HÀ NỘI — Two Vietnamese photographers are among the winners of the Travel Photographer of the Year (TPOTY) 2021.

Trần Viet Văn, a journalist at Lao Đong (Labour) newspaper, won with his photo of an old shoemaker in HCM City in the Smartshot: iTravelled category.

Commenting on his photo, judges wrote: “A lovely composition using colour and shape to capture a 90-year-old shoemaker’s craft.”

Alongside the Smartshot: iTravelled prize, his collection of images depicting in detail the shoemaker’s craft won the runner-up prize in the People & their Stories category.

The multi international-award winning photographer said he was fascinated by the handcrafted shoes made by the 90-year-old shoemaker Trịnh Ngọc, who learned the craft in Paris when he was a young man. His clients include Cambodia royalty and many famous singers in Viet Nam.

Born in Ha Noi, Văn started taking pictures in 1998. He has won more than 80 international competitions, and is a judge of several photo contests in Viet Nam.

He has held 10 solo exhibitions, including My Mum in Photometria (Greece) and has been a part of more than 35 group exhibitions in Asia, Europe and the US, including the Fifth Exposure Annual Awards at the Louvre Museum in Paris (digital).

HCM City-based photographer Nguyễn Tấn Tuấn, received a Special Mention prize in the Best Single Image in a Portfolio category with his photograph of a herd of buffalo swimming in the low-level water of Dầu Tiếng Lake in the southern province of Tay Ninh in the dry season.

The TPOTY grand prize was given to the Italian photographer Fortunato Gatto with his collection capturing the landscape of the Denali National Park in Alaska, US.

Judges wrote: “In such difficult times such beautiful images lift the spirits and warm the soul. Fortunato’s images of a meeting of the seasons in Denali National Park in Alaska, give a wonderful sense of place and remoteness.

"They have to be viewed large to really appreciate the detail and atmosphere. In contrast, though using a similar colour palette, the detailed abstract images of patterns in the sand in, created by water wash, in Scotland’s Hebrides play with shape and colour to great affect. We are all very conscious of global warming and conservation.

"These image show us the beauty in nature which we need to protect and preserve.”

Founded in 2003, TPOTY is the leading global travel photography competitions for amateur and professional photographers.

This year, more than 20,000 images by photographers from 151 countries and territories were submitted. In May, the winning photos will go on display for the first time in a free-to-view outdoor exhibition in Coal Drops Yard, near King’s Cross St Pancras station in London. — VNS