How to Apply


The Emory Global Health Student Photography Contest honors Emory students who capture critical global health, public health, or healthcare related issues through their photographs, expressing creativity, reflective thinking, and respect. Your photographs have the power to drive change and inspire meaningful dialogue.

Winning entrants will be rewarded with a cash prize.

Submit your entries by October 2, 2023 using this form.  You can enter a maximum of three photographs accompanied by their respective descriptions.  

For more information, see "How Do I Submit My Photos?” and other Frequently Asked Questions.

Submit Your Entries 

Frequently Asked Questions

Students can submit up to three photographs with corresponding descriptions via email at eghi@emory.edu 

  • Students should submit their photographs as JPG files. Each JPG file should be between 2-3 MB for email submission purposes. However, if one of your photographs is selected as a winning or honorable mention photograph, EGHI may reach out to you to submit a JPG file that is between 10-14 MB so that we can print a 13X19 copy of it at 300 dpi. To that end, please have a larger JPG file available should one of your submitted photographs be selected. 
  • Photograph descriptions should be submitted as an MS Word document. 
  • Please enumerate picture titles and descriptions so that they correspond with the picture numbers in the JPG files. 
  • Submit no more than three JPG photograph files and one MS Word document that includes three photograph titles and three photograph descriptions to eghi@emory.edu. Name your photographs as follows: lastname_firstname_picturenumber.jpeg (e.g., smith, sarah_1.jpeg) 

Emory undergraduate and graduate students, medical residents and fellows, and post-doctoral fellows are eligible to participate.

Five winning photographs will be selected each year. Students submitting winning photographs will receive a $500 cash prize and a certificate recognizing their accomplishment.

For the 2022 contest, Emory students, medical residents, and post-doctoral fellows can submit photographs that they have taken from the period of September 1, 2021 – September 1, 2022 . Students can submit photographs that they have taken both domestically and internationally.  

Emory students, medical residents, and post-doctoral fellows may submit up to three photographs that they have personally taken that document a public health, health care, and/or global health challenge occurring anywhere in the world. Photographs can focus on the health of populations, the health of individuals, chronic diseases, the COVID-19 pandemic and other infectious diseases, environmental health issues, environmental justice issues, school health, health care delivery, social determinants of health, substance abuse issues, and global health inequities, to name just a few. These topics are just examples of subjects and do not represent all of the health-related topics students can document in their photographs. The subject matter can be people, buildings, landscapes – whatever the student photographers think documents the health topic they want to highlight in their photographs. If students submit photographs of people, they should indicate whether or not they received verbal consent from the photograph’s subject in their written description about the photograph in question.  

Photograph Descriptions

In addition to submitting photographs, students must write a brief description (200 words maximum) of each photograph that they submit. In this description, students should explain what the photograph is depicting and describe its connection to a global health/public health/health care issue in the country/region/city where the photograph was taken. Students should create a title for each photograph that they submit. As mentioned above, students should indicate whether or not they received verbal consent from the subject or subjects of their photograph if they have taken photographs of people. 

Students must only submit photographs that they have taken themselves.

EGHI is collaborating with Emory Arts! to host virtual panel discussions that focus on ethics and photography. The first virtual panel discussion, which was entitled “The Photograph as Document: Global Health and Social Justice,” took place in January 2022 and can be accessed here. EGHI and Emory Arts! plan to have two more panel discussions focusing on ethics and photography during the 2022-2023 academic year, so stay tuned for more information. 

When photographing people, you should:

  • Respect the person you are photographing and treat that person with dignity
  • Obtain verbal consent from the person or people you wish to photograph and then show them your digital photograph to ensure they are comfortable with it
  • If possible, obtain written consent from the person or people you wish to photograph and then show them your digital photograph to ensure they are comfortable with it
  • If you are taking pictures of children, obtain the verbal consent from their parents or guardians
  • Be mindful when taking pictures of people who are receiving health care -- respect their privacy, follow the photography rules of their health care facility, and obtain their verbal consent to take their photograph
  • Do not take pictures of people, including children, when they are unclothed out of respect for their privacy
  • Do not take pictures of people when they are unconscious because they cannot provide their verbal consent
  • Be mindful of whether or not you are representing the person accurately and/or the community accurately
  • Be mindful of your intent in taking the photograph (e.g., are you taking it to document a situation, raise public awareness, capture something beautiful, tell a story, etc.)

Please visit these sites to learn more about ethics and photography.

TEPHINET’s Global Health Photography Ethics Modules

Unite for Sight Ethics and Photography in Developing Countries

National Press Photographers Association Code of Ethics

The Need for Ethical Representation in Documentary Photography

Ethical Dilemmas and the Documentary Photographer: An In-Depth Interview with J. Ross Baughman

You can see past Global Health Student Photography Contest submissions by clicking the button below.

View past submissions

The submission deadline for the 2022 contest has been extended to October 16, 2022.

Students will retain ownership of their photographs, however, EGHI and Emory University reserve the right to use submitted photographs in their promotional materials.

Winning photographs will be selected by an external panel of judges. Photographs will be judged on their technical and artistic merits as well as their ability to effectively convey a message that pertains to a public health/global health/health care topic taking place anywhere in the world. 

For more information, please contact Mischka Garel, at mgarel@emory.edu.