The Urban Research Hub conducted its second photo contest, providing participants a chance to showcase photos of urban spaces. Participants submitted photos reflecting “Urban Contestations.” The winning photos are featured below and on the CSSR website.
The Urban Hub Photo Contests invited undergraduate and graduate GMU students to submit a photo essay that reflected the theme of “Urban Contestations.” The photo essays aimed to capture the contestations of everyday urban and suburban life. Submissions consisted of a minimum of three photos along with a brief essay explaining how the photos related to the theme.
Judging was conducted by representatives of the Urban Research Hub. The selection process evaluated entries based on visual composition, the success to which the photos and narrative expressed the theme, and their originality. Winners were selected from the submitted photo essays based on these criteria, receiving first place, second place, and honorable mentions.
1st place winner: Vishvajit Senthilkumar
All of these images were taken in Baltimore MD except for the dinner image which was taken at a retro Burger King in a nearby county.
During the summer, I had the opportunity to live near Baltimore, MD, and made a conscious effort to explore the city and better understand its culture and daily life. My images reflect the lasting impact of the boom and bust of classical Americana— Baltimore’s rise during industrialization and its decline through economic disinvestment, suburban flight, and neighborhood decay. Still, the city shows signs of renewal. Grassroots efforts, a growing arts scene, and local investment point to a future shaped by resilience, creativity, and the determination of its communities.
Vishvajit Senthilkumar
Undergraduate Student, Electrical Engineering
2nd place winner: Oistin Danil Binaj
Forgotten pathways and forsaken spaces— these abandoned places speak to the silent contestations of urban life. In their decay, they challenge us to reconsider what we value, who we leave behind, and how cities remember or erase their histories.
Oistin Danil Binaj
Undergraduate Student, Business
Honorable Mention: Soojung Paek
By the Chicago River bridge, tourists flock to river cruises beneath looming skyscrapers. A familiar corporate and political brand name dominates the skyline, its bold lettering watching over the city. Directly below this imposing symbol, an immigrant mother with two children sits begging for work or food. Nearby, a performer in a white gorilla costume draped in an American flag spins on a photo stand, dancing to attract tourist attention. The person inside, likely an immigrant themselves, performs anonymously for survival. As visitors pass obliviously between these scenes, the stark contrast raises the question: which force ultimately prevails—life’s persistence or the systems that oppress it?
Soojung Paek
Graduate Student, Cultural Studies
Honorable Mention: Collin J Hawley
These photographs, a vague continuation of previous projects, were made on my cellphone in early 2020, while I was working on a university’s landscaping crew and in the process of completing my master’s degree, applying for PhD programs, just before everything changed.
In making these photographs I forced the automatic functions of the camera phone to blur the image, or select the foreground instead, leaving softly rendered, affective evocations of the spaces represented.
Our sense of belonging in the contemporary world is often uneasy–we live in the margins of instrumentalized spaces, made into interchangeable parts in a commodified order that cares little for the distinctly personal ways that we turn our world into a meaningful place both for ourselves and those we care for.
Collin J Hawley
Graduate Student, Cultural Studies
October 08, 2025