Candidates for the 2018 Vietnam Heritage Awards included nearly 3,500 photos submitted by professional photographers from media agencies and freelancers. Vu Quoc Khanh, Chairman of the Vietnam Association of Photographic Artists, said: “This year’s submissions could be either single photos or photo sets. The single entries are for use as cover photos for the monthly Heritage Magazine. The photo sets, which must be both artistic and informative, are for photos spread in the magazine. This year’s contest was open to both Vietnamese and foreign photographers.”

The Grand Prix was given to a photo set entitled “Waha ritual” by Hoang Thanh Van, Vice Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City Association of Photographic Artists. It captures a traditional ritual of the Cham Bani ethnic group in South-central Vietnam. Another Grand Prix was given to a cover photo entitled “Tet fragrance” by freelance photographer Le Viet Khanh. First prizes went to the photo set “Sacred pole of the Cotu” by Tran Van Vinh and the cover photo “Sunrise on Nhon Hai fishing village” by Nguyen Phuoc Hoai.

Selected contest photos are on displayed at the Exhibition House at 29 Hang Bai Street, Hanoi, until Wednesday.