stick. Despite being 92 years old, she is still a strong woman who has defended her land and taught her daughters, my abuela and my mamá to do the same,” Flores said.

This year, students shared global stories about humanity in 51 cities across 24 countries through the third annual Wes in the World photo contest.

Sponsored by the Fries Center for Global Studies, the contest is open to Wesleyan students who have had any global experience over the previous summer and/or previous semester. This includes study abroad returnees, international students, exchange students, fellowship recipients, and foreign language teaching assistants.

More than 200 students, staff, faculty, and alumni voted on the submissions within five categories: Contemporary Issues, Daily Life, Landscape, People, and Sport and Play.

“Our hope with these categories is to allow students to reflect on ways in which their global experience transcends borders by working towards peace and human rights, recognizing different realities of daily living, appreciating the wonderful landscapes of the earth, raising awareness about peoples and cultures outside of their ethnocentric lens, and connecting with others universally through sports and play,” said Kia Lor, assistant director of language and intercultural learning. “Students are not required to be professional photographers to participate. In fact, we are more interested in the stories behind the photographs than the camera or photo-editing software they used.”

Winners were announced during a ceremony at the Fries Center on Oct. 30.

Delila Flores ’19 won Best Photo of Daily Life; Romina Beltran ’22 won Best Photo of Contemporary Issues; Grant Hill ’20 won Best Photo of Landscape; Shariis Jeffrey ’19 won Best Photo of People; and Alice Ghislaine Musabe ’22 won Best Photo of Sport and Play.

The photo contest is held in conjunction with the Fries Center’s International Education Week celebration, held Nov. 11-17. The theme this year is “Transcending Borders” and events explore the complexities of “belonging” and how our sense of belongs transcends borders.

Romina Beltran '22 won Best Photo of Contemporary Issues for her image titled “In the streets of Kalkota," taken in Kolkata, India. "This photo represents an urban scenario in a capitalistic society in contrast with the elements of both nature and poverty," Beltran explained.
Romina Beltran ’22 won Best Photo of Contemporary Issues for her image titled “In the streets of Kolkata,” taken in Kolkata, India. “This photo represents an urban scenario in a capitalistic society in contrast with the elements of both nature and poverty,” Beltran explained.

Shariis Jeffrey '19 won Best Photo of People for her image titled “Skin Teeth." The photo was taken in Linden, Guyana. "His eyes were smiling at me," Jeffrey said. "How could I not capture this moment?"
Shariis Jeffrey ’19 won Best Photo of People for her image titled “Skin Teeth.” The photo was taken in Linden, Guyana. “His eyes were smiling at me,” Jeffrey said. “How could I not capture this moment?”
Grant Hill '22 won Best Photo of Landscape for his image titled “il tramonto bacia lo Stretto di Messina (Sunset Kisses the Straight of Messina)," taken in Catona, Reggio di Calabria, Italy. "This photo was taken from the beach of Catona, a small town of Reggio di Calabria in Italy, overlooking the Straight of Messina and Sicily," Hill explained. "The sun sets over Sicily as a sailboat calmly traverses the Straight of Messina in the evening hours of an August day. A sunset which graces the southern coast of Italy each evening."
Grant Hill ’20 won Best Photo of Landscape for his image titled “il tramonto bacia lo Stretto di Messina (Sunset Kisses the Strait of Messina),” taken in Catona, Reggio di Calabria, Italy. “This photo was taken from the beach of Catona, overlooking the Strait of Messina and Sicily,” Hill explained. “The sun sets over Sicily as a sailboat calmly traverses the Strait of Messina in the evening hours of an August day. A sunset that graces the southern coast of Italy each evening.”
Alice Ghislaine Musabe '22 won Best Photo of Sport and Play for her image titled “Funniest Sport." She took the photo in Kigali, Rwanda. "Sport is anything to relax our body, make us sweat, and bring joy to our life. Every Friday was time to take a break from our academic life, and enjoy physical exercises together such as toasting eggs, spoon ball game, jumping in bag context, and the crawling race (the game on the picture)," Musabe explained. "The latter was a game of trust and teamwork. Trusting that one's partner will not let go, and that the pair's failure is not anyone's fault.
Alice Ghislaine Musabe ’22 won Best Photo of Sport and Play for her image titled “Funniest Sport.” She took the photo in Kigali, Rwanda. “Sport is anything to relax our body, make us sweat, and bring joy to our life. Every Friday was time to take a break from our academic life and enjoy physical exercises together such as toasting eggs, spoon ball game, jumping-in-bag contest, and the crawling race (pictured),” Musabe explained. “The latter was a game of trust and teamwork. Trusting that one’s partner will not let go and that the pair’s failure is not anyone’s fault.”

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