A photo of the Golden Gate Bridge taken by PICO member Linjian Fang. Credit: Courtesy of Linjian Fang
A group of students is looking to encourage Chinese students to come to Ohio State through their photography.
OSU’s Chinese Photography and Image organization, also known as PICO, has launched its first event, “Motion,” a photography competition. Students can vote via @PICOOSU on Facebook and Instagram pages, and the voting polls opened Monday.
PICO was founded in October 2016 to provide opportunities for amateur photographers to put their photos on display. The student organization focuses on creating a timelapse video and online photo exhibition of OSU.
Eudola Shao, co-founder and president of PICO and a first-year in operations management, said the time-lapse exhibition is a continuous project designed to help recruit Chinese students to campus.
PICO produces original video and photo content on its official WeChat website. With more than 2,000 followers, the website features videos that help students through cooking tutorials, festival and travel guides and photography lessons in hopes of helping Chinese students adjust to life on campus in America. PICO also collaborates with other student organizations as freelance photographers for those groups’ on-campus events.
Shao, who said she has been taking photos since she was in middle school, founded PICO to join other photographers and learn more about various aspects and techniques of photography.
“I like conceptual photography, so I can see life through my lens,” she said.
Liqun He, PICO recruitment chair and a first-year in strategic communication, said she joined the club because it allowed her express herself through planning activities and events such as “Motion.”
PICO partnered with Miniconch local photography studio to judge and donate prizes for the competition. Participants are judged on the way their work embodies motion, which the group has defined as “opposite of stillness — a dynamic, changing process with vigor and energy.”
“Photography is my outlet for self-expression, logic and emotion,” He said. “The competition allows photographers to interpret motion as abstract or conceptual as they choose.”
There will be three winners of the “Motion” photography competition. The first-place winner will receive a collector’s edition Rolleiflex camera, worth more than $800. The second-place winner will receive a classic Honeywell Pentax SP1000 film camera. The Most Popular Award winner, selected for highest public votes, will receive the new Fuji Polaroid Mini 8 Instant Film camera.
Photo submissions can be sent to [email protected] and will be accepted until April 17.
PICO will announce the three winners on April 24 via PICO’s Facebook and Instagram pages. PICO is open to all students.
