See the other winning photographs from the 2019 National Geographic Travel Photo Contest at
natgeo.com/travelphotocontest. And if you’re ready to join the next competition, learn more
at natgeo.com/photocontest.WEIMIN CHU
GRAND-PRIZE WINNER; FIRST PLACE, CITIES CATEGORYTRAVEL PHOTO CONTESTChu has been traveling to Greenland for several years,
photographing its austere landscapes. This year he
visited the village of Upernavik for the first time and
spent days scouting photo locations. One evening at
sunset, he settled on a slope near the airport where
he could capture sweeping views of the town and
unobtrusively photograph villagers. After making
a few images in the dusk light, Chu adjusted his
camera’s aperture and ISO setting, hoping to freeze
people’s movements. Just then, a family emerged
from their home, and Chu seized the moment. “It felt
so harmonious,” he says of the scene in his grand-
prize-winning entry in the Travel Photo Contest.
“The whole land was covered by white, cold snow,
and the blue tint at dusk made it even cooler. But the
light from the windows, streetlights, and the family
of three made the world warm again.”WHO
Chu, 29, an engineer turned
photographer, lives in
Chongqinq municipality
in southwestern China.
WHERE
Upernavik, a fishing village
with about 1,000 residents,
in northwestern Greenland
WHAT
A Sony ILCE-7RM3 camera,
with a 24-105mm lens144 NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC