“Cicada’s Emergence” by Ember Shaw

A cicada molts its shell on a chain link fence

It’s the sound of the summer! Cicadas! 

First year Cybersecurity student Ember Shaw captured this moment of a cicada molting its shell in the photo above, entitled Cicada’s Emergence. The photo consists of blue and green hues along with the rust shade of the fence and the cicada’s shell. The cohesiveness of the colors in this photo serve to somewhat camouflage the cicada, as if this isn’t something we’d notice unless we were looking closely. Shaw creates a rather intimate feel between the viewer and the cicada by bringing the point of view so close to the bug. We are watching this creature grow and enter a new phase of it’s life.  

As college students, there are many moments during our time at university where we are starting fresh, growing, and becoming a new version of ourselves. Shaw’s photo not only documents a moment in this cicada’s life, but reminds us that everyday is a new beginning.

This is just one piece a part of the larger “New Beginnings” Photo Exhibition! The exhibition is running from now until October 23. It can be found at The Union and Pierpont Commons at the Ann Arbor campus, French Hall on the Flint campus, and the CASL building on the Dearborn campus.