2025 Global Development Photo Contest
Share your perspective on global development, from innovative solutions to global challenges, to the everyday resilience and creativity of people around the world. Submit your best photos to the King Center's Global Development Photo Contest.
The King Center photo contest spotlights the Stanford community’s diverse and dynamic insights, experiences and perspectives into all aspects of global development. With your help, we uniquely showcase images from learning, research, and travel experiences in low- and middle-income countries, spanning multidisciplinary topics from public health to sustainability, and much more.
Prizes include tickets to exciting concerts, performances and sports events on campus, generously donated by Stanford Live and Stanford Athletics.
Winners of the 2025 Global Development Photo Contest
Claudius Mundoma, Director of Shared Research Resources, Office of the Vice Provost and Dean of Research
Mutasa, Manicaland, Zimbabwe
"This was the first ever crop of organic turmeric to be harvested at the farm. This experimental crop of turmeric was grown for its health benefits. The farm is being converted to an organic farm. Seeing a harvest of a crop that she had tended for almost 9 months felt like holding a newborn child. Only a smile from a mother shows the joy or a new beginning."
Alvise Scarabosio, Predoctoral Fellow, Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research (SIEPR)
Laguna Rocotuyoc, Huaraz, Peru
"A Cholita stands before the shrinking Nevado Copa glacier in Peru, her colorful traditional dress a stark contrast to the icy landscape. This photo highlights how climate change is affecting both the environment and the indigenous communities who have called these mountains home for centuries."
Mridul Joshi, PhD '27, Economics of Education
Hội An, Vietnam
"Hội An, or 'peaceful meeting place,' once anchored the maritime silk routes, sending fabric, ceramics, and spices across Asia and beyond. The ochre buildings along the riverfront, once warehouses and merchant homes, preserve the architecture of that trading past. Today, the goods have changed. Tailor shops now line the streets, turning out made-to-measure garments within a day for passing travelers. Boats carry lanterns instead of cargo. The logic of trade endures, though the routes are now shaped more by spectacle than by shipping."
A. Desiree LaBeaud, Professor of Pediatrics
Diani, Kenya
"Carol Mbeyu, our new HERI (Health and Environmental Research Institute-Kenya, our local nonprofit) black solider fly farm manager, is tending to our black soldier fly larvae on our new black solider fly farm launched in January 2025. These flies transform food waste into fertilizer (the larvae poop, called frass, is a great fertilizer for crops), food (the larvae are fed to chickens to make chicken eggs and meat), and jobs for women (the farm supports two women in the waste sector which is predominately male led). Black soldier fly farming is a nature-based circular economy of waste that simultaneously solves three ongoing crises: the waste crisis, food scarcity and underemployment!"
Mridul Joshi, PhD '27, Economics of Education
Lăng Cô, Vietnam
"Low tide in the lagoon reveals the edges of a working day. Fishing boats rest against the shore, their baskets already stacked. Nets stretch across the water toward distant traps. A storm builds over the mountains. Work here begins and ends with the weather."
Runners-Up of the 2025 Global Development Photo Contest
Pushuai Wang, MA '27, East Asian Studies
Henan, China
"In a winter market before the Chinese New Year in rural Henan, China, a farmer laughs brightly before the camera. Mud on his boots, sunlight on his face."
Stefan Thottunkal, MS '26, Community Health and Prevention Research
Tarkwa Bay, Nigeria
"Late afternoon after a long shift at the docks, a small crew of young workers lies together on the worn pontoons awaiting the next boats to arrive. They are resting together to escape the humid afternoon heat.
I saw a shared rest become a small commons. The pontoon held them up physically, and so did the spirits of one another keep their morale afloat. I took the shot to honor their hard work and capture the quiet bond and camaraderie that carries it. I also wanted to bring more awareness to the challenging work environments that many young people are forced into due to a lack of opportunities.
I felt fatigue become a community. Work forged steel and trust. They were close to my age, and I recognized the privileges that placed me behind the lens. It made me feel sad about the realities of life faced by many Nigerians, and the nature of class and chance."
Sebastian Vasquez, BA '26, Economics
Medellín, Antioquia, Colombia
"Taken from Medellín’s Metrocable, this photo shows how bright murals and colorful community art transform the urban landscape in a hillside slum, reflecting both resilience and renewal. The Metrocable symbolizes social progress, bridging geographic and economic divides to expand opportunity and mobility for residents of these informal settlements."
Honorable Mention of the 2025 Global Development Photo Contest
Nicole Franz, Research Scholar, Center for Ocean Solutions
Yui Fisheries Cooperative Association, close to the city of Shizuoka, Japan
"During a visit to a local fishing cooperative close to Shizuoka, Japan, I took this picture of a student observing the world through the lens of a tuna eye, which turns things upside down. It made me think of how the huge market demand for tuna has driven some species to the brink of extinction. But according to the most recent estimates, improved management efforts are showing results and 87% of the assessed stocks of tunas and tuna-like species were considered to be sustainable in 2021."