The annual Global Engagement Photo Contest captures compelling images from SCU students abroad and international students at Santa Clara. The contest showcases how SCU students see new cultures and their place within them. Show us how you see the world, photos of yourself, other students, or people you have encountered during your experience abroad!

All photos should align with SCU’s guidelines for ethical photography. Submissions for the 2025-26 contest open December 1, 2025 and close January 23, 2026. 

Eligibility

• Students who studied or interned abroad in Winter, Spring, Summer, Fall 2025
• Undergraduate, Graduate, and Non-degree international students
• Photos must have been taken between January 1 and December 31, 2025

Judging Criteria

• How effectively the photograph tells a story
• How the photograph conveys how students see new cultures and their place within them
• Originality
• How memorable the photograph is
• Technical/artistic difficulty

Submission Guidelines

Prior to submission, please review Global Engagement’s Photo Contest criteria, guidelines, and the tenets of ethical photography.

• All photos must be submitted by January 23, 2026 using the Photo Submission Form
• Students must complete and submit the Photo Release Form with their photos
• Submissions submitted previously are ineligible for reconsideration
• Each contestant may submit a maximum of 5 photos
• All photos must be at least 3,000 pixels wide (if a horizontal image) or 3,000 pixels tall (if a vertical image)
• No selfies
• Helpful tip: Avoid clichés - no jumping-in-front-of-monument photos

Voting

The Global Engagement Photo Contest voting will take place virtually on January 29, 2026. All students, staff, and faculty are invited to cast their votes online during this time.

Contest Winners

Winners will be announced in early February each year and displayed on the Global Engagement website. Additionally, photographs will be featured on Global Engagement’s social media accounts, so be sure to give us a follow: 

• @scuglobalengagement
• @scu.iss

Tenets of Ethical Photography

Captions

The story you tell through your photo and about your photo should not include you as the hero. We are seeking photos and captions that do not solely focus on your feelings of being “touched”, “overjoyed”, or “in love” nor assumptions about what others were feeling towards you. We are seeking photos and captions that work to ensure that all voices are heard, respected, and valued. 

Justice

In keeping with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, we are seeking photographs that respect the rights, dignity, and worth of all people. Aim for complex portrayals of subjects and abstain from submitting photos that potentially stereotype, sensationalize, or discriminate. 

Consent 

Please remember the importance of having obtained consent, especially for capturing the likeness of vulnerable populations such as children, those with disabilities, marginalized persons, etc. If you did not receive consent from the subjects or the parents or caretakers of your subjects to capture and share a photograph of them, unfortunately, it is not eligible for the photo contest. 

Fidelity

We are seeking photographs that fairly contextualize and represent the real situation, location, and subject identity depicted. Think about what your photo will communicate to others in light of the fact that images offer only limited context and perspective.