Photo contest on homeland sea, islands announces winners

Hanoi (VNA) – Winners of this year’s national fine art photo competition on homeland sea and islands were announced during an award presentation ceremony held in Hanoi on December 20 night.

The event saw the presence of Standing Deputy Prime Minister Pham Binh Minh and Chairman of the Party Central Committee’s Commission of Popularisation and Education Nguyen Trong Nghia.

Photographer Le Chau Dao won the first prize in the “photo collection” category for his series of photos capturing beautiful landscapes along the coast of Phu Yen, his homeland. Meanwhile, Tu The Duy from Kien Giang championed the “single photo” category for his work on a coastal village in Tuy Phong, Binh Thuan province.

Four second and six third prizes alongside ten honourable mentions were also awarded during the event.

In his remarks at the ceremony, Nghia said Vietnam has a coastline of 3,260km and thousands of islands and islets, including Hoang Sa (Paracel) and Truong Sa (Spratly) archipelagos, so sea and islands not only form part of Vietnam’s territory but also provide living space for generations of Vietnamese people and for the nation’s sea culture to develop throughout the history.

He said the contest has successfully inspired national pride, patriotism and people’s sense of responsibility over Vietnam’s territorial sovereignty.

This year, the competition received nearly 6,000 entries by over 1,000 photographers from across the country, of which some 120 entries went through to the final round.  

The biennial event was organised by the Party Central Committee’s Commission of Popularisation and Education in collaboration with the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources, the Vietnam People's Army General Department of Politics and the Vietnamese Artistic Photographers Association./.