vivo Announces Winning Creations in VISION+ Mobile PhotoAwards 2021

30 award-winning creations, including collections of photographs and single photos, showcase the global humanistic perspective in the mobile imaging era

• vivo has officially unveiled the winners of the vivo VISION+ Mobile PhotoAwards 2021. 30 creations, including collections of photographs and single photos, received an award. Contestants Wang Xu, Lin Mindong and Li Ganyi were granted the "Photographer of the Year" award.
• vivo partners with National Geographic again to comprehensively upgrade the competition, which has received a total of 384,878 photos from more than 10,000 contestants from over 40 countries.
• On the whole, these photos with diversified themes present the contestants’ attention to and thoughts on the current moments and everyday life, conveying the creative spirit and power in the mobile imaging era and the vivo’s brand value "Joy of Humanity".

BEIJING, Nov. 16, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — Today, vivo officially wrapped up VISION+ Mobile PhotoAwards 2021 (hereafter referred to as VISION+ Mobile PhotoAwards). Partnered with National Geographic again, vivo solicited photos from around the world and upgraded the jury lineup, contest format and awarding mechanism to encourage more professional photographers, photographing enthusiasts and smartphone users to depict the humanistic view in the mobile imaging era by recording the current moments and appreciate the everyday life.

The VISION+ Mobile PhotoAwards received more than 380,000 photos from 10,000-plus contestants from over 40 countries and regions. Finally, following strict appraisal by the jury, 30 creations, including collections of photographs and single photos, stood out. Contestants Wang Xu, Lin Mindong and Li Ganyi were granted the "Photographer of the Year" in the Professional Group, Open Group and Youth Group respectively with their photos "Free Clinic on the Plateau", "Beachcomber" and "Geometry Around You".

Spark Ni, Senior Vice President and CMO of vivo expressed his congratulations to all the winners, and his gratitude to all the contestants, saying, "VISION+ Mobile PhotoAwards enables us to see every daily fragment and important historical moment captured by the passionate photographers from all over the world. These photos depict the ‘Joy of Humanity’ in their eyes, fully demonstrate the charm of photographing to more ordinary people, and encourage more people, including me, to start their own life record journey. vivo believes that the competition will boost us to continuously improve our capability of human-centric professional photography. vivo will also further deepen the partnership with ZEISS, our global imaging strategic partner, to help more people enjoy the photographing fun enabled by technologies, so as to empower the era of ‘everyone is a creator’."

With comprehensive upgrading, the second session called on more people to participate in mobile photographing

In order to hold a more professional, authoritative mobile photographing competition, the VISION+ Mobile PhotoAwards invited six internationally acclaimed photography experts and academics from diverse disciplines: Martin Parr, Documentary Photographer; Jonas Bendiksen, Documentary Photographer; Xiao Quan, Portrait Photographer; Laura Serani, Photography Curator, Les Rencontres d’Arles; Bertram Hoenlinger, ZEISS Expert for Photography; and Michael George, Photo Consultant, National Geographic. They appraised the works from their respective angles and made meticulous remarks and photographing guidance for the contestants. Regarding the awarding mechanism, vivo will provide more exposure support for the winners in addition to cash prizes, so that more mobile photographing works can be recognized by the professional circle and public audience.

The comprehensive upgrading of this session not only aroused the inspiration and expression of the imaging creation, but attracted more ordinary smartphone users to join in the photographing competition. Since the opening started in June 2021, this competition received 384,878 photos from more than 10,000 contestants. The submissions solicited were 185% more than those of last session, and the countries covered were expanded from 9 countries last session to more than 40. These photos reflect photographers’ attention to and thinking on the current moments and demonstrate the convenience and distinctiveness of smartphones as the photographing tool.

A competition with more profound conception for works combining daily and social attributes

Apart from encouraging smartphone photographing like in the first session, VISION+ Mobile PhotoAwards 2021 underscored the attention on the times and social issues, and the observation on the surrounding life and individuals. Driven by such vision, this session set up three major groups – Professional Group, Open Group and Youth Group, and ten categories. vivo is gratified to see the image power and humanistic value presented by the winning works in various categories.

The Professional Group includes three categories, "News-Events", "Creative", and "Documentary Project", as categories of "News-Events" and "Documentary Project" encourage the photographers to make in-depth interpretation and expression on the contemporary cultural and social development trends and decisive moments. The "News-Events" category received a host of report works on the significant moments of the times with documentary significance. The first place under the "News-Events" category "Bus in the Flood" by Shang Huage, a team member of Xiamen Dawn Emergency Rescue Team whose place of domicile is Henan, recorded how a forklift was used as a traffic vehicle to rescue the local citizens of Zhengzhou in the rainstorm period. "The meaning of photography is about objectively recording such stories and touching moments. It enables us to see our world from an objective perspective and enhance our awareness of protecting the planet that we all rely on. The photographer took a low angle to include the flooding water in the frame. The people crowding on the forklift are raised up high, which symbolizes respects and praises for the mankind," commented the jury member Xiao Quan.

The "Documentary Project" category expects photographers to complete a set of narrative photos with long-term attention to and exploration into a subject. The Category 1st Place "Free Clinic on the Plateau" by Wang Xu, who is also the "Photographer of the Year", recorded what he saw and felt during the free clinics with doctors in Ganzi Prefecture, Sichuan as a volunteer of the charity institution. Through the camera of vivo X60 Pro+, the mindset and facial expressions of herdsmen and children in the plateau area are depicted meticulously – the trust between doctors and patients, anxiety during the waiting, and meaningful glance with hope convey the power of photography. "This series employs a lens of empathy that comes through in every moment the photographer has captured. Their framing of the subjects often feels like an embrace, emphasizing the care that is being witnessed," said jury member Michael George (Photo Consultant, National Geographic).

Comprising six categories – "Life", "Nature", "Portrait", "Night", "Sports" and "Place", the Open Group encourages every ordinary user to record and show the beauty of his/her everyday life, emotions, and memories. The contestants captured the affection of family reunion, long-lost friends, magnificent scenery, places, and spaces with their exclusive memories. These narrative photographing works splice the life scenes in the different parts of the world.

Lin Mindong, "Photographer of the Year" in the Open Group, decided to shoot a host of beachcombers living on the sea. In the strong contrast of black and white, the whole picture filled with powerful composition shows the focus of the beachcombers silently but strongly. The jury member Laura Serani commented this photo as "perfect and faithful framing of a moment of traditional fishing" and recognized the advantage of smartphone photographing is it "allows you to approach the subjects to be photographed in all discretion". This photo won the 1st Place in the "Life" category.

The 1st Place in the "Portrait" category is Kyaw Kyaw Winn from Burma. His work "Look" captured a close-up of a family during the pandemic. Two kids seemed to be solidified in the time and space at a table with inverted reflection. The jury member Jonas Bendiksen (Documentary Photographer) commented, "the photographer captures both joy and frustration in one image." Another jury member Michael George also remarked, "The tight crop of this image makes the gaze of the young ones that much more piercing." Strong emotion and tension can be felt from the static image.

As a special group of the competition, the Youth Group invites young creators aged 18-24 to explore and re-discover the people and things around them and restore the connection with the world and others. The 1st place in the "Around Me" Category is "Geometry Around You" by Li Ganyi. The creator demonstrated the unique visual aesthetics in daily life with reflections on the interesting composition in the everyday scenes. The convenience and flexibility of the smartphone enabled him to make flexible use of perspectives and light and shadow. The jury member Bertram Hoenlinger (ZEISS Expert for Photography) said he felt the professional ambitions of this young photographer from the fine series.

Linking the world with photos, and depicting the humanistic view of the times together

From grand narrative to the everyday life of ordinary people, photos record and preserve the fleeting scenes as the most important evidence to our memory. Although the world is still stricken by the pandemic, the photographing works from all over the world link us together at this moment. From these photos, we can see the mutual help and unity, enthusiasm, and sports spirit inside and outside the sports field, unique charm of different national culture, and more ordinary and lively slices of life. Photos are a global communication language with its unique power. Even we cannot travel afar, we can get warmth and console from the scenery and stories from other places.

This is also the significance for vivo to successively host the VISION+ Mobile PhotoAwards and launch the VISION+ Project. vivo wants to encourage more people to join in this dialogue and enjoy the fun of smartphone photographing with more photographing practices. The photographing becomes more meaningful with such a convenient record method as smartphone photographing – everyone is the creator of life.

In the future, vivo will be dedicated to the innovation and R&D of human-centric professional photography. Complemented by vivo ZEISS Co-engineered Imaging System and self-designed imaging chip, vivo will deliver a photographing experience better meeting the real needs of users, and work with every creator to push the boundary of mobile photography and create the humanistic imaging view of the current moments.

About vivo
vivo is a technology company that creates great products based on a design-driven value, with smart devices and intelligent services as its core. The company aims to build a bridge between humans and the digital world. Through unique creativity, vivo provides users with an increasingly convenient mobile and digital life. Following the company’s core values, which include Benfen*, design-driven value, user-orientation, continuous learning and team spirit, vivo has implemented a sustainable development strategy with the vision of developing into a healthier, more sustainable world-class corporation.

While bringing together and developing the best local talents to deliver excellence, vivo is supported by a network of 10 R&D centers in Shenzhen, Dongguan, Nanjing, Beijing, Hangzhou, Shanghai, Xi’an, Taipei, Tokyo and San Diego, focusing on the development of state-of-the-art consumer technologies, including 5G, artificial intelligence, industrial design, photography and other up-and-coming technologies. vivo has also set-up seven production bases (including brand-authorized manufacturing centers), across China, South- and Southeast Asia, and more regions, with an annual production capacity of nearly 200 million smartphones. As of now, vivo has branched out its sales network across more than 50 countries and regions, and is loved by more than 400 million users worldwide.

*"Benfen" is a term describing the attitude on doing the right things and doing things right – which is the ideal description of vivo’s mission to create value for society.

Stay informed of latest vivo news at https://www.vivo.com/en/about-vivo/news