The Sony World Photography Awards is today to present underwater photographer Wu Yung-sen (吳永森) with this year’s Taiwan National Award for his image of migrating salmon, titled Intense.
Wu’s image “captures the incredible journey” of the Pacific salmon, “which come to the west coast of Canada from the distant sea every autumn, to return to their birthplace in the inland rivers,” award organizers Sony and the World Photography Organization said in a statement.
Describing his win as “the highest honor,” Wu told the Taipei Times that the winning image was taken at the Adams River in British Columbia, Canada.
Photo courtesy of Wu Yung-sen
Every four years, millions of salmon return to their birthplace in Adams River to spawn, in an event called a “salmon run.” For his winning image, Wu lay in the freezing waters of the river to photograph the salmon at close range.
Intense is an atypical piece of work for Wu, a travel consultant and keen diver who primarily photographs marine life in the oceans and seas.
He first started underwater photography out of a desire to showcase the beauty of the underwater world to others.
“Now that I have a daughter, it’s more in the hope that she will be able to understand what I do” when he dives and spends time in nature, Wu said.
After spawning in the river, adult salmon die. Their carcasses return nutrients to the environment, benefiting their own young and other wildlife, and the life cycle starts all over again for a new generation of salmon.
Increasingly, nature and wildlife photographers like Wu find themselves capturing moments in time and ways of life that are changing, and even disappearing, because of climate change.
“Due to the anomaly of extreme weather patterns, some animals are starting to show changes in their behavior,” Wu said, adding: “This is not good for the ecosystem as a whole.”
The National Awards aim to recognize and reward local photographic talent and are given out in 62 countries. Wu’s image was also shortlisted in the Natural World & Wildlife category of the awards’ Open competition.
As a National Award winner, Wu is to attend the Sony World Photography Awards in London and receive digital imaging equipment from Sony.
His winning image is to be on display at the awards exhibition in London from April 18 to May 6.
Trips for more than 100,000 international and domestic air travelers could be disrupted as China launches a military exercise around Taiwan today, Taiwan’s Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) said yesterday. The exercise could affect nearly 900 flights scheduled to enter the Taipei Flight Information Region (FIR) during the exercise window, it added. A notice issued by the Chinese Civil Aviation Administration showed there would be seven temporary zones around the Taiwan Strait which would be used for live-fire exercises, lasting from 8am to 6pm today. All aircraft are prohibited from entering during exercise, it says. Taipei FIR has 14 international air routes and
Taiwan lacks effective and cost-efficient armaments to intercept rockets, making the planned “T-Dome” interception system necessary, two experts said on Tuesday. The concerns were raised after China’s military fired two waves of rockets during live-fire drills around Taiwan on Tuesday, part of two-day exercises code-named “Justice Mission 2025.” The first wave involved 17 rockets launched at 9am from Pingtan in China’s Fujian Province, according to Lieutenant General Hsieh Jih-sheng (謝日升) of the Office of the Deputy Chief of the General Staff for Intelligence at the Ministry of National Defense. Those rockets landed 70 nautical miles (129.6km) northeast of Keelung without flying over Taiwan,
City buses in Taipei and New Taipei City, as well as the Taipei MRT, would on Saturday begin accepting QR code payments from five electronic payment providers, the Taipei Department of Transportation said yesterday. The new option would allow passengers to use the “transportation QR code” feature from EasyWallet, iPass Money, iCash Pay, Jkopay or PXPay Plus. Passengers should open their preferred electronic payment app, select the “transportation code” — not the regular payment code — unlock it, and scan the code at ticket readers or gates, General Planning Division Director-General Liu Kuo-chu (劉國著) said. People should move through the
The Ministry of National Defense (MND) today released images of the military tracking China’s People's Liberation Army (PLA) movements during the latest round of Chinese drills around Taiwan. The PLA began "Justice Mission 2025" drills today, carrying out live-fire drills, simulated strikes on land and maritime targets, and exercises to blockade the nation's main ports. The exercises are to continue tomorrow, with the PLA announcing sea and air space restrictions for five zones around Taiwan for 10 hours starting from 8:30am. The ministry today released images showing a Chinese J-16 fighter jet tracked by a F-16V Block 20 jet and the
RSS