We are delighted to announce the results of this year’s photography competition on the theme, 'Sociology of Resistance'.
Students were encouraged to be creative in their interpretation of the theme "Sociology of Resistance" and think about different ways that people "resist", by challenging institutions, power structures or social norms.
You can find the runners up, winner and honourable mentions below. Each picture is accompanied by an except from that student's submission to showcase the sociological thinking behind the entry.
The Department would like to thank all of the students that took part in the competition this year, as well as the teachers for their support!
Winner:
Amber Brown (St Columbas College)
'The Danger of Pink and Blue'
'This is my sibling, Max, who goes by they/them pronouns. The photo I chose to take for the Cambridge photo competition was inspired by Max and the struggle of resisting gender binary which Max and the rest of the queer community suffer from yet do with a grave amount of courage and optimism. This photo symbolizes resistance of gender binary through the different path the queer community take in comparison to the rest of society, which all should remark as although harder, extremely respectable, and dignifying! The queer community experience conformity pressures due to social norms causing them to question whether society is safe for them. To explicate, the community face immense judgement when coming out as their true selves. Their faced with comments most commonly alike: “the majority of queer people are confused about their gender”. Hate crimes take place to show many societies feelings towards the queer community’s identities, extreme enbyphobics, have physically assaulted members of the community, Will Felshaw a non-binary member of the community of Shrewsbury was physically assaulted by two men after a night out. Gender dysphoria is associated with increased rates of suicide, depression, and psychological trauma. Although most people believe that gender dysphoria is a consequence of these disorders, it’s challenges such as discrimination and harassment are the reason for these disorders'.
Honourable Mentions:
Zhiyang Wang (Legolas Malmes) (Gower College Swansea)
The judges extend their congratulations to Amber Brown for the excellent entry titled, 'The danger of pink and blue'. Amber's photograph engages creatively and powerfully with the topic of "Sociologies of Resistance". It offers a striking depiction of the immense pressures that the queer community face to conform to certain gender norms and the courage it takes to resist these pressures and find one's own way. Congratulations, Amber!
Commendations also go to the students selected for the shortlist and the honourable mention, whose entries were evocative, engaging, and original. Further thanks go to all the entrants for participating in our photo competition this year!
Shortlist:
Jessica Rose Franklin(St Columbas College)
'Resistance against racism'
'The photo I took when I attended the BLM protest in June 2020, shows how today’s society teenagers are resisting against the norms of not involving themselves with politics but now today are heavily involved. I took this photo during the Black Lives Matter protest where I witnessed thousands of young people especially those of black minorities protesting against police brutality and the horrific racial injustices that have prevailed for too long. Still to this today black youths are discriminated and there are still stereotypes towards black people. BLM movement young people are abolishing stereotypes and are resisting against conforming to societies low expectations of them. After the murder of George Floyd the whole world reacted with shock and horror, riots began and an outpour of stories exposing the injustice treatment towards black people made young people forced to take action. This is a significant moment in history. The photo shows that teenagers are choosing to take part in protests to show their passion and their beliefs we can see this through the social media as the BLM movement was started by young people and the protest were organised by young people. I believe young people are now choosing to resist the how political parties view the 21st century generation as when it comes to policies put in place our views are rejected by the government as they believe we are less important due to our age however the decisions made now impact our future'.
Zulema Sheikh(Wilmslow High School Sixth Form)
'Tree of Life'
'Upon recently visiting Accra in Ghana, I came across this tree in Aburi Botanical Gardens. It was hand sculpted by an artist Kofi Sale and is often called the ‘Tree of Life’. The tree depicts the fight to become rich in every day life (whether this be rich through money, social status or family). At the top of the tree, we see the king who is rich in all of these ways. This is followed by the diplomats and those with a high status in society. At the bottom of the tree we are shown the resistance of the poor. With the weight above them they are expected to drop from the tree and give up but, instead, they are resistant and keep fighting. Those at the bottom of the tree are fighting for much less such as food and water. You can see the flamingo seen in the middle of the tree who is actually much better off in terms of water and food then the people below it. In many ways it could be argued that this tree is how Marxist view society, an ongoing struggle for those at the bottom to hold on and provide for their families, whereas, the rich will always sit at the top and gain from the actions of those below them'.
For those interested in studying Sociology at University, do check our pages for prospective applicants, as well as upcoming outreach events. We will be running the competition again next year, and you can sign up to our mailing list to receive alerts for the 2023 theme and deadline!