HÀ NỘI — Photographer Trương Thanh Nhã won gold medal at Photo Club Arizona (PCA) Salon 2017 in Serbia for his black & white photo.

Based in the southern province of Kiên Giang, Nhã took the photo by chance while travelling to the popular and beautiful northern township of Sa Pa in Lào Cai Province in 2012. The photo features five children, with the elder kids carrying their sister and brother on their backs. The faces of the older children look worried and anxious.

"This is the first time I have won a gold medal from FIAP -- an international organisation of national associations of photography," Nhã, former editor-in-chief of Kiên Giang newspaper, said. The former editor engaged in photography 10 years ago after retiring. He is especially known for shooting thousands of pictures of cranes, some of them winning local and international awards.

The photo also won A prize at a competition launched by the Việt Nam Association of Photography Artists in 2012. Two photos by Nhã are also displayed at the salon. 

Other Vietnamese photographers who bagged awards include Trần Phong with PCA’s gold medal, Nguyễn Ngọc Thạch with FIAP’s Honourable Mention, Lê Hoàng Nhân with PCA’s Honourable Mention and Nguyễn Trung Kiên with PCA’s silver medal. 

PCA Salon 2017 was held for amateur and professional photographers from around the world with approval from FIAP, Photographic Society of America (PSA) and PCA, with nature, photo travel and journalism as the themes. Nearly 6,300 photos by 376 photographers from 62 countries and territories were submitted for the competition. — VNS