Special Prize / 11th RICOH PHOTO CONTEST / RICOH Photo Contest / PHOTO STYLE / Digital Cameras

: "Shinning"

: Wong Man Fai

: GR DIGITAL II

: Photo taken at a Hawai'i beach, around 3 p.m. I suddenly wanted to photograph the image of someone flipping their hair and sending water flying about. I tried to do it many times. This photo is the one where I captured that best.

The combination of those elements that the photographer controlled like the position of the light, the gradations of blue in the background, with those elements dependent on chance like the radiance and shape of the hair has an overlapping power you could almost call miraculous. There is also a beauty that feels almost peaceful despite the action. These elements produce the wondrous work that is this photo.(Yukio Uchida)

This is filled with a sense of energy. She is flipping her hair up all in a ruch from the water's surface, and the resulting splash describes an arc. The doubling and tripling here is truly wonderful. What's more the sun is at the center, and the photo captures the backlighting well. For these reason, the whole scene is tight, and there are no wasted elements anywhere.(Kisei Kobayashi)

: "Lunch time"

: Liang Guangjian

: CX3

: Lunchtime in a country classroom.

The shining light that evokes what might even be a religious feeling and the forms of the children the light etches out are wondrous. One gets a sense of scale and depth like you would from watching a movie, most especially from the positioning of the people and their behaviors (particularly the child in the center looking back!) but also from the details of things like the clothing and the corn.(Yukio Uchida)

It is a snapshot and at the same time it is perfect. The soft light shing from on high, the expressions and behavior of the children, the color of the clothing. The beauty of the teacher. It is like we can hear their voices, even now. I felt as though there is a beauty here of the sort that we certainly cannot photograph in today's Japan.(Kisei Kobayashi)