Winners of the Global SinoPhoto Awards 2021 announced ahead of Chinese New Year of the Tiger
The winner of the Global SinoPhoto Awards 2021 is ‘Dancing Dreams of a Mountain Girl’ by Li Huaifeng.
This image of a young mountain girl dancing for her grandmother while she works making toy tigers in a small rural village in China, is the overall winner of the Global SinoPhoto Awards 2021. It is also the winner of one of the four awards categories entitled ‘Work & Play’. The announcement comes ahead of the start of the Chinese New Year of the Tiger on 25 January. The judges felt the image captures the joy of the child dancing in the sun’s rays while her grandmother works, and radiates the warmth of home, childhood and family life.
The judges commented, “A moment of joy – almost other worldly vision of the child in the sun’s rays. It is as if Grandma is watching the child in a hologram.”
They added, “The image is highly atmospheric and a well-caught moment, contributing to giving us, the viewers, a privileged place inside a home that’s doubtless very different from our normal experience.”
The Global SinoPhoto Awards 2021, in association with the Lau China Institute, King’s College London, received almost 2,000 entries from professional and amateur photographers from any location, background and nationality, inviting them to tell Chinese stories, imagining, interpreting, and inspiring connections between Chinese culture and the rest of the world. The Awards offered four categories: ‘Water’, as 2022 is the Year of the Water Tiger, and water is integral to Chinese culture through the religions of Confucianism and Taoism; ‘Home’; ‘Work & Play’; and ‘Environment’.
Yintong Betser, founder of the Global SinoPhoto Awards, says, “We are delighted by the number and quality of the entries in this, only our second year. The entries represent a diverse snapshot of Chinese culture, enriched through the creative and innovative lenses of our talented entrants. In addition, we were delighted by the high level of entries to the ‘Water’ category from many non-China locations, as this element represents the ultimate life source according to Chinese philosophies and is a way for all cultures to share their inspiration and delight for this element.”
The other category winners were:
Category: Home
Category Winner
Huang Qingjun for ‘Family Stuff - The Golden Anniversary Couple’
Description: The old couple are standing in the middle of their family possessions. They have been married to each other for 50 years. What they own is not much, however it won't influence their happiness. This photographer takes intimate portraits of Chinese families standing in front of their homes, with their worldly goods on display. This is one of a series of images under the series title ‘Family Stuff’, representing the significant social changes that are taking place within a generation.
Highly Commended
Arek Rataj for ‘Bus 116’
Description: In 2013-2016 I worked in Shijiazhuang as an English teacher at Jingying Elementary School. During those few years, the city became a second home for me, in which I got to know the customs and culture of its real Chinese inhabitants. I often travelled on the No 116 bus to see the farthest corners of this metropolis. I have always been interested in observing the passengers on the bus; their faces in particular. That's why I always had a camera with me to capture their aura.
Wu Wei for ‘Grandpa’s old birdcages’
Description: Every morning, Grandpa would go bird-walking through the street garden. When I passed by on my way to school, I’d roll down the window and yell hello. He would be looking for the bus early on, and never missed me.
Cindy Lin for ‘Family Home - 1’
Description: This photo collage explores the physical location of our family home, which was knocked down in the 90s to make way for a luxury condo. The image explores the idea of family lineage connected by a physical site that is identified as our family home.
Category: Work & Play
Category Winner and Overall Winner
Li Huaifeng for ‘Dancing Dreams of a Mountain Girl’
Highly Commended
Huang Jianjun for ‘Steaming Buns’
Description: Huang Jianjun for Steaming Buns, Zhejiang 2020.
Li Jianping for ‘Shadow Puppets’
Description: Shadow Puppets, Shandong, 2020.
Li Huaifeng for ‘Double Act’
Description: Shandong Dezhou Ningjin Acrobat School.
Category: Environment
Category Winner
Yang Tongyu for ‘Seasonal Sea’
Description: Every summer, a green algae called Enteromorpha floats on the sea or rushes to the shore, often covering several square kilometres, creating a natural spectacle. The local government contributes funds to fight this phenomenon known as Enterhu or ‘a war without gunpowder smoke’, using fishing boats, mechanical cleaning, net interception, and joint efforts to encircle and suppress the algae. However, there is no war between man and nature. Yang uses photography to increase people's awareness of marine protection, saying “I believe there must be a better way to live without relying on the production and consumption of post-industrial killing objects, without suffering from plastic and heavy metals, without killing marine creatures, and without destroying mountains and rivers.”
Jiang Xinhe for ‘The Shipyard’
Description: In spring, flocks of snipe fly in from Australia and New Zealand in the southern hemisphere and gather around the docks of Dandong Port in Liaoning Province. They follow the sound of the boats and barges, creating a harmonious coexistence between man and nature.
Yu Qiyong for ‘Eroded Oasis’
Description: Taken on a construction site in Dongchuan, Yunnan, the image portrays a mysterious winding road within lush green land that has been rolled out by a large construction machine. Seen from above, it looks as if a bunch of green leaves have been eaten away by insects, leaving us to ponder on the fragility of natural resources.
Zhao Jinli for ‘Shepherd on an Ancient Road’
Description: Longwan Canyon is an ordinary but ancient road created by the diversion of the ancient Yellow River and has become a popular destination for local herdsmen to graze their livestock.
Category: Water
Category Winner
Huang Jianjun for ‘Seeking’
Description: Taken in Yeqing, Wenzhou, China, 2016.
Highly Commended
Wen Dong for ‘Micro World’
Description: A drone picture of water farms. The patterns formed by the nets look like cells.
Adrian Bradshaw for ‘Swimmer’
Description: Cooling off on a hot summer day by diving into the canal.
Yevhen Samuchenko for ‘Two ice creams’
Description: Two frozen poles in the winter sunset on the Black sea – a long exposure shot.
The winners of the awards will receive cash prizes and certificates: €2,888 for the overall winner, €366 for category winners. All winners will receive a complimentary membership from the Societies of Photographers.
The winning images will be exhibited at the Museum of East Asian Art in Bath, the only museum in the UK solely dedicated to arts and culture from East and South East Asia, with a collection of over 2,000 objects representing over 7,000 years of artistry and craftsmanship. The collection of Chinese art is particularly comprehensive, covering ceramics, jades, bronzes and much more.
The images will be exhibited at other locations throughout the year including at the World Architecture Festival China in Chengdu in November, which is the China branch of the World Architecture Festival the British company EMAP, as well as at the Lau China Institute, King’s College London.
The Global SinoPhoto international photography contest aims to present Chinese culture through remarkable imagery which reflects the skills, creativity and imagination of the photographer, and provides a creative hub to inspire and connect photographers internationally.
Photographers were invited to submit images that express, interpet and share their view of Chinese culture. The exception was the Water category. The awards aimed to absorb the creativity of other worlds and cultures through the imagery submitted within this theme, offering photographers total freedom to express their own relationship to water through a personal lens, which, in return, will enrich Chinese culture.
The awards prestigious judging panel selecting the winning images included:
Patrik Schumacher: Principal of Zaha Hadid Architects Ltd., Chief Designer of the Daxing International Airport, the world’s largest airport when built.
Kim Hoang (黄秋河): Senior picture editor, Save the Children; the Guardian, the Red Cross, Magnum Photos.
Yao Lu (姚璐): International award-winning artist, and professor in photography at the Central Academy of Fine Arts, Beijing.
Lynne Bryant: Founder of The Architectural Photography Awards, former Chair of the British Association of Picture Libraries (BAPLA). Lynne is also the original co-founder of the Global SinoPhoto Awards.
Michael Freeman: Photographer and prolific author with 155 books published internationally in 28 languages, including bestsellers “The Photographer’s Eye” and “The Tea Horse Road”.
Betty Yao (姚詠蓓): Curator and author of “Through the Lens of John Thomson 1868 - 72” exhibition and book.
The Global SinoPhoto Awards 2021 are also supported by Bristol & West of England China Bureau, UK Chinese Entrepreneurs Club, Blick Rothenberg, The Societies of Photographers, Digitalab, Tianyao Global, Shangtuf Image and Art Development Co., Ltd, Andrea Stern Associates Ltd, Ash Communications, China Photographer Association, The Kuala Lumpur International Photoawards, and Active, Anglo Chinese Communication. The Global SinoPhoto Awards 2021 support the charity Mothers’ Bridge of Love.
To find out more about the awards and the winners, visit https://www.sinophoto-awards.com