KUWAIT: Huawei has announced the launch of its annual smartphone photography competition, the NEXT-IMAGE Awards for 2021. The theme of this year's Next-Image Awards is "Better Together". Starting from today, Huawei users around the world can submit their photographic and video masterpieces for the chance to win one of 70 amazing prizes; including the new Huawei P50 and cash prizes up to $10,000. The deadline for entries is November 30, 2021.

Huawei's Next-Image Awards is the world's largest smartphone photography competition, with over two million entries since the competition began in 2017. With an easy entry mechanic and over 70 chances to win, amateur smartphone photographers and visual storytellers across the world are set to light up the competition for a fifth consecutive year.

This year's Next-Image Awards will be judged by a team of photography experts, from a diverse range of backgrounds and countries around the world. Karen Smith, the renowned art critic from the UK, and French radio and TV producer Olivier Chiabodo, will join Canadian extreme sports photographer Reuben Krabbe.

The judging panel have a sense of what it is to win photography prizes, as Pulitzer-winning photographer and one of the grand prize-winners of the Next-Image Awards 2020, Lin Haiyin, joins founder of the Shanghai Centre of Photography, Liu Heung Shing. Professor of School of Journalism and Communication, BNU, Yu Guoming, and Vice Minister of the Consumer Strategy Marketing Dept. at the Huawei Consumer Business Group, Li Changzhu, complete the judging panel.

10 categories

Unlike other competitions that search for one overall winner, Huawei is encouraging entrants to explore different perspectives, formats and light conditions. Insisting that users discover the diversity and beauty of life, the Next-Image Awards 2021 has 10 distinct categories to keep things interesting. Perfectly matched with Huawei's strengths in smartphone photography, the categories encourage users to make the most of their devices' innovative features while telling original, compelling stories through photos and videos.

Portrait

At its best, portrait photography tells rich and compelling human stories better than words ever could. Whether it is of yourself, of a loved one, or a model, submit your best portrait shots.

Monochrome

Monochrome images remove distracting colors, helping the viewer focus on the subjects, textures, shapes, patterns and composition. Use black and white photography to reflect the atmosphere, fun or originality of the shot.

Color

Huawei smartphones are renowned for their ability to produce vibrant photos that are bursting with vitality. Show your true colors by expressing yourself through smartphone photography.

Snapshot

Photography lets you live in the moment, encouraging you to capture defining moments and scenes. Create a snapshot that tells a powerful story, or immortalize an important memory forever.

Night

Thanks to the power of AI, Huawei smartphones capture incredible night scenes without the need for a flash. Get creative under cover of darkness, and make a night shot to remember.

Telephoto

For many smartphone users, zoomed-in photos are usually blurry or low quality. That is not the case with Huawei. Use your telephoto lens to home in on the important details, and show off the clarity of your zoomed-in shots.

Super wide angle

Wide-angle lenses allow photographers to get as close to the subject as possible without excluding crucial elements in the background. Use your mobile photography skills to make viewers feel as though they are viewing the scene with their own eyes rather than through a photograph.

Super macro

In photography, as in life, the small details are important. Explore different macro photography subjects and techniques, as you show off your camera's ability to capture tiny details up close.

Story creator

Shoot and produce a mobile-shot movie of 15 minutes or less to express your creativity and share your story through moving images. Assume the director's chair as you create a cinematic masterpiece to show to the world.

Storyteller

Different from the other categories that only allow single photo to be uploaded, in this catalogue, you can use a group of photos (3-9 photos) to express emotions, tell a story, record changes or discover trends. Every category is tailored to a unique photography scenario that Huawei devices excel in, challenging users to elegantly capture emotion as they get creative with Next-Image Award entries.

These award categories highlight some of the leading features of Huawei smartphones, with the latest Trendy Flagship & Camera King from Huawei - the Huawei nova 9 offering unparalleled performance in zoom and low light photography thanks to the Ultra Vision AI Quad Camera setup. The rear camera system of the Huawei nova 9 includes a 50MP Ultra Vision Camera, an 8MP Ultra Wide Angle Camera, a 2MP Depth Camera and a Macro Camera that lets you capture from as close as 4cm.

Both the front and rear cameras support 4K shooting at 30fps, allowing you to express yourself through short videos and exciting vlogs for social media. The main camera has a large 1/1.56-inch sensor and a RYYB color filter array with a high light sensitivity. This collects 40 percent more light compared to a standard RGGB sensor, ensuring the utmost clarity on all images, while enabling outstanding low light performance. Once the camera hardware captures an image, the XD Fusion Engine gets to work. The Huawei nova 9 inherited Huawei flagship smartphones' XD Fusion Engine, which uses sophisticated computational photography techniques to greatly enhance image details and quality.