School of Communication’s Journalism student Henry Wong (International Journalism, Year 4) took first place in the National Geographic Wheelock Youth Photo Competition 2017, “People and Happenings in Hong Kong” category, with his black and white photo “Spirit of Hong Kong”.

The prize-winning photograph was taken at Lau Fau Shan in the New Territories. Henry initially wanted to take photos of the sunset. As he was observing his surroundings, he noticed some fishermen working very hard on the seashore, which stirred up his emotions and impelled him to capture the scene. He wrote, “Under the breathtaking sunset, the last beam of sunlight at Lau Fau Shan reminds people of a fishing village, the scenery of the long-forgotten old Hong Kong. In the photo, the three men who are pushing trolleys towards prosperity represent the everlasting, untiring spirit of Hong Kong people, despite changing times.”

Henry stated that since there was some smog or haze on the day he was taking photos at the site, the colours in the fishermen photograph were not very nice. Nonetheless, the sunlight created a strong contrast between the bright and dark, which was good for producing a black and white photo. Thus, Henry decided that a black and white image would be better and help focus the audience’s attention on the subject and elicit their emotions. He stated that this was his first time joining a photo competition, and was really surprised that he took first place. “Other entries in the contest are absolutely amazing and outstanding. I must admit that I am very lucky to win first place,” he said.

The theme of this year’s National Geographic Wheelock Youth Photo Competition is “Hong Kong Reminiscence: Place, People & Happenings” with four categories: “Places in Hong Kong”, “People & Happenings in Hong Kong”, “Future of Hong Kong”, and “Mobile Photography”. There were more than 3,500 entries this year from 13 countries and regions, including Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, Mainland China, Europe and the United States.