Muskie Fellows Win International Education Week Photo Contest

2009 Muskie fellows Otar Kantaria of Georgia and Andrey Rybalov of Russia were awarded prizes in Georgia State University’s “Crossing Paths, Crossing Cultures” photography contest. Held during November’s International Education Week, the contest invited international students to submit their favorite photographs taken in the United States, while students in GSU’s study abroad programs submitted pictures from their time overseas.

Otar, who is enrolled at GSU’s Andrew Young School of Policy Studies, won first prize in the People category. His photo, taken in Atlanta’s Piedmont Park, was inspired by his volunteer experience at the Atlanta Pride Festival in October. “I found it an amazing opportunity to contribute in making a difference in the community,” Otar reflected. “[The photo shows] a little bit of freedom, tolerance, and acceptance within the concrete walls of the city and the minds made of concrete.”

Andrey, a fellow Andrew Young School classmate, won first prize in the Daily Life category for his photo taken during a trip to an outdoor art festival in Nevada. It was “a huge week-long gathering in the desert, to which hundreds of artists and art lovers from all around the world dream of coming,” he explained. Though Andrey had never considered himself an artist, when he heard about the festival from a friend, he decided he had to see it for himself.
Photograph by Andrey Rybalov, a 2009 Muskie fellow

While a desert sandstorm took Andrey's camera out of commission, he managed to take the winning photo with his cellular phone. “The festival was so colorful and extraordinary-looking,” he said. “My broken camera covered in Nevada’s grey sand is on my bookshelf. Every day, watching American sunsets, the colors of which are so different from European, I think I might need a new camera and some free time to explore America not as a public policy scholar, but as a photographer.”