Savoring world honors

Chinese lensmen harvest wins at international awards celebrating photography and food

China’s best photographic talent enjoyed another night of international success on April 26 when the winners of the Pink Lady Food Photographer of the Year 2022 awards were announced at the British Academy of Film and Television Arts in London.

Of the 23 categories, four were won by photographers from China, with an additional 18 honors being picked up for placed finishes or high commendations.

The 11th staging of the competition drew over 9,000 entries from more than 60 countries and continued a rich vein of success for Chinese photographers, who won the competition’s overall top prize in 2019 and 2021.

The overall winner for 2022 was Kebabiyana by Indian photographer Debdatta Chakraborty, in which Chakraborty captured an ordinary street in Srinagar that is transformed by street vendors at night who light up their ovens and fill the air with smoke and aromas.

Among the category winners, Lin Weining achieved double success in both the Food in Action category, with an image of an old man preparing vegetables in a sun-drenched courtyard, and the Food for the Family category, depicting a family in western Hunan province making food for Spring Festival.

Chen Ying’s image of New Year dumplings being made in Fujian province won the Food for Celebration prize, and Chang Jiangbin’s noodle-making image won the Bring Home the Harvest category.

In addition, Chinese photographers picked up four second-place awards, three third-place awards and

11 highly commended awards.

The team of judges led by internationally renowned photographer David Loftus included Fiona Shields, head of photography at The Guardian news and media, Na Risong, art director and curator of Beijing’s Inter Art Center Gallery, National Geographic photographer Tasneem Alsultan, and Rein Skullerud from the World Food Programme.

“Never has the importance of photography and food been so great,” said Philip Turnbull, CEO of Apple and Pear Australia, owner of awards sponsor Pink Lady.

“Huge global events — war, famine, the end of lockdowns, the revival of the hospitality industry, the chance to celebrate with friends and family again — all these are recorded in the awards, which show so vividly how food touches every aspect of our lives. The competition continues to be a truly global celebration of the art of food photography.”

The exhibition of the 2022 finalists will take place at the Royal Photographic Society, one of the world’s oldest photographic institutions, in Bristol in England from Nov 20 to Dec 12, with free admission.

Traditional Skill, PHOTOS PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY From left: The Food for Celebration category was won by Chen Ying’s picture, showing New Year dumpling making in Fujian province; Weining Lin won the Food in Action category with this image, Cook, of an old man preparing vegetables in a courtyard bathed in sunshine.

Chang Jiangbin’s stunning image, Movement of Noodles, taken in Fuzhi county, China’s Fujian province, took first prize in the Bring Home the Harvest class.

Another Weining Lin picture, Traditional Food, shot in western Hunan province during the Spring Festival, won the Food for the Family category.