‘Shihezi Central Market’ wins

Editor’s note: Each year, as part of International Week, a photo/essay contest is held in the Memorial Union. The photo to the left is the first-place finisher, Brady Vick’s “Shihezi Central Market.”

Other results included:

-Second place: Bruce Sundeen’s “Indian Girls”

-Third place: Kyle Martin’s “Make Peace, Not War”

-Viewers’ Choice: Bruce Sundeen’s “Indian Girls”

Vick’s essay follows:

“ Shihezi, a medium-sized city (population: about 250,000) in Xinjiang province of northwest China, lies at the base of the northern slope of the Tian Shan mountain range, which runs east-west through the center of Xinjiang province. The Tian Shan mountains moderate the weather in this northern “gravel desert,” and the melting mountain snow provides water for a narrow, rich agricultural region on both the north and south slopes of the range. Cotton, wheat and corn are major crops, but the region is probably best appreciated for its melons, grapes and peaches, which find their way to the Shihezi Central Market.

The market bursts with both familiar and unfamiliar vegetables, fresh fish, sides of lamb (for the native Muslim Uighur population) and beef, chickens, geese, rabbits and pigeons, to name a few. Just near the dried pepper shop on the left of the photo was the chicken section, where I met five young women who took a moment from their duties to pose for a photo. I later sent copies of the photo to them via an animal science professor at Shihezi University, who made a special trip to the market to deliver the photos. In kind appreciation for the photos, I was told that if I ever came back to Shihezi, I could have a discount on a chicken.”