UK-China International Photography Competition winners convey 'home' in black and white

The Manchester China Institute, Creative Manchester and School of Arts, Languages and Culture have returned to collaborate on a fourth instalment of the UK-China International Photography Competition.

The winners of the this year’s competition were revealed last night (30 May 2022) at a buzzing launch event hosted at the Alliance Manchester Business School, where the Top 30 exhibition will also be held for the upcoming month.

Abigel Vizi’s ‘A New Definition of Home’ scooped the UK entrants prize of £1,000, while Weiyuan Tong took home the Chinese entrants prize of 8,888 RMB for ‘Busy Two Sides’.

Both images were striking in their honesty and warmth in capturing this year’s theme of ‘The Feeling of Home’ and were similarly shot in black and white. 

The winning photos, which were just two of over 300 submissions from the UK and China, were unveiled by the School of Arts, Languages and Cultures Head of School Professor Thomas Schmidt, and Dr Michael Wood, broadcaster and Professor of Public History at The University of Manchester, who was also one of the panel of four expert judges.

The panel also included:  Dr Rupert Cox, Professor of Social Anthropology at The University of Manchester; Dr Hongwei Bao, Associate Professor in Media Studies at The University of Nottingham; and Dr Wenny Teo, Lecturer in Modern and Contemporary Art at The Courtauld Institute of Art. 

The judging panel placed Zibo Zhou’s ‘Faraway Home’ and Ye Da’s ‘Fuel, Rice, Cooking Oil and Daily Necessities’ as very close runners-up when deciding the two main winners, as they narrowly missed out on first prize.

Although the opportunity to enter the competition is closed again for another year, there is still a chance to vote for the People’s Choice award for best picture, with votes open to the public via Facebook and public ballot box located in the AMBS foyer until June 23, when it will be moved to a satellite exhibition at the Manchester Community Festival on 25 June. Voting will close on 26 June and the winning photographer will receive £500. To vote online, simply go to the Facebook gallery and “like” the photo that you think should win.