5 years - Moments that remain!

1. The excitement, pride, hugs, and warm handshakes of the photojournalists who attended the "Press Moments 2022" Award Ceremony held on December 2nd in the 2023 Press Gala organized by the Journalist & Public Opinion Newspaper left beautiful impressions in the hearts of us - those who have accompanied this photo award for the past 5 years.

As the Head of the Secretariat of the “Press Moments” photo contest, I have witnessed the development of “Press Moments” through each season and cannot help but be proud that among many photo contests, “Press Moments” is always warmly welcomed by colleagues and photo lovers nationwide.

In “Press Gala 2023”, we met many familiar faces throughout 5 seasons, and also met many new faces this season.

I met journalist Tran Thanh Hai - Nhan Dan Newspaper again when this year he was honored to receive the gold prize in the Sports category. He happily shared his honor and happiness with me. He said he was very happy and thanked the Organizing Committee very much because this year he was able to step on stage to receive a high award after a year of hard work.

Remember last season, journalist Thanh Hai also won the C prize with a unique single photo " Voters at polling station No. 4, Tran Hung Dao ward, Hoan Kiem district (Hanoi city) choosing typical people ". The photo was very impressive when it captured the scene of a middle-aged woman holding a magnifying glass to examine the voter list to vote for the right person in the 2021 National Assembly election.

Not only journalist Tran Thanh Hai but many other photojournalists also believe that the brand of the "Press Moments" Photo Contest has been affirmed, and is a prestigious playground for photojournalists nationwide.

"Here we can exchange, interact, and learn to further improve the quality of press photos, bringing readers new and unique perspectives of society" - journalist Tran Thanh Hai said.

5 years but different circles are frozen in image 1 — People's Warriors - KKBC Impression Award 2019.

Indeed, “Press Moments” has become a quality playground for professional photographers, contributing to honoring the authors and the tireless work of dedicated and responsible journalists.

From the award-winning photos, we can see the footprints of journalists at “hot spots” across the country. The photos record the most timely and vivid events of the year, bringing positive effects and spreading no less than articles.

The high-prize winning photo collections of the past 5 seasons such as: " Thu Thiem residents have been tirelessly demanding justice for decades"; "People's soldiers"; "Searching for landslide victims in Tra Leng"; "The breathtaking moment of rescuing crew members on a distressed ship"; "The scene of the horrific flash flood in Ky Son District (Nghe An) that occurred in the early morning of October 2, 2022" ... brought viewers emotions and evoked humane emotions. The photojournalists did not hesitate to face difficulties, engage themselves, and take on roles at the scene, recording every moment to tell stories that are filled with humanity, touching the hearts of readers.

5 years but different circles are frozen in image 2 — A photo of the scene of the horrific flash flood in Ky Son District (Nghe An) that occurred in the early morning of October 2, 2022 - the work won the Gold Prize in the 2022 KKBC News category.

2. “A picture is worth a thousand words”, its information value is many times greater than written words, therefore photojournalism is an important genre in journalistic life… However, the quality and prestigious professional playgrounds for photojournalism in our country are still too few, seemingly unable to meet all the needs of photojournalists, unable to keep up with the development flow of photojournalism domestically and internationally.

As commented by comrade Le Quoc Minh - Member of the Party Central Committee, Editor-in-Chief of Nhan Dan Newspaper, Deputy Head of the Central Propaganda Department, Chairman of the Vietnam Journalists Association at the "Press Moments 2022" Award Ceremony: " In Vietnam, in recent times, press photography has not really developed as its potential and expectations. Even with the National Press Award, our Award Council has repeatedly raised the issue that, compared to other genres, the number of press photo works submitted to the award is very small, not really commensurate with what is happening in reality and in the press, the quality of the photo works is also not as high as expected".

5 years but different circles are frozen in image 3 — Photo from the photo series that won the 2021 KKBC Impression Award - A Plea from the Da River.

Meanwhile, press photos are extremely valuable. Journalist and photographer Ho Sy Minh - Permanent Vice President of the Vietnam Association of Photographic Artists, Editor-in-Chief of Photography and Life Magazine, and judge of this year's contest said: " Press photos always play an important role, truthfully and clearly depicting current issues and "hot" spots across the country. Press photos are considered a very important form of modern journalism."

For that reason, the "Press Moment" Photo Award of the Journalist & Public Opinion Newspaper in particular and the press awards in general have contributed to encouraging, honoring, praising and motivating journalists nationwide.

Journalist Viet Van - a judge who has been present for 5 seasons commented: " I think the "Press Moments 2022" Photo Contest is always an interesting playground to attract photographers who are passionate about photojournalism. The Contest always has its own brand to attract photographers to participate. In reality, having quality photos, good single photos, telling stories is still a big challenge for journalists and reporters. The discovery and dedication of photojournalists, there are but not many, still have to rely on organized events, there are few photo collections of discovery nature".

5 years but different circles are frozen in image 4 — Photo from the photo series that won the 2021 KKBC Impression Award - Searching for landslide victims in Tra Leng.

Talking about expectations for the following seasons, journalist Viet Van hopes that the "Press Moments" Award will expand its genres even further, possibly even considering long-term projects lasting many years in a genre to create conditions for authors to specialize in a certain genre, demonstrate social discovery and further commitment.

The expectations of the Vietnamese Judges are also the things that the Organizing Committee - Journalist & Public Opinion Newspaper always strives to continue to innovate in the organization and the rules of the Award to aim for a more prestigious and larger-scale Award. Hopefully, with the innovation in each season and the dedication of enthusiastic photojournalists who are not afraid of hardships and the spirit of rushing into hot spots, the Press Moment Award will increasingly develop to a new level, worthy of the expectations of the public and the press nationwide.