Photo of Wuhan Wins Photography Awards Celebrating Chinese Culture

Jan 31, 2023

Matt Growcoot

A photo of a popular park in Wuhan, China has won the Global SinoPhoto Awards 2023.

The photography awards are an international competition celebrating Chinese culture from all corners of the globe.

Commercial and editorial photographer Fergus Coyle took 2023’s winning photo which depicts Hankou Bund in the city that will forever be linked to the Covid-19 outbreak.

The image also won the Environment category; one of four groups that also include Portraiture, Food, and Series.

The grandparents of Chiang family teach their daughter, her husband and the grandchildren how to wrap rice dumplings | Tiffany Luong

gay — A photo from the winner of the series category which pictures Chinese LGBT couples in China, Germany, the Netherlands, and France | Sarah Mei Herman

room — A highly commended image from the series category | Hung Ching Yanhung Ching Yan

The overall winner of the Betser Prize took home £1,888 ($2,328). The Global SinoPhoto Awards received over 2,000 entries from hundreds of photographers from 22 countries.

The annual awards are an independent contest inviting photographers of any background, location, and nationality to tell their Chinese story across the diaspora, mainland China and globally. It aims to communicate Chinese culture and values through remarkable imagery and to promote photographers internationally.

Beijing seen through a bicycle mirror | Yihuan Ren

This image was highly commended in the series category | Hung Ching Yan

Winner of the food category. The picture depicts a family gathered in the yard making dumplings in a village in Shanxi province | Peihong Hu

The girl in the photo was abandoned by her mother in 1999. Here she attempts to connect to her family through hazy images | Yujie Zhu

Women in traditional dress. The photographer is interested in the threat to cultural heritage posed by globalization | Corina Gertz

A highly commended image in the portraiture category | Tore Sandahl

The winner of the portraiture category explores the loneliness and powerlessness of lockdown | Xueya Wang

“I have been incredibly impressed with the quality of this year’s submissions as well as the truly international response from photographers across the world,” says awards art director Gemma Barnett.

“The new Series category offered photographers the chance to express deeper narratives and some very brave and personal Chinese stories were explored; from the loneliness experienced during Covid lockdowns to the reality of those living in Chinese LGBTQ+ communities. Another noticeable change is that a particular theme emerged this year, with several of the winnings and commended photographers taking performative and playful self-portraits, often with their gaze turned away from the camera to create anonymous portraits.”

The prizes were handed out at the British Library in London. The photos will be exhibited until February 10 at the Fujifilm House of Photography in Covent Garden, London. For visiting information check out their website.

For more about the competition head to its website.

Update 2/7: This article has been amended to state that the photos will be exhibited at the Fujifilm House of Photography in Covent Garden, London until February 10 and not at the British Library as previously stated. We apologize for the error.