Gallery
Photography Contest
2021 Photography Contest: Civic Engagement
August 19, 2021
Winner: Together We Fight, Together We Win
Pavel Biswas, a red volunteer from DYFI, a youth wing of an Indian left political party CPIM, is seen sanitising a Covid positive family's home in Kolkata, India. Pavel helps to sanitise the homes of those people who have not been able to afford that or who has no body to take care of. As India faces the deadliest second wave, many youths like Pavel are coming out to help in fighting the battle in India.
— Avijit Ghosh
Memories from an unusually sunny and warm November 7th of last year
Memories from an unusually sunny and warm November 7th of last year (2020)—as if everyone knew where to be, masked West Philadelphia residents came together on 43rd & Baltimore by the neighborhood’s Clark Park and erupted in spontaneous cheers and dancing after Biden-Harris win was declared by major news outlets. It was a rare moment of collective joy and celebration, especially after a particularly difficult and isolating string of months.
— Yeonhwa Lee
Warrior in white
A member of a volunteer organization sanitizes a house in a local community in West Bengal, India. After the attack of second wave of corona, Indian public health system is overwhelmed by the number of death. As a result, people are afraid to go to the hospitals for minor symptoms of the disease, instead choosing to quarantine themselves in the safety of their home which can lead to the easy spreading of the virus. Local volunteers are battling the situation with community sanitization.
— Sudip Maiti
Oakland's Fruitvale District in California
Oakland's Fruitvale District in California is home to the largest Mayan Mam community outside of Guatemala and one of the most impacted by Covid-19. To bridge that gap, the Alameda County Public Health department teamed up with a local non-profit based in the Fruitvale District, Street Level Health Project.
On August 15, 2020, Street level health had an outreach event where members of the Mayan Mam community hit the streets of the Fruitvale District, distributing PPE equipment, including hand sanitizers, along with informational pamphlets and posters for local businesses.
— Harvey Castro
Sylhet Metropolitan Police Raising Awareness
Sylhet Metropolitan Police raising awareness and providing sanitizer among to mass people as a precautionary measure against the spread of the COVID-19 in the street of Sylhet, Bangladesh.
— Mohammad Rafayat Haque Khan
As part of the University’s 2020-2021 academic theme year, Penn IUR held a photo contest on civic engagement in cities around the world. Participants were asked to capture the ways that urban community engagement has adapted to altered social circumstances and working conditions amid a year of unprecedented public need. Guest judges included Penn IUR Faculty Fellows Ira Harkavy, Associate Vice President and Founding Director, Barbara and Edward Netter Center for Community Partnerships; Ken Lum, Marilyn Jordan Taylor Presidential Professor and Chair of Fine Arts, Weitzman School of Design; and Akira Drake Rodriguez, Assistant Professor, Department of City and Regional Planning, Weitzman School of Design.
The jury selected Avijit Ghosh’s photograph “Together we Fight, Together We Win” which depicts Pavel Biswas, a volunteer from a youth wing of the Indian political party CPIM, sanitizing a COVID-19-positive family's home in Kolkata, India.
Ghosh noted that many young people like Pavel volunteered to help fight India’s deadly second wave of the pandemic. “Many people have not been able to afford this service [having their homes sanitized],” said Ghosh, adding that he submitted this photograph in hopes it will inspire others. “We have not yet overcome Covid,” he said. “In future if a similar situation arises again, more youths can come up inspired by Pavel’s story and photograph.”
Judges selected the winning photograph for its expression of the contest theme and its remarkable composition. Lum described the image as a picture within a picture. “There are pictures of family above the bedroom doorway and the point of view is rather startling, from what feels like the far end of the bedroom while a stranger goes about sanitizing the home,” he said. Rodriguez added that it “captures … our fragmented approach that blend[s] public and private in ways that may disappear from view but which are forever going to be embedded in our futures.”
The jury also selected three runners-up and a finalist.
Don’t miss the latest from Penn IUR. Subscribe to Urban Link.
Providing expert commentary on urban topics and highlighting Penn IUR's research in the context of pressing urban issues.
