Winner, Grand Prize | “The Silent March” | Iskenderun, Hatay, Turkey | “Turkey was shaken by a devastating earthquake on Feb. 6, 2023. On the first anniversary of the earthquake, I visited the Antakya region, which suffered the most significant damage. The photo captures a moment from the ‘silent march’ in Iskenderun, which started on a major boulevard and concluded at the ‘earthquake monument’ – a makeshift structure made of stacked stones adorned with pictures of those lost to the earthquake, flowers, and candles.” | Miray Cakiroglu, PhD student in anthropology, affiliate of the Abbasi Program in Islamic Studies

Winner, Global Classroom | “Busy Beach Day” | Gwangalli Beach, Busan, South Korea | “This photo was taken at Gwangalli Beach during my time on the Critical Language Scholarship (CLS) Program in Busan, South Korea. On the hottest day of the year, the area was packed with beachgoers, tourists, and marathon participants.” | Majesty Zander, master’s student in East Asian studies

Winner, Arts & Architecture | “Art Nouveau in Riga” | Riga, Latvia | “This photograph was taken on Alberta Street in Riga, Latvia, in summer 2024 during a study abroad program. Riga is famous for its high concentration of Art Nouveau architecture, and Alberta Street features the city’s most famous buildings, many of them designed by Mikhail Eisenstein, the father of famous Soviet filmmaker Sergei Eisenstein. I was absolutely stunned by the intricacy, symmetry, and artistry of the architecture; namely, I was amazed by the detail put into the faces and full-body sculptures included in the buildings, which appear to watch over the passersby, and I wanted to capture its depth in a photograph.” | Diana Gor, master’s student in Russian, East European, and Eurasian studies

Winner, Natural World | “Through the Giant Sequoia” | Sequoia National Park, California, United States of America | “This photograph was taken at Sequoia National Park in California from inside one of the many beautiful giant sequoia trees. The forests not only dazzled thanks to the glittering snow that had fallen the day prior but also filled with a visually magical steam as the warmth held by the trees and soil clashed with the cold snow and air. The tree that frames the photograph was large enough to fit four individuals inside its trunk, and its cavity provided a unique view the surrounding trees that towered over. I wanted to capture and immortalize the special experience of standing within one of the largest trees in the world through this photograph.” | Diana Gor, master’s student in Russian, East European, and Eurasian studies

Winner, Scenes from Abroad | “Refugees of Belief” | Amritsar, Punjab, India | “I went to Amritsar last year. My grandmother is originally from Lahore, Amritsar’s sister city, now in Pakistan, and was a refugee in Amritsar for some time after Partition. I felt very fortunate to have been able to go to a city she spent time in, and the Punjab, a region that my family has roots in. This photo was taken at the Golden Temple on the day of Guru Nanak Jayanti. Masses of pilgrims arrived to come pray and pay homage. This was the line into the prayer area. I titled this photo ‘Refugees of Belief’ after a line in my favorite poem by Agha Shahid Ali, ‘Tonight.’ The poem invokes ‘refugees from belief,’ people seeking grace away from religion. I inverted the line into ‘refugees of belief,’ for the people who seek refuge in their faith, the pilgrims at Golden Temple.” | Manasi Garg, undergraduate student minoring in global studies

Winner, Cultures & Traditions | “Ga Homowo Festival” | Accra, Ghana | “I took this photo during the Ga Homowo Festival in Accra, Ghana, in August 2024. I was invited by a work colleague to experience her culture and join in the celebration. The festival was a vibrant display of tradition, pride, and community, with women and girls dressed in red carrying ceremonial pots. It was an unforgettable day filled with dancing, food, and storytelling, giving me a deeper understanding of the life and customs of the Ga people.” | Nkemjika Obi, undergraduate student in international relations

Winner, Signature Snap | “Cheerful Hong Kong Butcher” | Sham Shui Po, Kowloon, Hong Kong | “My wife and I spent the 2024 Thanksgiving break in Hong Kong, in part visiting some of our old stomping grounds (we were living and working there prior to coming to Stanford in 2009). I’m working on a street photography project with a focus on traditional markets and so visited some of my favorites in Aberdeen, Yau Ma Tei, Mong Kok, and Sham Shui Po. This is a quick candid capture of a butcher at a large street market in Sham Shui Po taken with my digital Leica M10 Rangefinder and Leica Summilux 35/1.4 lens (a manual focus system). I love how he seems to love what he does.” | Paul Festa, associate director of the Program in International Relations

Winner, Popular Vote | “Bubble Camping in Wadi Rum” | Wadi Rum, Jordan | “I stayed at this ‘bubble camp’ in the Wadi Rum desert while doing research in Jordan last summer. Nestled within the rugged desert landscape, these transparent domes provided me with an immersive experience that brought me closer to nature without sacrificing comfort.” | Ramzi Salti, advanced lecturer for the Arabic Program, affiliate of the Abbasi Program in Islamic Studies

Honorable Mention, Natural World | “Smoke in the Mountains” | Sa Pa, Vietnam | “I traveled to Vietnam a year ago out a deep desire to travel in countries where Eastern spiritual traditions like Buddhism and Hinduism have formed much of the country’s architecture and ways of life, and also to experience the rituals of an unfamiliar nature. Sa Pa is in the North of Vietnam, at the border between Vietnam and China, where many Indigenous hill tribal peoples live. I stayed at the home of a Black Hmong tribeswoman and went hiking deep in the mountains of North Vietnam, all the way to the border with China. We trekked across rice fields, steep slopes, and saw wild horses. In the morning, it was foggy and cool, and the fog was so dense it looked like smoke trailing through the unimaginable blue of the mountains.” | Manasi Garg, undergraduate student minoring in global studies

Honorable Mention, Natural World | “Resilience: Dragon Tree” | Kesennuma, Japan | “This photo was taken in Kesennuma, Japan. Called the ‘dragon tree,’ or dragon pine, this tree was among the last left standing along the coastline of Kesennuma following the tsunami of the 3/11 disaster in Japan. Even more than a decade after the disaster, my time living in Miyagi was underscored by the memory of the tsunami and the ongoing impact it had on my students, co-workers, and friends.” | Jenny O’Keeffe, master’s student in East Asian studies

Honorable Mention, Arts & Architecture | “View of Mount Fuji from Tokyo” | Minato, Tokyo, Japan | “This photo was taken from the Mori Art Museum in Tokyo. Catching glimpses of Mount Fuji at various angles and sizes always reminds me of Hokusai, but the juxtaposition of Tokyo’s sprawling cityscape brings me back to the present.” | Majesty Zander, master’s student in East Asian Studies

Honorable Mention, Scenes from Abroad | “Home” | Mae La Refugee Camp, Thailand | “This was taken in Mae La Refugee Camp, Thailand, at my grandparents’ home. The two people in the photos are my grandparents as they’re going on about their routine before nighttime. My grandpa is making fermented tea leaf with betel nut for my grandma. This is a traditional practice that people in our culture love to do and chew on.” | Mu Hsi, undergraduate student in international relations and human rights

Honorable Mention, Signature Snap | “The Helix Bridge” | Marina Bay, Singapore | “My wife and I spent the second week of our summer 2024 two-week anniversary vacation in Singapore, where my wife had program review work to do at National University of Singapore (week one was in Bali). I was therefore ‘free’ and spent every day getting to know people and taking pictures in the Chinatown Complex fish market. The one afternoon my wife had off, she wanted to visit ‘the sites’ downtown and prepared a packed itinerary that kept us busy. I carried with me my little Leica Q2 and, despite our swift pace, was able every now and then to take a snap, most of which were uninspiring. By evening, we arrived at and walked across the famous Helix pedestrian bridge in Marina Bay. After emerging, I looked back at the view and had just enough time to compose a shot of the bridge with the Singapore Flyer in the background that put to work all 47 megapixels of the Q2.” | Paul Festa, associate director of the Program in International Relations

Honorable Mention, Signature Snap | “Puffin Perspective” | Mykines, Faroe Islands | “Known for its prolific puffin colony, we made a special pilgrimage via ferry to Mykines, the westernmost island of the Faroese Archipelago for the chance to admire the beloved birds. A veritable ‘puffin island,’ I encountered many puffins who were happily living on Mykines amidst turf-roof houses, craggy cliffs, windswept grassy hills, and a solitary lighthouse (as well as inclement weather). This majestic puffin was perched on one of these dramatic cliff faces, a member of a bustling community of birds who were taking flight, returning from the ocean with fish, cozily huddling together, or otherwise seeking refuge in their burrows. If you are lucky enough to stay the night, you might even glimpse local villagers guiding young puffins (‘pufflings’) back to their hilly homes on the island. It was truly a moment of feeling the raw beauty of nature and admiring some of the cutest birds on the planet!” | Kristyn Hara, academic and outreach manager of the Stanford Global Studies Division