Students capture the spirit of cities across Northeastern’s network
Skylines, moons and sunsets among the images these students featured in photos from across the university’s global campuses.
One October night, Yuxin Zhou, an Align computer science student based at Northeastern University’s Vancouver campus, was walking through Stanley Park as a full moon rose over the ocean.
Back in China, her family was celebrating the Mid-Autumn Festival, also known as the Moon Festival, a holiday centered on honoring the harvest, gathering with family and admiring the full moon.
At that moment, Zhou felt homesick, she said. Being far from home on that holiday made her miss her relatives in China even more.
She pulled out her phone and photographed the moon rising against a pink sky.
“I felt comforted, because looking at the moon made me feel connected to them — we were all looking at the same moon, even [though] from different places in the world,” she said. “To me, this scene connects my hometown and my life here in Vancouver — two worlds joined by the same beautiful moon.”
Zhou submitted the photo to a photography contest organized this fall by Northeastern’s Global Learner Support and was recently named one of five winners. The winning students represent four Northeastern global campuses: Seattle, Vancouver, Toronto and Miami.
“I don’t consider my photography skills to be very advanced,” Zhou said. “I think the beauty of the scenery and the meaning of the festival itself did most of the work.”
Global Learner Support serves students, faculty and other Northeastern community members across the university’s global campuses by providing high-quality language, cultural and academic support, said Jeremy Walter, the division’s director. His team promotes intercultural awareness and global understanding.
The division launched the photography contest in September during student orientations. Students were asked to capture the cultural essence of the cities where they study by photographing local architecture, landscapes, traditions or scenes that felt meaningful to them as members of those communities.
“We wanted to see the culture of those places through the lens of the learners, basically,” Walter said.
The contest became a unique way for students to share what they noticed, he said, and what they cared about.
“Everything we do is with the hopes of developing intercultural competence and global understanding,” Walter said. “This was a new way to highlight this global community that Northeastern provides while celebrating cultural diversity across the campus network, encouraging students to engage with their cities through photography, promote intercultural appreciation and connection across locations and then, of course, highlight the identity, the beauty, the culture of the campus city.”
Mateo Fischer, a College of Professional Studies student in Miami, won with a photo titled “The magic city.”
“This stunning view of Brickell City Centre perfectly captures Miami’s essence — sleek glass towers reaching toward brilliant blue skies, wrapped in vibrant rainbow stripes that celebrate the city’s multicultural spirit,” he said. “The image embodies how Miami seamlessly blends sophisticated urban development with colorful artistic expression, representing a global city that maintains its playful, tropical character while reaching boldly toward the future.”
Vatsalya Dabhi, a graduate computer science student, took his winning photo — titled “Togetherness” — during his first week at Northeastern Seattle. The photo shows two male silhouettes standing at the edge of a lake at sunset, framed by riparian vegetation.
“Everything was new [ to me] — the city, the people, my friends — and I was exploring with a lot of excitement,” Dabhi said. “The moment felt special, and I wanted to capture it exactly as I experienced it.”
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The image reflects the beauty of shared moments, he said, and the way nature can bring people together.
Seattle is very different from his hometown of Ahmedabad, India, Dabhi said, which is warmer and “always active in its own way.”
“What I really like about Seattle is that it has both sides: on one hand, people are busy and focused, always in work mode, and on the other hand, the city has calm lakes, beautiful nature and peaceful views,” he said. “It’s a balance I truly appreciate.”
A photograph titled “The Sunrise in Midtown” by Abhishek Amkamgari of Northeastern Miami captures concrete high-rises in the morning haze.
“The mix of sunlight breaking through the clouds and the tall buildings in the background shows how this area is always changing and growing. Being so close to campus, it’s a place where art, culture and the tech industry all come together,” Amkamgari said. “To me, this view captures the energy of Miami in the morning — creative, fast-moving and full of opportunity.”
The fifth winner, engineering student Nathaniel Ashie, submitted a photo of Nathan Phillips Square in Toronto.
“The history and significance of the square, along with what it represents to the people of Toronto as a public artwork, immediately caught my attention,” he said. “This piece means a lot to me because it was the first public artwork I visited when I arrived in downtown Toronto.”
The contest winners received gift packages and their photographs have been digitally showcased on their respective campuses. GLS also plans to use the images in future programming materials.
