Student Finalist in Photo Contest

Knox College student Farah Ahed has been named a finalist in a national college photography competition sponsored by Photographer's Forum magazine.

Ahed placed in the top five-percent of entrants for the magazine's annual College Photography Contest, which drew more than 28,000 images in all. Her work will be published with the other finalists and winners in the "Best of College Photography Annual 2007."

Ahed, a senior from Pakistan, submitted a series of four photographs that she made last summer in India, one of which will appear in the annual.

Ahed said that she took more than 2,000 images in India and, when she returned to Knox last fall, showed them to her photography teacher, Michael Godsil. "He encouraged me to enter the contest," Ahed said. "I know that I got lucky with some of the photos, but Mike is very meticulous, and he really pushed me to pick the best of the best. He's told me not to settle for second-best, and that's made me a better photographer."

Ahed said that she originally intended to major in English or journalism, "because I was interested in writing," she explains. But her journalism professor, Marilyn Webb, urged her to expand her plans. "She told me, 'You want to travel. Do what you find interesting.'"

Ahed decided to major in anthropology and sociology. "Being at an American liberal arts college is changing my perspective," Ahed said. "So far, I've done most of my work within my own culture, my own language. Now I want to photograph other cultures. I want to travel more and explore more."

After graduating from Knox in June, Ahed plans to travel, study photography in Chicago, then apply to graduate schools. "I've done some street photography in Chicago, and want to do more work there," she said.

She's also taken photographs in Pakistan, when she and some fellow Knox students visited their families there, following last year's earthquake.

Before I came to Knox, I took photographs, but I wasn't interested in photography as art," Ahed said. "I never realized I could do it at a professional level until I came here."

Photographer's Forum is a quarterly publication that showcases work by American and Canadian photographers. In addition to the contest for students, the magazine sponsors an annual photography competition for the general public.

All images copyright Farah Ahed, 2006, used by permission.

Farah Ahed with camera, above; four "street photos" from India, below.