Hao Li wins photography competition with ‘Ascent’

This year’s Photography Competition saw a wide array of entries, all striving to capture the essence of Passages.

Over 70 photographs were submitted, offering a glimpse into the lives, moments and movements of our college community throughout the past year.

Thank you to everyone who participated!

Winner

Hao Li (DPhil Clinical Neurosciences, 2023)

The photograph, titled ‘Ascent’, was taken in Week 1 of Trinity Term 2025 at the Radcliffe Observatory. It depicts a student ascending the spiral staircase toward the Common Room.

This image is a composite of multiple exposures, capturing successive moments of motion in a single frame. The gradual progression of the figure up the staircase reflects a journey, not only through physical space but symbolically through personal growth and transformation. The interplay of shadow and light, along with the architectural spiral leading toward a skylight, is intended to evoke the theme of Passages — both literal and metaphorical.

The judges commented: ‘The photographer’s use of multiple exposures powerfully conveys a sense of progress and momentum, capturing a measured ‘passage’ through time. This thoughtful approach to composition gave the image a haunting depth and visual intrigue.’

Hao receives a £200 cash prize.

Highly commended

Lyndsey Mugford (MSc(Res) Clinical Neurosciences, 2024)

This image depicts stem cell-derived neurons in a microfluidic device at 20x magnification. These cells underwent several passages (the cell culture term for cell splittings) prior to this differentiation and plating. On the right of the image, the microscopic passages of the microfluidic device guide the neuron projections into linear tracts, notably different from the disordered growth in much of the image. Green depicts NF200, a protein found in neuron projections. Blue depicts cell bodies (DAPI). Red depicts infection with a tdTomato visualization virus for live cell regeneration imaging.

Diana Adamo (DPhil Physiology, Anatomy and Genetics, 2024)

‘The Covered Bridge’ This image was taken in March 2025 in Strasbourg, France. This photo was a happy accident – I was sad to have missed viewing the historic 14th century bridges in daylight, but the mystique of the bridge at night translated perfectly to the camera.

Ruth Scobie, Academic Development and Programmes Facilitator

Learning to punt is one of those traditional Oxford rites of passage for many students, and Magdalen Bridge is the starting point for many people’s first journey along the river. I took this on my phone on a warm evening in May; it’s a picture-postcard scene but I liked the accidental drama of the light and the radiating lines of the bridge.

Paras Garg (Clinical Medicine, 2024)

Taken Kotor, Montenegro – 24 August 2024

Theme

The theme for this year’s competition was passages.

The judges saw a range of creative interpretations, from literal journeys to metaphorical transitions, and were impressed by the strength and originality of the submissions.

Judging panel

The judging panel was:

• Amiya Bhatia, Research Fellow
• Anne Highsmith, Deputy Lodge Manager and Staff Representative
• Clemens Jarnach (DPhil Sociology, 2018) 2024 competition winner and student representative
• Faraz Shibli (MSc Migration Studies, 2014) travel writer, speaker and adventurer

The judges selected a winning photograph which, in their opinion, best illustrated the theme of the competition. They considered relevance to the theme, composition, technical ability, originality, lighting and emotional appeal.

Thank you again to everyone who took the time to enter – more photos will be shared across the college’s social media channels over the coming weeks.

The Green Templeton College Photography Competition has been running since 2009, thanks to the generous support of the late neurologist Dr Elman Poole, who held a long-standing interest in photography.