UWC DAY
PORTRAITS OF CHANGEMAKERS
This photography portfolio was made on UWC Day 2025 at UWCSEA East, Singapore.
UWC Day is the annual global celebration of the UWC Mission and values, which takes place on 21 September every year coinciding with the UN International Day of Peace. It’s a day that connects our global community of 18 schools and colleges on four continents - thousands of students, parents and staff, national committees, alumni and friends.
UWC Day celebrates the strength and diversity of the UWC movement and our mission for a more peaceful and sustainable future. It serves as a platform to highlight our work and values.
It is also an opportunity to reflect on what we do as a movement, to determine how to be more effective changemakers, and to continue to learn, grow and challenge ourselves while supporting each other.
On this day, students in K1 through Grade 12 on our UWCSEA East campus are encouraged to come to school dressed to represent their cultural heritage. Some students wear traditional dress handed down to them from older generations, while some wear modern reflections of their culture, like football jerseys. From korowai and sari to kimono and lederhosen, the Tent Plaza becomes a colourful, authentic celebration of our community's cultural diversity.
BTS (Behind the Scenes)
This is the second year where we've set up a makeshift photography studio in UWCSEA East's Tent Plaza, using only materials available around campus and the beautiful sunlight gifted to us from Singapore (weather here can be temperamental, and we have been very fortunate two years in a row).
The key to making a studio-like portrait with only natural light is in blocking and shaping it. We used two writing boards as V-Flats which helped control the sunlight. This created the beautiful catchlight in our students' eyes, with a subtle shadow outline separating them from the background.
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