King's College London

The results of 'Research in Action' the SSPP Photography Competition, have been announced. 

The winning photograph was 'Where Carnival Becomes Care' by Delia da Mosto, PhD Student, Department of Global Health & Social Medicine, School of Global Affairs.

The photo depicts two women walking hand in hand down a Rio de Janeiro street during Carnival. It was taken during doctoral fieldwork for Transitions: The Ethics and Politics of Psychiatric Deinstitutionalisation in South America. It captures a moment from the Carnival parade organised by Bloco Tá Pirando, Pirado, Pirou!, a collective formed by mental health service users, local residents, and professionals. 

Delia da Mosto, competition winner, commented: "My photo shows psychiatric deinstitutionalisation not only as policy but as a lived, relational practice, woven through community transformation and forms of horizontal and radical care.

She added: "Photography allows us to move beyond classical research methodologies. It doesn’t just document, it creates new ways of seeing and relating with the people we research with. It becomes part of a shared process, one grounded in commitment to activism and social change, values I know are shared by the carnival collective I have worked with, and many colleagues at King's and SSPP."

The full winners and runners-up are as follows:

• 1^st place (£250 voucher):
• Delia Da Mosto (PGR student, GHSM), Where Carnival Becomes Care
  
  
• Joint 2^nd (all £100 voucher)
• Balint Pongracz (PGR student, Defence Studies), A is for Apple, G is for Gun
• Zenobia Homan (Staff, War Studies), We protect each other
• Shuran Zhao (PGR student, Lau China Institute), She and the Tea Mountain

The shortlisted images were:

• Natasha Lock (PhD student, Lau China Institute) Nostalgia for Sale 
• Dr Marguerite Müller (Senior Lecturer, School of Education, Communication & Society), Arts-based research for self-reflexive education leadership development
• Dr Shiraz Maher (Reader in Non-State Actors, Department of War Studies) Layers of Resistance: The Hidden Geographies of War   
• Emel Akçalı (Senior Lecturer in International Relations, Defence Studies Department) The Unbroken Line  
• Professor Ekaette Ikpe (Director, African Leadership Centre) Knowledge Circles 
• Dr Adriana Ford (Senior Centre Manager for the Leverhulme Centre for Wildfires, Environment and Society, Department of Geography) Purposeful Flames 
• Samantha Day (PhD student, Department of Geography) Hope for the Future 
• Ji (Rocky) Shi (PhD student, Lau China Institute) Women Hold Up Half the Sky (妇女能顶半边天) 

The Faculty of Social Science & Public Policy Photography Competition: Research in Action celebrated the creativity and impact of research spanning the diverse landscape of social science disciplines and the many fields that shape our understanding of society. 

Staff and postgraduate research (PGR) students from within SSPP were invited to submit photographs that bring research to life, moving beyond the written word to capture moments of discovery, collaboration, and application. Entrants were judged on three criteria: adherence to the Research in Action theme, Composition, and Originality.

The competition judges were Professor Linda McKie, Executive Dean; Professor Cathy McIlwaine, Vice Dean (Research); Lyanne Wylde, Head of Research Operations; James Brown, Director of Operations; all of the Faculty of Social Sciences and Public Policy.

The exhibition of winners and selected entries will be on display in The Exchange, Bush House North East Wing from Thursday 26 March until Friday 1 May.

You can read more about the selected photos at the exhibition, or follow us on LinkedIn and BlueSky where we will be highlighting some of the best entrants over the coming weeks.