Workers' lenses capture vitality of city for photo competition
First prize is awarded to the photo titled "The Creators" by Zhou Min from Shanghai Turbine Plant.
The curtain closed on a city-wide photography competition yesterday that received more than 8,600 photos since April from employees of foreign-invested enterprises in Shanghai.
The wide variety of submitted images fully depicted Shanghai's rapidly-changing landscapes, captured moments of sizzling work scenes, and focused on city people's fun, happy lives.
The competition was held by Shanghai Foreign Investment Association and Fujifilm (China) Investment Co. Ltd. and winners were announced at Shanghai Power Station of Art.
"Like the city's spirit of many rivers flowing into the sea, Shanghai is vast and tolerant to absorb new, great ideas. Foreign investors are the important participants, witnesses and beneficiaries of the city's opening, development and construction over the years," said Huang Feng, Chairman of Shanghai Foreign Investment Association.
"The pictures show the city's great vitality, as well as its glorious past as the birthplace of the Communist Party of China."
First prize was awarded to the photo titled "The Creators" by Zhou Min from Shanghai Turbine Plant. It featured two technicians, one standing and another squatting, working as a pair with scrupulous attention to detail in a giant turbine. The golden lamplight projected their shadows onto the cylinder, creating a perfect sharp contrast in the photo of dark and light, round shape and straight lines, coldness in metal and warmth in working relationship.
The photo titled "Half-open Eye" by Wang Jing from polymer maker Covestro (Shanghai) Investment Co. Ltd. featured a clever composition. The foreground was an eave decoration with lines of vertical tubes in an arc, looking like thick eyelashes, while Pudong New Area landmarks - the Pearl TV Tower, the Jinmao Tower and Shanghai World Financial Center - stood in the distance. It was like viewing them through a half-open eye.
Shi Zhongdao's photo titled "Running on the New Journey" focused on the vigorous joggers of the Shanghai International Marathon as they ran past the red brick house on South Huangpi Road where the first National Congress of the CPC was held. The perspiring runner in the center tilted inward a little, giving the image a sense of movement. The morning sunlight shining through the lush tree leaves created mottled shadows on the red walls. The woman runs ahead, with the silent historic building behind as a forever strong, steady backing.
The competition was supported by almost 700 employees in 146 foreign-invested companies and associations in Shanghai.
"Fujifilm is always dedicated to keeping cherished memories and building emotional connections between people, and people and the environment, with visual images," said Tanaka Kenichi, president of Fujifilm (China).
"I haven't had the chance to go around Shanghai yet, but I feel the deep love for the city through these photos which show its people, landscapes, development, and spirit of openness and innovation."
The copyright of all prize-winning photos will be transferred free of charge to Shanghai Foreign Investment Association which plans to hold charity auctions. All monies will be donated to the victims of torrential rains and floods in Henan Province.
The photo titled "Half-open Eye" by Wang Jing from Covestro (Shanghai) Investment Co. Ltd
Photo titled "Running on the New Journey" by Shi Zhongdao
