Posted on May 14, 2008

The fall 2007 term abroad in Vietnam included 19 students from Union College and Hobart William Smith Colleges (Geneva, N.Y.) and Visual Arts Professor Martin Benjamin in a photographic exploration of culture and ethics.

When 19 students spend 97 days armed with cameras and are immersed in the language and culture of Vietnam, the resulting photographic exploration of nearly 1,200 images becomes “Photographing Another Culture: Vietnam 2007.”

An exhibit featuring 20 of those shots, “New Eyes: Images of Daily Life in Vietnam,” will be unveiled Thursday, May 15, at 5 p.m. in the Global Visions Gallery, Grant Hall.

The opening reception, which is free and open to the public, includes the release of “The Aleph: A Journal of Global Perspectives” and the awarding of prizes for the Global Visions Photography Contest.

The event is sponsored by the Union College and Hobart and William Smith Colleges Partnership for Global Education.

“Hanoi and Cantho, Vietnam, 2007,” photograph, Martin Benjamin, professor of visual arts, is one of 20 photographs in the “Photographing Another Culture: Vietnam 2007” exhibit on display in the Global Visions Gallery, Grant Hall. The photos were made by

“Halong Bay, Vietnam, 2007,” photograph, Meggie Moriarty ’10, is one of 20 photographs in the “Photographing Another Culture: Vietnam 2007” exhibit on display in the Global Visions Gallery, Grant Hall. The photos were made by 19 students that participate

“New Eyes” was curated by Jen Libous ’08 and Martin Benjamin, professor of Visual Arts and director of the program to Vietnam. The exhibit features the creative efforts of students from the colleges during the fall 2007 color digital photography class in Vietnam.

In addition to field assignments and learning the Vietnamese dialects in both Saigon and Hanoi, students also examined ethical issues related to photography. Union’s “Ethics Across the Curriculum” initiative funded translators for speakers including acclaimed North Vietnamese photographers Mai Nam, Le Minh Trong and Doan Cong Tinh.

“The students on this term abroad weren’t photographers, and only one was a visual arts major,” said Benjamin, who returned for a fourth trip to Vietnam and his first teaching experience there. “The goal was to realize a life-changing experience; the product is the realization of those efforts.”

The Global Visions Gallery is updated each term. For more information, contact DougReilly, assistant director of the Partnership for Global Education at dreilly@hws.edu or (315) 781-3788.

2007 Global Visions Photography Contest Winners