2nd Expats Eye Shenzhen Awards Ceremony

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.

Attendees at the awards ceremony of 2^nd Expats Eye Shenzhen Photo Contest. Photos by Liu Xudong

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.

Yurii Talapkanych

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.

Isaac Cohen

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.

Anton Tsentalovich

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.

Kiara Lynn Garcia Hernandez

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.