Winners of SAFN’s Annual Anthropology Day Photo Contest!

David Beriss

The time has come to reveal the winners of this year’s glorious SAFN Anthropology Day Photo Contest!

Our decision this year was reached by a panel made up of SAFN’s elected officers, including Amanda Green, Ryan Adams, Shannon Caplan, and Noha Fikry, and me. I want to thank them all for their work and patience. Photos were judged for

the ethnographic nature of the pictures, overall.
the contribution of the photo as insight into foodways.
the extent to which the photos help us see the work and lives of people in food.
the overall composition, originality, etc.

We received many excellent submissions this year and we are grateful for everyone who participated. SAFN clearly has a deep talent pool of anthropologists with photographic skills!

Most of the submissions involved a series of photos. We will post the top three over the next few days. We have a tie for the overall winner, between Bula Wayessa (University of Minnesota) and Natasha Bernstein Bunzl (NYU). Shivani Kaul (University of Amsterdam) came in third (or second, I guess).

Note that the photos below have been sized to fit this page. In most cases, if you click on the photo, you can see a larger version.

The first set of photos are from Bula Wayessa, from the Department of African American and African Studies at the University of Minnesota. Dr. Wayessa sent three photos that clearly show the labor that goes into the making of bread. These are remarkable for the depiction of work, but also for the composition, which draws the viewer into the process of food creation. Congratulations, Bula Wayessa!