This July, 15 UChicago College students gained new perspectives on the climate and growth challenge through our second annual India Summer Fellows Program. Through classes, projects and field visits across Delhi and Ahmedabad, our Fellows expanded their knowledge of the varied climate challenges and solutions across India.
To share their experiences and reflect on what they’ve learned, our Fellows participated in a photo contest. Winning contestants submitted photos that are not only aesthetically beautiful, but also connect to the themes of the program. View our winning photos and honorable mentions below.
Winning Photos
Quiet Save The Breeze
Navya Vasireddy, College ’29
“This image, taken in Old Ahmedabad, features a line of housing units along a street. The windows remain open for ventilation, and the adjacent sidewalk is complete with sleeping cots – highlighting the pressing need for residents to escape from the trapped heat inside their homes. Due to poor construction materials and infrastructure, home interiors are often several degrees hotter than outside temperatures, fostering hazardous conditions for families and aggravating the heat crisis in India.”
Holy Cow
Yixiao Dai, College ’29
“I took this in an old-city lane. A cow eating garbage, mostly plastic wrappers and bags. In India, cows are sacred, but here one’s just picking through trash because there’s nowhere else for the food scraps to go. That’s kind of the whole climate-and-growth problem in one frame: rapid urban development has outpaced waste infrastructure, and the plastic packaging that fuels convenience and commerce now chokes the very streets.”
Absence
Madison Story, College ’29
“This photograph was taken while walking in the streets of Ahmedabad. I titled it Absence because the lack of people in this photograph creates an emphasis on the things that the human works with rather than the action of the human. For example, a street food cart without someone to operate it, and livestock without someone to guide them. It prompts you to wonder, where is the human in this picture? In many parts of India, it becomes very difficult for many people to work during the hottest hours of the day due to the climate and growth challenge causing increased heat waves and warming events. This photograph, therefore, can be a representation of the future of India if the climate and growth challenge continues: heat that makes outdoor work unbearable, leaving the presumed actions in this photograph unfinished.”
Honorable Mentions
Adalaj Stepwell
Carter Herron, College ’27
“This photo is of the Adalaj Stepwell outside of Ahmedabad. Built in 1498, it provided groundwater access to local residents for centuries. Our informal visit to the site and other stepwells during our time in India showed how people have always had to consider how to access water, a challenge that will only become worse due to climate change. All of the stepwells we visited were incredibly detailed and ornate, highlighting the longstanding\ culture importance of water. While the stepwells are no longer actively used, they serve as a reminder of the importance of developing strategies to ensure continued water access for drought-prone areas.”
The Toy Train by the Lake
Ramse Jefferson, College ’29
“This photo was taken during our transportation exercise at Ahmedabad University, where my group traveled to Kankaria lake. The exercise highlighted several transportation struggles everyday people face. It was particularly striking how this toy train ran through the middle of a busy walk way with no protections in place. It’s symbolic of some of the growth issues everyday commuters will continue to face as India develops.”