Quach Dinh Hieu takes top honors at Canon PhotoMarathon Hanoi

November 5, 2017
vi-lang Xem Tiếng Việt

The final race of Canon’s largest ever PhotoMarathon ended in Hanoi at 5.30 pm at the capital’s Children’s Palace.  The contest – attended by almost 2,300 marathoners – awarded Quach Dinh Hieu top honors, and will send him to represent Vietnam at the Canon PhotoMarathon Asia Championship 2018 in Japan.

With a ‘don’t dare to even breathe’ atmosphere surrounding the archer whose arrow delivered the first topic of the day, the entire Hanoi Children’s Palace burst into excited cheers. Three-hourly topics were revealed, with Smiles of Hanoi, Minimalism and Life on the Pavement. being the themes of the day.

Ten winners were ultimately honored on the day:

  • Special prize: 1 slot at Canon PhotoMarathon Asia Championship 2018 in Japan, 1 Canon EOS 6D Mark II camera (body), 1 Canon PIXMA PRO-100 printer
  • Quach Dinh Hieu
  • First prize: 1 Canon EOS 77D camera + EF-S18-55mm IS STM lens, 1 PIXMA TS8070 printer
  • Topic Smile of Hanoi: Pham Duc Tuyen
  • Topic Minimalism: Cung Manh Quoc Tuan
  • Topic Life on Pavement: Nguyen Duc Viet
  • Second prize: 1 Canon EOS 800D camera + EF-S18-55mm IS STM lens, 1 PIXMA G2000 printer
  • Topic Smile of Hanoi: Dang Ngoc Chung
  • Topic Minimalism: Nguyen Tuan Vu
  • Topic Life on Pavement: Nguyen Thuy Lan
  • Third prize: 1 Canon EOS M6 camera + EF-15-45mm IS STM lens, 1 PIXMA MG3670 photo printer
  • Topic Smile of Hanoi: Nguyen Huu Thong
  • Topic Minimalism: Nguyen Duc Hoang
  • Topic Life on Pavement: Pham Quyet Thang

Pop sensation Son Tung M-TP led the way at the event’s finale, bringing the house down with his hit ‘Lac Troi’ before a crowd of well over 2,000 exhausted-but-excited photographers who has spent their day winding their way through the alleyways of the capital.

Quach Dinh Hieu won Hanoi’s top prize

Judge Hai Dong remarked on this work: “Its unique, difficult, top-down shooting angle is what makes this work – taking it from the ‘hoop’ while it is still in motion makes this as simple-yet-effective image in terms of color and spirit. The subject is alone but smiling brightly.  A genuine smile carrying genuine joy from his interaction with the ball and his game.  The colors are warm.  It’s capped off with a clever description that makes it special.”

Quach Dinh Hieu himself couldn’t hide his happiness: “When it comes to the smile, I immediately thought of children. The pure, innocent, genuine smile and moves of children make the photo more natural. Fortunately, on Sunday, Trang An Primary School still has extracurricular classes. I chose the ring as the central layout, located at the bottom of the photo to get the boy’s smile from above. It took me about 50-60 shots to choose the final photo that I ultimately submitted to the judges.”

Pham Duc Tuyen won the first prize in the topic of “Smiles of Hanoi”.

“Smiles of Hanoi” proved a difficult topic to judge, with so many high quality works submitted.  However, the audacious angle of Pham Duc Tuyen stood out to the three judges above all. On behalf of the judges, Hai Thanh said: “We prioritized a natural joy – a genuine happiness, not a staged smile.  These two boys were caught at the right moment with exhilarated smiles on their faces.  Even the toy dog seems to be smiling along with them! This is a bold shot, which took photographic confidence to capture and submit.”

Sharing his thoughts after winning, Pham Duc Tuyen said: “I have long had this idea – to use a wide focal length with still subjects and a motion-blurred background.  So, I let the main subject rotate.  Nothing is more natural than the smiles of children, so I went to the park, made friends with the kids and joined them for a spin on the carousel!”

Cung Manh Quoc Tuan won the first prize in the topic of “Minimalism”.

All three judges Justin Mott, Hai Dong and Hai Thanh were impressed by the expressiveness on display in the work of Cung Manh Quoc Tuan: “Minimalism is a difficult topic for Hanoi contestants because Hanoi is a city of details, but surprisingly, this was also the topic of some of the most impressive work and the most submissions. This piece looks a little surreal, so we had to check the parameters of the photo to see if it was even real! We were really impressed with his perspective, which revealed superb creativity from the photographer.”

Cung Manh Quoc Tuan was thrilled with the recognition of his work: “I have been fascinated by this staircase since 2008, and always wanted to photograph it. When I first saw it from the 12th floor, its black heart reminded me of the center of a cave. I just wanted to jump in! As soon as the topic was released, I decided to go back there. For me, minimalism is simple but not simple, complicated but not complicated, there must be highlights to attract people. It took careful judgement to get the angle that creates the appearance of a long hook. If you flip this photo in different angles, it also looks different. That’s what I want to show in this photo.”

Nguyen Duc Viet won the first prize in the topic of “Life on Pavement”.

“Life on the Pavement” revealed more emotions that the other categories, and in discussing winner Nguyen Duc Viet’s photo, Justin Mott said: “This is a photo that encapsulates Hanoi.  It features lively main subjects, each of whom has their own nuance: contrasting emotions, gentleness, restlessness; and melds them with different activities: bike repair, turning around.  Meanwhile, the light highlights faces of featured persons.  It has a tight composition, and impressive contrasts of colors.”

Nguyen Duc Viet said: “For me, life on pavement in Hanoi is about iced tea, bike repair, haircuts and so on. They are simple but iconic. The action in front of the graffiti wall created a strong contrast. I had been waiting for 30 minutes until the bike repairer moved and then asked for permission to take this photo. Autumn light made it easy to capture a beautiful daily scene, and a slight increase in contrast from the camera captured it best.”

In addition to the main prizes, there are also additional rewards other interesting categories such as:

  • Impressive photos: photography jackets, Canon caps, photography guidelines and memory card Sandisk 16GB.
  • Funny photo: Hard disk Western Digital My Passport 1TB.
  • Best photo from Canon EOS M Camera: EOS M5 Camera + Kit Lens EF-15-45mm IS STM.

Do Nguyen Thi Thanh Luong won the best photo from Canon EOS M Camera.

“This was an accidental angle with good composition, and simple but powerful contrast between the colors,” – Do Nguyen Thi Thanh Luong shared of his picture submitted under “Minimalism” but which went on to win the “Best Photo from Canon EOS M Camera”.

Mr. Hiroshi Yokota, Chief Executive Officer of Canon Marketing Vietnam, said: “The number of candidates registered nationwide this year reached 10.500, far higher than previous years. This record attendance is testament to the incredible efforts of the team at Canon Marketing Vietnam.  Even after 12 years of this event, the judges and I cannot help but be surprised and amazed at the images, perspectives and creativity revealed every year by our contestants.  Canon PhotoMarathon is more than just a photo contest – it is a springboard to a career in photography.  I would like to congratulate everyone who took part in our event today for their participation, and all 10,500 marathoners around the nation for their efforts this year.”

Registration fees totalled more than 115,750,000 VND and will be transferred to a charity program named “For future generations” with the purpose of building schools for poor students, making photography a ‘bridge’, and a meaningful ‘instrument’ to support the Vietnamese community.

Canon PhotoMarathon 2017 featured a separate competition for online entries for those unable to attend the event in person besides the marathon in Danang, Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi. Winners will be chosen by Canon and announced on the fanpage on 15 November 2017 on Canon Vietnam fanpage.

Canon PhotoMarathon 2017 has attracted a record 10,500 contestants, including 2,300 from Hanoi, 1,200 from Da Nang (1.5 times higher than Canon Photomarathon 2016), and 7,000 from Ho Chi Minh City (nearly double last year).

For more information and winning photos, please visit: https://www.facebook.com/canonvietnamfanpage or http://www.canon.com.vn/photomarathon/