Curiously, photography is a hobby Bakry inadvertently stumbled into as a means of clearing his head after long stints in the laboratory and he makes it clear that despite his pride in winning the competition, he holds his academic achievements in equal regard.
"I have been published in three academic journals and I am really proud of that," he said.
Bakry lives in the same dorm building as Ahmed, an undergraduate finance student, and the two are part of a tightknit international community at Jiangnan University. Ahmed's third place photograph captures the spirit of graduation in a manner the second year student describes as universal. However, Ahmed was admittedly amused by the decision of the judges and is more inclined to photograph natural scenes on his cycling trips to nearby Suzhou and Changzhou.
"I like to take photographs of landscapes, I don't like taking photographs of people, they [friends] asked me to go [to the graduation ceremony] and I remember I didn't want to go because it was raining."
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Ishtiaq Ahmed's photography of Jiangnan University's graduation ceremony in 2016 evokes the universal sense of joy and pride that students feel upon receiving their diploma following years of hard work. [Photo provided to China Daily] |
"He is my boss. The boss. I'm still learning from him."
While the two will go their separate ways at the end of the academic year, with Bakry using the prize money to fly home to Egypt for the first time in four years, they will undoubtedly be united by a common love of photography, which, as they both admit, has become a new outlet onto the world.
"It [photography] will change the way I see things. When I go back to my country I will take a lot of photos and go to many ancient places and see things differently," Bakry said.
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Amr Mohamed Bakry and Ishtiaq Ahmed, both international students at Jiangnan University in Wuxi, enjoy photograph as a pastime that helps them to relax outside of the classroom. [Photo provided to China Daily] |
