Zheyu Huang’s travel photos charm contest judges
The graduate has had three pictures selected in Carolina’s annual global photo contest, accepting 2024 entries through Sept. 16.
In May 2023 at 4:30 a.m., Zheyu Huang ’23 woke up before sunrise to marvel at the cityscape of Guanajuato, Mexico, from his hotel room. He sat on his balcony in the dark, waiting for the “blue hour”— a time where light and shadows are softest — to come. Just before dawn, he took a photo, selected as a finalist in the 2023 Carolina Global Photography Competition.
At the time, Huang was an international student at UNC-Chapel Hill from Wuhan, China, studying business and computer science. He also was interested in photography. So, every year on his way to China, he would stop in a different country to take pictures.
On this particular morning in 2023, when Huang took “Guanajuato’s Blue Hour Charm,” he was on his way to China, having booked a connecting flight through Mexico City. He then traveled five hours by bus to spend his one-night layover in Guanajuato.
“I really feel like the Carolina Global Photography Competition has turned what could have been simple layovers into rich cultural explorations,” Huang said.
The photography competition’s review committee picked Huang’s photo as a finalist for the 2024 exhibition, but it wasn’t his first selection. In 2022, he was the second-place winner with “Under the Waterfall,” shot at Goðafoss Waterfall during a vacation in Iceland. “Wandering Souls in Český Krumlov,” a photo he made in the Czech Republic, was also a finalist in the competition one year.
The FedEx Global Education Center is home to UNC Global Affairs — which coordinates the photography competition — as well as the Study Abroad Office, Carolina’s six area studies centers, International Student and Scholar Services and the curriculum in global studies. Finalists from the Carolina Global Photography Competition are displayed there as part of the annual exhibition.
Huang showed his Český Krumlov photo, hanging in the building, to a fellow student who came here from the Czech Republic. “My friend was really amazed to see her country represented at UNC-Chapel Hill,” Huang said. “The Carolina Global Photography Competition has a remarkable impact on campus diversity. It allows many countries to leave a visual footprint at UNC.”
In addition to traveling regularly to China, Huang also participated in a study abroad program during his senior year. He traveled to Singapore through the global immersion elective at UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School. Sharon Cannon, the clinical professor of management and corporate communication at the business school who led the course, remembers being struck by Huang’s confidence and adventurous spirit and how he used his language skills to help his peers navigate the city.
Huang is currently studying computer science at Brown University. He hopes to meld his interest in technology with his love of travel by working as a software engineer for a travel-tech company like Hopper or Airbnb. Until then, Huang plans to continue using his layovers as chances to explore, learn about and photograph interesting places. He hopes that his photos will continue to contribute to the richness and representation that the photography contest brings to the UNC-Chapel Hill campus.
“I think [the photography competition] serves as a catalyst for opening students up to the world and to global experiences, like it has done for me,” he said.
UNC-Chapel Hill students, faculty, staff and alumni are encouraged to submit their photos to the 2024 Carolina Global Photography Competition by Sept. 16.
