Global Encounters Photo Contest

The Lewis Global Studies Center Global Encounters Photo contest provides a venue for Smith students to share their global experiences with the Smith community. All Smith students are encouraged to submit entries depicting a global encounter they experienced abroad or within the United States.

Photo Contest Guidelines

Submission Guidelines

Each student may submit up to two photos; each photo must be for a different category.

Submission Deadline: TBD, Spring 2025

Categories
  • Up Close: Close-up images of a specific person or thing. (Micro view)
  • From Afar: Expansive views of a place or culture. (Macro view)
  • Learning Moments: Social interaction between cultures or of the photographer's own immersion in a cultural context. Images that reflect "aha!" moments of discovery.
  • Daily Life: Everyday moments in which one experiences culture and environment or simply the active participation in educational activities such as field work, discussion or reflection.
  • Cultural Oppositions: A view of two or more distinct cultures shown in relationship to each other.

How to Submit

Digital photos of up to 10 inches in the longest dimension, at 300 dpi or at least 1080x809 pixels can be submitted. Winning photos will be printed (roughly 8 x 10 inches) and displayed in the exhibit.

Save photos with a file name in this format: Country_Lastname_Firstname_class year.jpg (Kenya_Jones_Ann_25.jpg).

Please submit photos and accompanying descriptions and materials via the Global Encounters Photo Contest Submission.

A panel of Smith experts in photography, visual anthropology and global culture will be invited to participate in a juried review of the contest submissions and will provide commentary on notable photos and techniques of the photos.

The intent of this juried review is to demonstrate the multiple perspectives on the impact of photographic images as well as the different disciplinary appreciations of photography as cultural documentation, aesthetic representation and student engagement.

Exhibit Dates: TBD, Spring 2025

Reception: TBD, Spring 2025

2023 Global Encounters Photo Contest Winners

Maneeta Bhandari ‘27
Category: From Afar
Location: Kathmandu, Nepal
People's Choice Award

Naomi Carpenter ‘25
Category: From Afar
Location: al-Maadi, Cairo, Egypt
People's Choice Award

Gretchen Hammell ‘24
Category: From Afar
Location: Wales
People's Choice Award

Shelly Liu ’24
Category: Daily Life
Location: Paris, France

Emma Roberts ’26
Category: Daily Life
Location: Hebron, Palestine

Emma Roberts ’26
Category: Cultural Oppositions
Location: Jerusalem

Diya Seth ’24
Category: Daily Life
Location: Copenhagen, Denmark 

Ruby Shea ’24
Category: Daily Life
Location: Kyoto, Japan

Ruby Shea ’24
Category: Up Close
Location: Kyoto, Japan