Chinese score 17 awards at London photo show

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Hanging Up Persimmons , clicked by Yang Zhonghua (PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY)

Photographers from China were once again among the big winners as the results of the Pink Lady Food Photographer of the Year awards for 2023 were announced in London on May 16.

The competition, which has been running for 12 years and drew thousands of entries from more than 65 countries this year, is the world’s leading celebration of the art of food, photography and film.

All photos are judged anonymously, so decisions are made entirely on merit. This year’s overall top prize went to British photographer Jon Enoch for his image The Candy Man, taken in India. Entrants from China took away 17 other awards.

One photographer alone, Yang Zhonghua, won three categories. The image Anchang Sugar Dance Artist, showing a man in Zhejiang province working skillfully with sugar, won both the Philip Harben Award for Food in Action and the competition’s specific China category.

Yang also won the Moments of Joy category for the picture Hanging Up Persimmons.

Another successful entrant was Liang Haikun, whose image Ancient Wine Making, showing traditional baijiu brewing techniques, came second in the China-specific class, where he also picked up two other highly commended honours, and came third in the Food in Action category.

Liang also took third place in the Champagne Taittinger Food for Celebration category.

Other Chinese photographers among the winners included Liu Min, Yu Chunshui, Li Jianping, Cui Boqian, Zhao Xinhua and Yang Yongsheng.

Among the judges at this year’s competition were Na Risong, art director of Inter Art Centre & Gallery in Beijing; Ella Ravilious, a curator at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London; and chef Louie Ye, known as the Godfather of Chinese pastry.

Event founder Caroline Kenyon said the latest success showed the diligence and creativity of photographers in China, and the cultural importance of food in Chinese identity.

“Food is still so culturally important in China, maybe unlike in some other countries where there’s a bit of a loss of connection between people and what they consume,” she said.

“It’s a strong home food culture, and being such a vast country it’s a rich and fertile place for a photographer to point their lens.”