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Zooming into the lens
of Travel Photographer Society Awards 2017 winners
Taking an image, freezing a moment reveals far more than just
what we see - a story of its own between the frames.
This is exactly what the
winners of Travel Photography Society Awards 2017 (TPS) did. They went the extra mile, exploring the untouched
beauty of the world, witnessing the rich cultures and traditions, walking
through unseen or forgotten alleys, making new friends abroad and learning
about a world beyond their own.
For their dedicated
efforts, the winners of the award took home prizes valued between RM9,000
and RM25,000. But nothing is more valuable than the experience of capturing
that golden moment itself. Here, six winners from Malaysia and other countries
share the intimate stories behind their
award-winning photographs.
Zarni Myo Win, TPS
Awards Overall Winner (Category: People & Culture).
His photograph, “Swimming
Time” taken in Mingon, Sagaing, Myanmar has won the hearts of the jury
for capturing the unexpected – the raw emotions of the children playing
in flood water.
Zarni came across this
scene while driving in the village of Mingon which was badly hit by the flood,
the worst ever in the past ten years. While the adults were busy monitoring the
situation, the children displayed their innocence and ignorance of the flood.
They played with the flood water around a pagoda as if it was a water theme
park.
“Kids will always be
kids. They just like to have fun,” said Zarni. The photograph also features the
chinthe or leogryph (lion-like creature) which is often seen at the entrance of
pagodas and temples in Myanmar.
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Giuseppe Mario Famiani,
Winner (Category: Landscape & Environment).
As an excursionist,
Giuseppe loves to defy the odds and tread the uncharted territory This includes
capturing nature’s wonder at its most pristine, such as the “Etna Eruption.”
This photograph shows
the perfect formation of a mushroom-shaped cloud from the ashes and smoke of
Mount Etna volcano. According to Giuseppe, it took him a day to prepare to
capture the best angle. At 10.27 am, December 2015, Mount Etna erupted and
lofted ashes up to a record-breaking height of 7 kilometres. “Thankfully, it
wasn’t windy on that day and hence, the cloud of ashes was easily formed in the
mushroom shape unlike other volcanoes which disperse smoke and ashes unevenly,”
he explains.
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Corneliu Cazacu, Winner
(Category: People & Culture).
Don’t mistake
the “Blue-eyed girl with bear skin” as the new version of Little Red
Riding Hood. It is not. But it speaks volumes of the bravery of an innocent-looking village girl.
The photographer captured this portrait during a year-end celebration of “nature
renewal” in Asau village in Romania. “To take this photo under freezing
temperature of -80C was truly challenging but it was worth it,” said Corneliu.
In this celebration, the
villagers perform the Bear Dance with
the bear skins on their back and walk a
long distance from Asau to Comanesti. When asked about the origin of this
celebration, no one could give him
an answer, much to the surprise of Corneliu. The villagers only told him
it has been celebrated for many generations.
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Moin Ahmed, Winner
(Category: Street)
Many street life photographers normally capture the nostalgia or merriment of the street.
But in Moin’s case, his award-winning “The man’s stare” photograph
features the unique scene of two windows of a train in Tongi Railway Station,
Gazipur, Bangladesh.
“The two scenes bear the contrast of life -
perception versus reality,” explained Moin. “The curious-looking man is reality
while the umbrella hides the reality of life.” As it was a heavy downpour, the
umbrella has become the symbol of
against the odds.
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Yen Sin Wong, Winner
(Category: Travel & Documentary)
As photographs can be a
powerful tool to create awareness of a noble cause, Yen wanted to share to the
world that we should preserve the age-old cultures like the Suri tribe.
The photograph, “Suri” captures
the morning ritual of applying fresh cow faeces and ashes on the tribesmen’s bodies. To them, this helps
beautify their bodies and prevent
insects from harming them. According to Yen, development is slowly seeping into
Ethiopia and we should not let the culture of this ancient tribe along the
border of the country and Sudan erode by development.
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Lee Shing Yaw, People’s
Choice Award Winner (Category: Landscape & Environment)
To witness the glory of dawn is amazing but to capture it with
hundreds of pigeons without a tripod is even more amazing. For Lee, his first
trip to New Delhi, India was an enriching experience. He wasn’t aware tripods
were not allowed in the Jama Mosque.
And to capture this artistic photograph
titled “Jama Mosque” in a perfect balance of blue and orange of the morning
glory is not easy. This perfect picture of countless pigeons flocking around
the mosque overlooking the pond best illustrates the celebration of nature and
man-made structure.
All in all, the winners share a common
interest, the passion to tell the story to the world with photographs in the
most unique and heart-warming way.
For more information, contact Travel
Photographer Society at info@travelphotographersociety.com
Email : info@travelphotographersociety.com 
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BELOW ARE 45 IMAGES OF AWARD WINNING PHOTOS AND EXHIBITED PHOTOS AT PUBLIKA AND MANDARIN ORIENTAL
BY ZARNI MYOWIN
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