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szdaily -> News -> 
2nd Expats Eye Shenzhen Photo Contest awards ceremony held
    2020-12-18  08:53    Shenzhen Daily

Yang Mei

yangmei_szdaily@163.com

THE awards ceremony for the Second Expats Eye Shenzhen Photo Contest was held at the Shenzhen Book City CBD Store in Futian District on Thursday.

Wang Qiang, a member of the Standing Committee of the Shenzhen Municipal Committee of the CPC and head of the Publicity Department of the Shenzhen Municipal Committee of the CPC, attended the ceremony.

This year’s contest, having run from June 1 through Sept. 30, awarded two first prizes, three second prizes, eight third prizes, 20 merit prizes and 43 finalist awards.

Following the ceremony, a photography exhibition featuring close to 100 winning works opened to the public for free and will run through Saturday.

The events were hosted by the Information Office of the Shenzhen Municipal Government and organized by EYESHENZHEN.com and Shenzhen Daily.

Winton Dong, editor-in-chief of Shenzhen Daily, delivered a welcome speech, in which he voiced appreciation of the broad range of the subjects of the entries and expressed gratitude to all the contestants for their efforts.

“Whatever the subjects of the photos, they are all taken with keen observation and great patience, and provide refreshing perspectives for us to see of the city we all call home,” he said.

Jesus Salazar from Venezuela captured a first prize with his photo series “Dance in Shenzhen,” which beautifully portrays two ballerinas from Mexico and China posing against backdrops of Shenzhen’s landmarks such as the Civic Center, Huaqiangbei Commercial Street and Tencent Binhai Building.

The other first-prize winner is Yurii Talapkanych from Ukraine, whose “Nanshan Peace” shows a magnificent panorama of Shenzhen Bay Park on a May evening just before sunset.

As a natural explorer and video-grapher, he adores exploring the city from different perspectives. “I’m a nature lover and I appreciate the way Shenzhen is designed and built with huge amounts of parks and areas to rest, so this picture shows a modern city surrounded by parks and the sea,” Talapkanych said in his speech.

One of the second-prize winners is Isaac Cohen from Colombia who impressed the judges with his photo series “Shenzhen Wildlife,” offering close-up views of birds and a lizard he spotted in various parks.

Cohen is a biology teacher at a high school and one who cares about biodiversity. “I’m very happy to share Shenzhen’s invaluable biodiversity through my camera. This city has a lot to offer and it’s our job as residents to contribute to the preservation of every aspect of the city,” he said as he called for people’s awareness of protecting the natural surroundings.

Russian Anton Tsentalovich’s “Teamwork” helped him win the third prize. The photo captures the international team of Fantawild, a local entertainment and technology company. Tsentalovich valued the contest as an “amazing chance” for foreign photographers to show their visions of Shenzhen and to make friends with more photographers.

American Kiara Lynn Garcia Hernandez, 24, took home a merit award with her “Pink Dazzle,” which captures the upbeat drive of a female singer wrapped around the playfulness of the stage light’s hot pink colors and good time cheers from the crowds.

She mentioned in her speech that she was so attracted by the city’s modern charm, preserved traditional architecture and natural landscapes that she decided to purchase a camera after her first month of work.

The contest received a total of about 1,200 photos submitted by entrants from some 40 countries, including the U.K., the U.S., Russia, Brazil, India, France, the Philippines, Serbia, Venezuela and Ukraine.

Ekaterina Sidorova

Russia

Sidorova said that every time she gets in a bad mood she would walk around the city, because the city can always inspire her and empower her. Her winning photo was taken in front of the Tencent Binhai Building with graffiti on the left side. Sidorova said that when she sent the photo to her friends, they all asked her about the location of the wall with graffiti. Sidorova said that she loves the steel construction in the city.


Ronny Verdoodt

Belgium


The street cleaner is the main figure, and title, of Verdoodt’s winning photograph. The photo was taken in February this year during the pandemic. “At the time, people stayed at home to keep safe or to celebrate the Chinese New Year. But there was a group of people who still worked to keep the streets clean to benefit everyone in the society,” he said. Verdoodt believes that the photo helps keep the memory of the special time.


Piotr Lukasz Blaszak

Poland


This is the second time for Blaszak to participate in the photo contest. Blaszak believes the contest provides a great opportunity for foreigners to capture the city’s development. His winning entry, titled “Concrete Jungle,” shows the view of Xinzhou Village and the high-rise buildings in the background.

Blaszak said that the photo shows the contrast of the tall and the short, the modern and the old-fashioned.


Sarah Okhovat

Iran


“I really like to look everything from bottom to up. I always take pictures of high buildings and skyscrapers. When I am doing photography, I really feel relaxed. I would love to be a pro-photographer, but I just started it. The contest is nice to show everybody’s feelings and experience. It’s a good way to see how other people view Shenzhen,” Okhovat said.


Christopher Ray Schave

The U.S.


“My photo is the sun setting behind buildings in Shekou. I was at a friend’s house eating dinner and looked out. There was a gorgeous sunset. The sun was huge, and the whole sky was red. I took a picture of the sun half-way behind the building. It is more about the beauty,” Schave said. “Shenzhen is my favorite city in China. The city is not too slow (that) you get bored, and not too fast (that) you get overwhelmed. I am looking forward to participating in the competition next year. Looking at the winners, I can see for next year what I need to do.”


Laetitia Dionne-Grislain

Canada & Indonesia


Laetitia, a 16-year-old from Shen Wai International School, is among the youngest winners of this year’s Expats Eye Shenzhen Photo Contest. Her winning picture, “Bird Perches Alone,” was taken in her apartment in Shekou on a warm August morning this year.

“The contest is very inclusive where contestants present meanings of Shenzhen. Shenzhen to me is about wildlife. So I took the photo. It is amazing to see that the city with so many tall buildings also has lots of birds.”


Teoh Zi Xuan

Malaysia


“I started doing photography in secondary school. In my photo, I tried to capture the timing of the airplane with the moon. I wanted to catch it in one frame. It is all about the precision,” Xuan said. “Through this competition, I met a lot of professional photographers living in Shenzhen and other expats as well. I learned how other people look at Shenzhen from different perspectives. Shenzhen is very dynamic and multicultural. A lot of people come to Shenzhen from around the world. It is a great opportunity to live here to feel the speed and vibe.”

(Interviewed by Wang Jingli, Xia Yuanjie)

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