The winners of the 2019 National Geographic Travel Photo Contest were announced at the end of June, with photographers from mainland China taking the spotlight. Chu Weimin (Thomas Chu), a post-90s photographer from Chongqing who taught himself photography, won both the overall grand prize and first place in the Cities category. Meanwhile, Li Huafeng from Shandong claimed the People category with his long-term focus on cave dwelling communities.
Chu Weimin was born in 1990 and enrolled in university in 2011, studying Computer Science and Technology. He bought his first DSLR camera, a Nikon D90, in his freshman year, which marked the beginning of his lifelong passion for photography. During his second year, while studying abroad as an exchange student in Munich, Germany, he experienced outdoor travel for the first time. Surrounded by the Alps and covered in deep snow, King’s Lake in winter left a profound impression on him. Though he had no outdoor gear and wore only jeans, regular shoes, and carried a backpack, he began hiking. Despite his feet getting soaked, the stunning alpine scenery and the local residents moved him, sparking his passion for outdoor exploration and travel. Photography became his way of sharing what he saw and felt on these journeys.
An engineer teaching himself photography
After graduating from university, Chu Weimin joined a tech company as a software engineer, following a conventional career path. However, in his spare time after work and on weekends, he scoured the internet for various photography courses and purchased many professional reference books to study techniques on his own. He also gradually built up his reputation and collaborative opportunities by posting photos on his Weibo account and WeChat public account “Thomas Explores the World.”
Whenever Chu took annual leave, he traveled to “off-the-beaten-path” countries or regions such as Pakistan and Indonesia, focusing mainly on outdoor natural landscapes like snow-capped mountains and polar regions, as well as the local residents and visiting adventurers.
"Winter in Greenland" goes viral
Three years into his job, Chu Weimin made the bold decision to quit and pursue his true passion as a professional travel photographer. In August 2017, he traveled to Greenland for the first time—the world’s largest island, mostly within the Arctic Circle with 81% of its land covered in ice and snow. He ventured into uninhabited bays. In the fall of 2018, he returned to Greenland for the second time to explore its southern landscapes, capturing the region’s majestic yet desolate beauty through his lens.
This year, Chu visited Greenland for the third time. In the harshest weather of March, he experienced life in the small fishing village of Upernavik and witnessed how locals endure the winter. On the sixth day, he captured the award-winning photo for the National Geographic Travel Photo Contest, titled "Greenlandic Winter," depicting warm lights glowing in homes amid a world blanketed in white snow and ice.
Li’s "Earthen Kiln" series earns acclaim
After winning the award, Chu Weimin reflected that the influence of National Geographic is immense. Beyond attracting extensive media coverage, he also received invitations for commercial collaborations. “This professional recognition has boosted my confidence and motivates me to take on even more challenges in the future.”
Li Huafeng, who won first place in the People category, is a photographer from Jining City, Shandong Province. In 2018, he won the Single Image Award in the People category at the World Press Photo (WPP) contest. He is also a self-taught photographer, originally a worker at the Yanzhou Cigar Factory in Shandong. He began learning photography in 2010 and has since conducted numerous documentary photography projects in regions such as Liangshan, Sichuan, Gannan, Tibet, and Ningxia, earning widespread acclaim and awards.
With a longstanding focus on cave dwelling culture, Li Huafeng traveled to Shanxi 14 times starting in 2016, spending a year and a half photographing his "Earthen Kiln" series. The WPP-recognized work "Earth Kiln" is part of this collection.
Li’s award-winning piece in the People category, titled "Showtime," is also from the "Earthen Kiln" series. Sunlight streams into a cave dwelling in Licheng, Shanxi, illuminating a Shanxi opera performer who is putting on a headpiece and costume, waiting to go on stage—vividly capturing the energy and anticipation just before a performance.