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2024 Global Development Photo Contest

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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.

On this page:


 

Eligibility

  • All Stanford students enrolled for Autumn 2024, as well as current predoctoral and postdoctoral fellows, faculty and staff, are invited to participate.
  • Submitted photographs must have been taken by the entrant within the three years prior to the submission date.
  • All digital files must be in a .jpg or .png format. Please submit the highest-quality image you have. Please name your entries in the following manner: last name_first name_location, e.g. Doe_Jane_Dhaka_Bangladesh.
  • There is a limit of three photographs per person.

The contest welcomes photo submissions relevant to themes of global poverty and development. These could include, but are not limited to:

  • Poverty alleviation
  • Public health
  • Education
  • Environmental challenges
  • Urbanization or infrastructure
  • Working conditions
  • Sanitation

Please note, by entering the contest, entrants grant Stanford University a royalty-free, worldwide, perpetual, non-exclusive license to display, distribute, reproduce, and create derivative works of the entries, in whole or in part, in any media now existing or subsequently developed, for any educational, promotional, publicity, exhibition, archival, scholarly, and all other standard purposes. Any photograph reproduced will include credits as feasible.  Neither the King Center on Global Development nor Stanford University will be required to pay any additional consideration or seek any additional approval in connection with such uses.

Sensitivity of Photo Content

Please submit photos that adhere to the following:

  • Photos of individuals and organized groups were taken with verbal or written consent. We understand that unanimous consent may not be possible when taking photos in crowded, public settings, but we will vet images closely for potentially delicate subject matter.
  • Photographs of children (or vulnerable persons) were taken with consent from guardians/parents/teachers.
  • Personal or private information (e.g., health information, political or other affiliations) is not exposed in the photo.
  • Subjects will not experience negative consequences as a result of having their photo published.

Judging and Prizes

  • Photos will be judged on technical quality, composition, creativity, originality, and sense of place.
  • When evaluating submissions, we will prioritize imagery that is empowering and solution-oriented. The King Center is dedicated to celebrating the dynamism and potential of people worldwide, and we especially value images that reflect these qualities.
  • Winners will be announced by October 31, 2024.
  • Prizes were generously donated by Stanford Live and Stanford Athletics, and include tickets to:
  • Photos will be displayed in the King Center lobby and may be used in printed materials and/or online.

Questions

Please contact the King Center at kingcenter@stanford.edu.


 

Winners of the 2023 Global Development Photo Contest

Tracy Li, EdS '25, Graduate School of Education

Juaboso District, Western Region, Ghana

"Sisters walking to school together in the morning."

Anna Vdovina, PhD '28, Department of Economics

Women heading to a birthday party

Kizimkazi, Zanzibar, Tanzania

"I took this photo while volunteering for an educational NGO in Zanzibar, Tanzania. These women were heading to a birthday party nearby and I thought it would be a beautiful moment to capture the mood and the sense of community."

Liza Goldberg, BS '24, Department of Earth System Science

Mangroves in Benin as seen from overhead

Cotonou, Benin

"This photograph was taken via a drone that we flew above Lake Nokoué while we traveled via motorized canoe below. This lake has thriving mangrove forests, which the local communities rely on for fish and coastal protection from storms. Here, we see an ideal example of harmony between human and natural needs."