An outback sunset wins photo competition
Outback Sunset
After a rigorous trek up the slopes of Broken Hill, as the sun set before them, a group of Monash Abroad students stopped for a much needed rest. Fourth year Bachelor of Commerce student Carissa Battle took a single shot that captured what seemed to be a perfect moment and in doing so became the winner of the Monash University Photography Competition.
For Carissa, who lives and undertakes her studies at the University’s Clayton campus, winning the competition (with her entry Outback Sunset) was a barely believable conclusion to her semester abroad in Australia.
“It blew my mind. I never expected to win. I’m the person that never wins anything, so it really shows how anything is possible here at Monash,” Carissa said.
“My Dad is a photographer, so I grew up around photography, but I only took my first photography class a year ago. When I found out that I had won I couldn’t contain myself – I ran outside screaming and telling everyone.”
Carissa already knows how she’s going to use the prize, a $5000 travel voucher from Flight Centre. She plans to backpack around Europe as well as visit family and friends in California and Florida when she returns back home to America.
“I’ll definitely be sharing some of the voucher with my friend Connor Pricoli, who was mad enough to climb into that tree. I also want to spoil my parents and give them a holiday somewhere nice, as they’ve always been my inspiration,” Carissa said.
Arriving in Australia in July 2011, Carissa had completed the first three years of her degree in America at DePaul University in Chicago, Illinois. As part of her semester here she undertook a class in Australian studies, which was why she happened to be in Broken Hill (New South Wales) that fateful day.
Students submitted more than 600 photos during the four weeks of the competition. Carissa’s photo, along with the five runners up, were selected from a shortlist of 50 photos. The runners up, each of whom received an iPad 2, included students from Australia, South Africa and the Sunway campus.