THE INAUGURAL RPL STUDENT PHOTO COMPETITION

RPL invited Harvard graduate students participating in RPL programs to submit photographs from their summer internship experiences for a judged photo competition. Students were invited to address the theme of religion and public life and a just world at peace while adhering to RPL’s ethical photography guidance. The winners of the inaugural competition (listed below) were celebrated at an open house in November 2022, and their work may be seen in person in the RPL office on the second floor of Divinity Hall.

SHIR LOVETT-GRAFF , MTS ’23

In Silwan, East Jerusalem, where this photo was taken, we learned about settlers seizing property, aided by the government. Palestinians whose homes are declared illegal are forced to demolish their own multigenerational homes. Often, community members would come out to support the family during these acts of destruction, love interposed against violence. The Arabic mural reads: “We won’t leave. On this land is the most sacred land.

MAGGIE THIELENS , MTS ’23

In Kairouan, Tunisia, a camel draws water from the Holy Well Bir Barouta, which dates to the seventeenth century. Water is crucial to the architecture and history of Kairouan and continues to reflect the many spiritual aspects of its public life today.

SHIR LOVETT-GRAFF , MTS ’23

This photo depicts a destroyed Palestinian cultural space and theater in Haifa, Israel, a gathering place for Palestinian art and community before 1948. I thought about the multiplicities of “danger”: the space, filled with broken glass and debris; the space, a danger to the state because it centered creativity and joy.

Honorable mentions can be found at “The Winning Images of the Inaugural RPL Student Photo Competition,” rpl.hds.harvard.edu, November 17, 2022.