Gallery
Photography Contest
2022 Photography Contest: Thriving
January 5, 2023
Current Themes
Wall with Hope
“Early winter morning, mid-pandemic, a person waits for a bus alongside a wall bursting with urgings of encouragement and hope with a nonchalance that belies the extraordinariness of the moment. Here is a moment of thriving…a thriving in the everyday.”
Philadelphia, United States
— Dan Cook
Gossip and Nostalgia
“Coronavirus is finished, and women are happy and satisfied with the vaccination. They come closer to each other, gossiping, as well as taking care of their hair. They are enjoying their life throughout the generations, from tiny baby to 76 years old. This is happy, prosperous, satisfied, and loveable life.” West Bengal, India
— Nimai Chandra Ghosh
Lights and Hope
“As part of the Hindu festival Rakher Upobash, thousands of Hindu people pray in Shamibag Temple and sit together with oil lamps and fruit. The Hindu devotees keep fasting on that day and secure their places from an afternoon in the temple. All the men, women, and children sit side by side. They remember Baba Loknath who was an 18th-century Hindu saint of Bengal.”
Dhaka, Bangladesh
— Muhammad Amdad Hossain
For the seventh year, Penn IUR held a photography contest to capture the experience of cities around the world. The theme in 2022, “Thriving,” drew attention to the resilience of urban places and people in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Participants were asked to submit photographs that depict thriving in community activities, in urban landscapes, or other examples of flourishing conditions. Out of more than 80 submissions from photographers in more than a dozen countries, three images were selected as the winner and runners up. Guest judges included three members of University of Pennsylvania faculty: Francesca Ammon, Associate Professor, City and Regional Planning and Historic Preservation; Matt Kenyatta, Director of Justice and Belonging; and John McInerney, Director, Sachs Program for Arts Innovation.
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