The Inter-hall Photography Competition (2009-10) of the Professor Edmond Ko Cup has come to an end. The theme for this year’s competition is “Prosperity” and it has received an overwhelming response from residents. 166 entries were received from residents from nine residence halls, capturing student photographers’ unique interpretations and insights into “Prosperity” through the camera lens.

Among 130 entries in the “Independent” category, Ivan Lam, from HSBC Prosperity Hall, was crowned as the 1st Place champion with his photo entry “Have a Happy and Prosperous New Year”. The photo “Have a Happy and Prosperous New Year” was taken at Victoria Peak in the first moment of 2010. Capturing the exciting and memorable first second of 2010 was the highlight of the photo.

“In order to capture this right angle and moment, I waited for 6 hours. But it was worth it”, Ivan said. Flourishing fireworks and shining skyscrapers illuminated the sky as excitement lit up the whole city. At first glance, the photo gave the audience a rich feeling and vividly presented a prosperous beginning of the New Year 2010. “Although generic in presentation, the photo comes closer to the theme Prosperity”, commented one of the judges, Dr. Ming Cheung, Associate Professor, Department of Media and Communication.

In addition to wining the 1st Place in the Independent category, Ivan also won the award for “My Favourite Photograph” with another photo entry “Prosperians”, which captured 150 votes from student residents out of 239 votes received. The photo presents a rich image of a group of hall-mates from Hall 2 who call themselves “Prosperians”.

Unlike most entrants who captured busy scenes and portrayed the theme “Prosperity” with rich materials or images, Ami Lam won the first and second place respectively in the Story category with his entries “Spiritual Prosperity” and “捕亦有道”. For his entry “Spiritual Prosperity”, Ami told a story about a family of devoted pilgrims in Tibet. “I think prosperity is not only about the material qualities of such surface stuff, Ami said, “Although the family is poor in material, they are rich in spirit. Human beings are the essence of prosperity and they can add the missing vitality and emotion to the still photos.”

Every year the Student Residence Office and all residence halls organise a photography competition and the theme of the competition is named after each hall in turn. “The name of every hall is meaningful and each of the hall names carries special meanings”, said Esther Lee, the Supervisory Executive Officer of SRO. “The photography competition aims to offer residents a chance to improve their photography skills and to develop their thoughts about the hall’s name along the theme of the competition.  Through special moments captured by the students’ lens, the competition also documents the students’ sense of belonging to the residence community”, Esther added.