Helen's PhD defense at Radboud University in Nijmegen

Helen is a lovely, nerdy friend of mine who is one of the most international people I know: she's British, studied abroad in Germany, finished her PhD in the Netherlands and is now working in Canada on her post-doc thanks in part to winning a Rubicon grant. Fittingly, her work as a linguist is similarly international - I can't hope to accurately describe it, but it involves language development in babies in related languages. When she and her partner, whom I'm also lucky to count as a friend, came back to Nijmegen for Helen's defense ceremony, I was so pleased to be asked to photograph it. It was a very different experience from the ceremonies I have covered in Groningen: as the photographer, you can take pictures at all times throughout the ceremony, and if you're a little bit lucky, you can even take photos as the professors sign the diploma. It was raining torrentially outside during the defense itself, but during the reception and sharing of pies, the sun joined us and it was a sweet way to end a momentous morning. Congratulations, Helen!