Friday 1 June 2018 11:07pm
Emma Spencer, a PhD candidate in the Centre for Free Radical research at the Christchurch campus, took this photo which has become this year’s June digital calendar on Kyiv Day 2016.
Emma Spencer made the most of being in the Ukraine on “Kyiv Day” by taking a stunning photo of the city’s Motherland monument, or Rodina Mat.
The photo made the top 12 in last year’s Bulletin Board Photo Competition, and has become the Otago Bulletin Board’s June 2018 digital calendar.
The Otago Bulletin Board digital calendar, released each month, features the 12 winning and notable entries from the previous year’s photo competition.
Emma Spencer, a PhD candidate in the Centre for Free Radical research, at the University’s Christchurch campus took this photo when she lived for a short time in Kyiv in 2016.
“It was taken at sunset on 28 May (the last Saturday of May) when the Ukrainians celebrate ‘Kyiv Day’ – an occasion that is celebrated with even more gusto and pride since the Maiden Revolution of 2014.
“This statue is called Motherland monument or Rodina Mat, and from anywhere in Kyiv you can see her, standing tall and watching over Ukraine from Volodymyrsky Hill. There is a museum and a sort of 'library' at the base of the monument, where I would spend time writing up my PhD thesis or just reading, much like the people in this photo.”
While she says she has no training or special interests in photography, she says the significance of the day, combined with the remaining day's sun still breaking through the sky gave a real sense of peace, and made it easy to capture this beautiful moment.
To download the June digital calendar, simply click on the link for the appropriate resolution for your monitor (or closest size), right click on the image and set it as your desktop background.
Download the June 2018 calendar: