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Seeking Global Citizenship: Ethical Photography Contest

Silhouettes of street performers dancing

Courtney Ahmed '18, Peace Winner, Prayasam, Kolkata, India.

Published

The winning photos were chosen from over 200 submissions across the five contest categories, and represent Peace, Social Justice, Global Citizenship, Applied Ethics, and the Haverford College motto of “Not just more learned, but imbued with better learning.”

During the summer of 2017, Haverford College’s Center for Peace and Global Citizenship hosted its inaugural Seeking Global Citizenship photo contest to highlight the work, learning, and action of Bi-Co (Haverford and Bryn Mawr) students during the last academic year.

The submitted photos displayed the varied social justice, human rights, and environmental preservation work students have undertaken in cooperation with individuals and organizations around the world while representing ethical awareness and reflection. To that end, the Center asked that the photographers:

  • Represent people truthfully and show dignity, support, and integrity.
  • Ensure those being represented in the images maintain the right to share their story in their own way.
  • Do not stereotype, sensationalize, or discriminate against people, situations, or places.
  • Use images, messages, and case studies with the full understanding, participation, and permission of the subjects (or subjects’ parent/guardian).

The winning photos, now hanging on the CPGC Café walls, were chosen by CPGC staff and student associates from over 200 submissions across the five contest categories. These beautiful photos represent Peace, Social Justice, Global Citizenship, Applied Ethics, and the Haverford College motto of “Not just more learned, but imbued with better learning.”

We thank all of the students for their contributions to the discussion of ethically engaged work and its visual representation, as well as for their deep dedication to work of this kind. See more of their submissions and stories on Instagram @haverford_cpgc.

Freshly picked tomatoes
Hope Ebert '19 – Applied Ethics Winner – Food Moxie, Philadelphia, PA

Here are some cherry tomatoes that we picked from the @foodmoxie garden! Real access to healthy & sustaining food is a necessity for all people, and my work this summer showed how hard it can be to break down food systems that exclude a variety of people. For example, in the first few weeks, I thought that we just had to produce as much food as possible, before realizing that many small-scale community gardens lack the industrial freezers and general storage infrastructure necessary for all the produce to stay fresh long enough to be completely used.

Photo of El Zapoteco poster
Kathryn Goldberg BMC '18 – Applied Ethics Runner Up - Tlacochahuaya, Mexico

Beside this poem is its translation into two different variants of Zapotec, like many signs in the surrounding towns. Even in major touristic sites, informational signs include a Zapotec translation along with the Spanish. However, in many of these sites, even native speakers do not recognize the variant of Zapotec used, which raises the question: for whose benefit does the inclusion of Zapotec exist? Is it for Zapotec speakers or for the aesthetic pleasure of the tourists? Photo and caption submitted in collaboration with Moisés García Guzmán @bnzunni

Overhead shot of women weaving
Joseph Spir ’20 – Global Citizenship Winner – Awamaki, Ollantaytambo, Peru

Every tour to Patacancha brings me so much joy. Connecting visitors to weavers is magical, to say the least. Weaving brings so much power and so much beauty. What we call art, they call everyday life. 

Love Beyond Borders sign atop a business
Vanessa Morales '19 – Global Citizenship Runner Up – Sweet & Paciorek, LLC, Philadelphia, PA

I have had the privilege of being born a United States citizen. However, a lot of the products I use, the shows I watch come from outside of the United States. I would love to imagine a world without borders, a world where we can travel freely, a world where we can truly be global citizens. 

A man and woman hike uphill in the woods
Maria Padron '19 – HC Motto Winner – Maine-Wabanaki REACH, Bangor, ME

The Haverford College motto is "Not just more learned, but imbued with better learning". As I reflect on my time in Maine, I can clearly see not only all of the things that I've learned but also the new challenges I've faced, the resources I've gathered, friends I've made and discoveries of myself, my learning style and the directions I want to go next. 

An instructor pointing to items on a chalkboard
Kathryn Goldberg BMC '18 – HC Motto Runner Up – Tlacochahuaya, Mexico

In a place where children were punished physically for speaking their native tongue in school, teachers like Moisés García Guzmán of Tlacochahuaya, Oaxaca are doing their part to bring Zapotec back. Moisés teaches Zapotec classes to kids during the evenings, so that they have the power to revitalize their language and with it a crucial part of their identity. Photo and caption submitted in collaboration with Moisés García Guzmán @bnzunni

Silhouettes of street performers dancing
Courtney Ahmed '18 – Peace Winner – Prayasam, Kolkata, India

Allahdi ("Beloved") is Prayasam's dance studio for girls and women from the underprivileged communities of Kolkata. It is their platform to freely express themselves through dance and take ownership of their bodies which are routinely restricted and violated. Here they are making a story out of their movements that will resonate with girls everywhere: this story is called RITU: Seasons of Reflection, to be performed this December. 

Dancers holding hands winding through a room
Lev Greenstein '20 – Peace Runner Up – Casa de los Amigos, Mexico City, Mexico

Peace. It comes in many forms. On el Día Mundial del Refugiado in Casa de los Amigos, it happened to come in the form of a group Zumba class. Staff members, volunteers, community supporters, and refugees all joined hands in an energetic dance that circled the room. Although Zumba may seem somewhat unrelated to a commemoration of refugees all around the world, the community that shared in laughs, salsa, and a little bit of sweat that day is the community we are trying to build for this earth. May it grow.

Women sitting together on the floor making jewelry
Kirsten Mullin '19 – Social Justice Winner – Cherry Buttons Cooperative, Sefrou, Morocco

Pictured are three women weaving buttons as part of their work at the Cherry Buttons Women's Cooperative located in Sefrou, Morocco. The cooperative uses the buttons traditionally seen on djellabas (the dress all the women are pictured wearing here) and makes them into jewelry to sell. All the profits are split among the women at the cooperative, which helps them maintain economic independence. The buttons they are sewing were first brought to Sefrou by the city’s Jewish inhabitants, who later taught the Muslim women living in the area the craft. Because of this, traditional buttons still have the Star of David sewn into the top. For a long time, the sale of the buttons was controlled by men who made the women work for little to no money and then sold the buttons at a high price. Now, women control their own craft and are able to reap the benefits of their own work. This was the first cooperative in Sefrou, and now there are dozens scattered throughout town aimed at providing work for women. 

Wall mural showing half a woman's face in sugar-skull style
Nhi Nguyen '18 – Social Justice Runner Up – Smithsonian’s Anacostia Community Museum, Washington, DC

This is a mural done by a local artist in North Carolina, Rosalia Torres-Weiner, for our exhibit Gateways/Portales, an exhibit on the experiences of the local Latinx migrant and immigrant communities in the surrounding areas. The exhibit is community-based, where the Latinx migrant and immigrant communities have donated things to be displayed and shared their own experiences so their voices are known and present in the exhibit. With America's harsh judgment of incoming immigrants and migrants, particularly the Latinx community, this exhibit was curated in order to highlight the accomplishments they have done and the light, courage, and perseverance they embody.

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