When attending the5^th FIAP Photo Meeting, over300 photographers from over40 countries came to Qingdao for photography

From August12^th to15^th, over300 renowned photographers from42 countries attending the5th FIAP Photo Meeting came to Qingdao to record the light and shade of Qingdao with their own cameras and narrate“Qingdao stories” to the world.

The5th FIAP Photo Meeting is currently the largest international photography competition in China. The FIAP Photo Meeting is hosted by the international federation of photography art (FIAP), the only international photography organization recognized by the UNESCO and taking place every two years.

After many rounds of selection, Shandong Province, China has been chosen to host the5th FIAP Photo Meeting. So far, it is the largest scale, the highest standard, most professional and influential international photography competition China has ever hosted. As one hosting city and the last leg of the competition, Qingdao will undertake many significant activities including local shooting, closing ceremony, awarding ceremony and SRPOIA cooperation summit.

Renowned photographers were divided into5 groups to shoot Qingdao

During the shooting period in Qingdao, the famous photographers from42 countries including America, Italy, Spain, Belgium, Greece, Holland, Kuwait and New Zealand were divided into5 groups and travelled around over20 shooting locations in District Shinan, Shibei, Licang, Laoshan and Huangdao. Their cameras have been targeted at coastal scenery, cityscape, historic culture, folk tradition and customs and industrial development. They truly felt the unique charm of this city surrounded by mountains and sea and the city of sailing. They will broadcast the city images of Qingdao to the world including the perfect combination of Chinese and western elements, livability and happiness, prosperous development. Last morning we followed the2^nd group and went to St. Michael's Cathedral, the first church in Qingdao. Here these international photographers came across a new couple that were taking wedding photos. The photographers enthusiastically took pictures of the couple. The bride surrounded the crowd seemed to be a little shy and leaned closely to the arms of the bridegroom. After shooting, photographers sent their warm congratulations and took out mobile phones to take photos themselves.

Watch Chinese folk customs and taste Chinese culture

Qingdao is a multicultural coastal city but the traditional Chinese culture is the most essential among so many cultures. To know more about Qingdao, photographers went to Qingdao Folk Museum to experience Mazu culture, folk culture and marine culture of Qingdao.“This is the first time I came to Qingdao. This is a beautiful coastal city. I have been a photographer for30 years. Usually I take people but today I want to take more pictures of Qingdao scenery,” Amneri, an American photographer, said. She said she liked Qingdao very much, despite the fact that the opera performance she watched today was different from what she saw in Beijing, she liked both of them. Amneri said:“The Qingdao Beer Festival is awesome. I like it very much. I have been benefited a lot in this Qingdao tour. I will come again if I have any chance.”

International photographers cannot stop complimenting Qingdao

Among these photographers, there was a lively“grandmother-aged” photographer, very amiable and friendly. Named Davina, she is75 years old.“I am a self-employed photographer. I come from Boston, America. I started my photography career at the age of11.” Davina said she was enchanted by beautiful Qingdao upon arrival.“The night scenery of Qingdao is very beautiful. People are very friendly here. I like this place very much.” Davina said she liked taking people most and besides good-looking young men and women, she especially liked taking photos of the elderly. Davina said“I like joining such activity very much. Photography is my life. I feel very happy that I can meet different people in different places.”

Moreover there are many Chinese among these photographers.8 Chinese photographers were invited by the meeting. In addition,10 female photographers from China Female Photographer Association followed them and recorded the entire journey. Zhang Zuping, a Chinese-Canadian photographer, has been to Qingdao when she was young. This trip has deepened his understanding of Qingdao. Zhang Zuping said:“Qingdao is so beautiful. The sea is beautiful. The scenery is also beautiful.”

To commemorate the success of the5th FIAP Photo Meeting in China, China Post specially issued a commemorative postcard. This is the first time that the commemorative postcard was issued by the hosting country among all the previous photo meetings. Wang Jianliang

(Photos by Zhou Guanghui)