Two Taiwanese photographers were among the winners at the Ocean Power Watersports Photography Awards (WPA), the first time anyone from Taiwan has received an honor in the international competition.
The winners of the contest, first held in 2021, were announced on March 8 in Cartagena, Spain.
Wang Chien-yu (王茜瑜) topped the Best Rowing Photography category with a photograph she took in 2018 at a dragon boat race in Hungary. She had accompanied Taiwan’s national dragon boat team to train in the central European country in the lead-up to the 2018 Asian Games.
Photo: Screen grab from CNA
Wang said the piece features bright colors and captures the excitement of the dragon boat race.
“I submitted this photo because it encapsulates power and grace,” she said yesterday.
Wang, who has run a blog documenting dragon boat racing in Taiwan for 10 years, said that although the athletes in her winning photo were not Taiwanese, she was happy it helped the sport gain more international exposure.
Photo: Screen grab from CNA
She said she was honored to represent Taiwan against photographers from around the world, and that she was moved to see the national flag displayed alongside those of other countries on the event’s social media pages.
“Taiwan is a small country, but we can compete alongside countries like the UK, France and the US,” she said.
Wang Wei-chih (王威智) topped the WPA Best Photography for Ecology category with a photo he took in 2022 of a diver swimming against a backdrop of undersea rock formations, with red coral in the foreground.
Wang Wei-chih, who works as a free diving coach, said he knows of many exclusive beaches around Taiwan, including the spot where he took his winning photo.
The location off the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春半島) in Pingtung County is populated by coral known as “sea fans,” which usually grow in areas with strong currents, he said.
To get to the spot requires traversing a wooded area and a swathe of raised coral reefs, and it is practically unknown except to some anglers, he said.
Triumphing in a category that raises awareness about the preservation of the ecology has provided him food for thought, he said.
“People often visit beaches when they go abroad to see corals or sea creatures, but they can find an abundance of this natural bounty in Taiwan,” he said.
He said he has discovered in his dives that human-created waste such as plastics and trash have posed increasing threats to marine ecology.
He said he hopes that his work would remind people of the beauty of Taiwan’s beaches and motivate them to be more environmentally conscious.
The WPA, now in its fourth edition, are an initiative by the Water Sports Plastic Free Foundation, an organization that works to promote sports, culture and environmental awareness around the sea, a news release by event organizers said.
The international contest not only recognizes excellence in water sports photography, but also promotes a message of respect and protection for the oceans, fostering connections between art, sports and the environment, it said.
The latest edition comprised 17 categories and attracted more than 500 submissions from 27 countries, it said.
A Taiwanese woman on Sunday was injured by a small piece of masonry that fell from the dome of St Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican during a visit to the church. The tourist, identified as Hsu Yun-chen (許芸禎), was struck on the forehead while she and her tour group were near Michelangelo’s sculpture Pieta. Hsu was rushed to a hospital, the group’s guide to the church, Fu Jing, said yesterday. Hsu was found not to have serious injuries and was able to continue her tour as scheduled, Fu added. Mathew Lee (李世明), Taiwan’s recently retired ambassador to the Holy See, said he met
A BETRAYAL? It is none of the ministry’s business if those entertainers love China, but ‘you cannot agree to wipe out your own country,’ the MAC minister said Taiwanese entertainers in China would have their Taiwanese citizenship revoked if they are holding Chinese citizenship, Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said. Several Taiwanese entertainers, including Patty Hou (侯佩岑) and Ouyang Nana (歐陽娜娜), earlier this month on their Weibo (微博) accounts shared a picture saying that Taiwan would be “returned” to China, with tags such as “Taiwan, Province of China” or “Adhere to the ‘one China’ principle.” The MAC would investigate whether those Taiwanese entertainers have Chinese IDs and added that it would revoke their Taiwanese citizenship if they did, Chiu told the Chinese-language Liberty Times (sister paper
The Chinese wife of a Taiwanese, surnamed Liu (劉), who openly advocated for China’s use of force against Taiwan, would be forcibly deported according to the law if she has not left Taiwan by Friday, National Immigration Agency (NIA) officials said yesterday. Liu, an influencer better known by her online channel name Yaya in Taiwan (亞亞在台灣), obtained permanent residency via marriage to a Taiwanese. She has been reported for allegedly repeatedly espousing pro-unification comments on her YouTube and TikTok channels, including comments supporting China’s unification with Taiwan by force and the Chinese government’s stance that “Taiwan is an inseparable part of China.” Liu
FATE UNKNOWN: The owner of the dog could face a fine of up to NT$150,000 and the animal could be euthanized if he cannot show that he can effectively supervise it A pit bull terrier has been confiscated by authorities after it yesterday morning bit a motorcyclist in Taipei, following footage of the same dog in a similar attack going viral online earlier this month. When the owner, surnamed Hsu (徐), stopped at a red light on Daan District’s (大安) Wolong Street at 8am, the dog, named “Lucky,” allegedly rolled down the automatic window of the pickup truck they were riding in, leapt out of the rear passenger window and attacked a motorcyclist behind them, Taipei’s Daan District Police Precinct said. The dog clamped down on the man’s leg and only let go
RSS