By JO HARRISON
FOR international students studying at UNE it can be rather daunting being in a new town let alone a new country.
So when the opportunity came up to enter a photographic competition with the theme Life in Armidale, they jumped at it.
Thirteen students participated in the competition with more than 100 entries. The winning photos were exhibited at a gala event at the New England Regional Art Museum (NERAM) last Friday.
UNE events and community engagement officer Kylie McCarthy said the photographic competition was developed as an opportunity for international students to share their experiences and perspectives of Armidale with the community through the visual form.
“For some of our international students language can be a barrier and they can be quite shy, so communicating through the visual form enables them to express themselves without worrying about their language level,” Ms McCarthy said.
“This is the first year we have run the competition and it is a chance for our international students to have some extra activities during the colder months and also acknowledge all the wonderful things they do in the community.”
Julia Gorzitzke from Germany who took out first place has only been studying for two weeks at UNE. She quickly put her love of photography into good use snapping streetscapes of Armidale.
“I heard about the competition pretty much as soon as I arrived took the opportunity to explore the town and take some photos,” Julia said.
“I really enjoy taking photos of city surroundings and people which interest me a lot.
“Armidale is a very interesting town. It is a small town but the university makes it very vibrant. I love the surrounding hills and the small cottages which remind bit of a fairytale, I really like it.”
Second place in the competition was awarded to Melalin Mahavongtrakul from Thailand who is in her third year at UNE studying Media and Communications, while third place went to Chinese student Bo Jiang who is studying for a Master of Secondary Teaching.
