Gallery of winning photos and photographers' statements

Philip Cerda
Molecular Environmental Biology

A junior, Philip Cerda grew up in two distinct hometowns: on the Mississippi River in Davenport, Iowa, and in a small suburb of Los Angeles. He is a pre-medical student, majoring in molecular environmental biology. As a scientist, he says, he is learning to understand the mysteries of life from a static and technical point of view, but "photography is my means of understanding life in a more dynamic way: by living." His prize-winning photography is a series of portraits of anonymous figures, presented to explore the anonymity of city living. "These photographs," he says, "are an expression of my interest in social interaction and an exploration of my own feelings of detachment."

Lily Zhang
Architecture

A junior in the College of Environmental Design, Lily Zhang is from Knoxville, Tenn., but she attended high school in Lexington, Mass., and considers both regions her home. She has a passion for architecture, and her Lyon Prize photos are of the workaday buildings in the city of Berkeley, her current hometown as a university student. The photos are not images of celebrated architecture — university buildings in the classical style or homes in the Berkeley hills. Instead, they focus on what makes up most of the city's fabric — "humble residences, commercial spaces, functional workplaces," she says. "These photographs," she adds, "bring the unsung forward, for anyone who cares to listen."