Korea Times photographer wins annual contest with environment activist's portrait
“2021, Earthlings buried under plastic,” a photo by Korea Times photographer Shim Hyun-chul which topped the Best Portrait Photo category at the annual news photography contest of the Korea Press Photographers' Association / Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul
By Kim Rahn
Shim Hyun-chul
Korea Times photographer Shim Hyun-chul has won an award at an annual news photography contest hosted by the Korea Press Photographers' Association (KPPA).
Featuring environmental activist Hong Da-gyeong, the photo titled “2021, Earthlings buried under plastic” topped the Best Portrait Photo category in the KPPA's 58th contest.
The KPPA award has four other categories ― news, sports, feature & nature, and story ― and the winners were selected among photos taken by some 500 of its members last year.
The award-winning photo of Shim, published on Aug. 5, 2021, shows the face of Hong, a member of Earth Citizen Movement Alliance, through a crushed plastic bottle. She has been working on finding illegal waste dumping sites here to raise public awareness on the seriousness of rapidly accumulating waste and its environmental impact.
Shim has won a dozen other awards from the KPPA since joining The Korea Times in 2006.
A total of 18 award-winning photos in the five categories will be exhibited in front of the Korea Press Center in Seoul from April 4 to 10.