Nearly 200 photographs were selected for the final round of the NTD International Photography Competition, but judges say artistic skill alone isn’t enough. Renee Luo, a longtime juror and accomplished photographer and oil painter from Australia, explained that the competition is guided by universal values rooted in tradition.
She said the works that stand out most reflect compassion, goodness, and balance—qualities that convey warmth, dignity, and a positive spirit. According to Luo, more submissions are aligning with these ideals each year, particularly in this year’s competition. -- 📺 Watch NTD News 24/7 on cable, broadcast, and streaming: https://www.ntd.com/watch
NTD's 5th International Photography Competition is in its final round right now,
and it has received submissions from all over the world. Its mission? To promote works which
focus on luminosity, beauty, and naturalism while strictly following traditional principles
and aesthetics. NTD's Flora Hua was there at the exhibition yesterday to learn more from the
judges and the contestants about the art of photography. Here's that. Among the nearly 200
photographs that made it to the final round, what are the determining factors for the competition's
judging panel? We tapped Renee Luo, one of the juries of the photography competition,
to find out more. Renee Luo from Australia has extensive experience in not only photography,
but also oil painting. She has been on the judging panel since the inaugural competition back in 2008.
Competitions organized by NTD are not about money. The scale and presence of this event
represents a kind of universal value, NTD's values. What it expresses is something ancient
and traditional, the spiritual state of how people once lived calmly, peacefully,
and with stability and balance. Luo said the judging panel has received more and more works
matching the core values of the photography competition over the years, especially this
year. But where are these core values coming from? Because everyone's way of thinking is different.
Each person's judgment of a work of art is also different. But ultimately, there are universal
values shared by all of humanity, and the mission set by this organizing committee is precisely such
universal values. It provides a broad direction, positive, uplifting, bright, and kind. When you
have compassion, goodness naturally emerges. No one likes darkness, and no one likes coldness.
We all need sunlight and warmth. Besides the theme of the photo, Luo emphasized that a good
photographer should always keep in mind the traditional rules of composition. Photography
is essentially a two-dimensional art that evolved from painting. It carries over the aesthetics of
painting. So its basic aesthetic standards come from painting. The difference is that it uses
modern mechanical tools. What truly sets it apart is its emphasis on light and shadow,
using light to paint. So what are universal values? In visual aesthetics, whether in painting or
photography, there are standards and rules. Just as a country must have laws to regulate society,
an image also needs rules. When you work within these rules, everything flows smoothly.
When you ignore them, things become chaotic. Gina Pottinger said she learned a lot from
the judges' insights. As a veteran photographer herself, Pottinger took many photos of people,
but she will always ask herself a question. In the organization that I worked with,
we really thought a lot about dignity of the person, if there were people in the photo.
Would they be proud to see the photo that we took of them? Would they feel good about how we were
portraying them? Really just thinking about what is in the environment of the photo and what you
focus on can reduce the dignity of the person or it can elevate the dignity of the person.
Pottinger also shared why she thinks the role of a photographer carries a lot of weight in
what they bring to the viewers. I think we all tend to trust what we see with our eyes,
even if we weren't physically there. And the photographer or the videographer has a lot of
power to omit part of the image in how they crop the image or how they zoom in on something,
what is not inside the frame of the photo. And so just the framing itself is very powerful.
Another photographer from Germany has been taking pictures of sailing races for over 15 years.
I love it to be on the water. It doesn't matter which kind of weather it is and to catch really
the sailing boat and the energy that is on the boat and the emotions that people have on the
boat. You can see how they work together. So now the photo is sailing as a team because you really
have to work on the boat as a team, otherwise it doesn't function.
Reporting from New York City's Samoguni Club, Flora Hua, NDD News.
