British photographer Mark French has won this year's edition of Urban Photographer of the Year award given for the best photography of the city. His picture made in Hong Kong titled 'Looking good in work' was the best from 12 500 photos sent from the entire world.
The competition has been organized by CBRE for six years and is the biggest award of this type in the world. This year's edition broke a record in terms of number of submitted works. Works from a total of 118 countries included 264 pictures from Poland.
The aim of the competition is to put an essence of life and work in cities and towns on a picture. Photos can be submitted both by professionals and amateurs. The main prize is a luxurious photo – safari in a chosen location.
This year's edition has aroused interest of record breaking number of contestants from around the world. Jury's task was a difficult on as the level of submitted works was very high. Nevertheless, everyone agreed that Mark French's perfect picture was the number one – said Michael Strong, Head of CBRE for Europe, Middle – East and Africa.
The winning photo shows the loneliness of the motorman amongst all the advertisements during the rush hour in Hong Kong at 9.00 a.m. The runner up was another British photographer Glenn Surtess and his photo of a worker examining the roof of the theatre at 7:00 o'clock in Singapore. The third prize went to a Portuguese artist Rui Pedro Moura Barbosa Dias, who made a picture of a fire-fighter putting down a fire in a factory. Moreover, the jury has awarded 24 other photographies for the best presentation of each hour of city's life.
I'm thrilled by the victory in the competition to which so many inspiring photographies have been submitted. I've made this picture soon after my move to Hong Kong overpowered with the omnipresent advertisements. When I looked closer, I've realised that the ad placed on the tram can be a very interesting contrast between the expression of the passengers' faces and the motorman, checking his reflection in a rear-view mirror during the city's early rush hour – comments Mark French, the winner of Urban Photographer of the Year 2013.