Petal power: Hanoi flower vendor image scoops int'l prize

The shot taken by Nguyen Phuc Thanh shows a vendor riding her bicycle full of fresh flowers past Hanoi’s Ceramic Road that spans almost 4,000 meters through Tay Ho, Ba Dinh, Hoan Kiem and Hai Ba Trung districts.

"Bike with flowers," a photo captured in Hanoi by Nguyen Phuc Thanh.

The Ceramic Road, made from tesserae from Bat Trang, famed for its centuries-old traditional pottery, was awarded a Guinness World Record certificate as the world's largest ceramic mosaic in 2010.

"One hundred years ago there were just 36 streets and now there are many more, but the street culture remains strong in Hanoi. I spent a weekend following street vendors and found they were walking or riding their bikes all day. Here is one of my favorite moments," Thanh said of his photo.

All National Awards winners receive Sony digital imaging equipment and will be included in the Sony World Photography Awards exhibition and book.

The winners were selected from the Open competition, for which there were about 170,000 entrants. More than 340,000 images from 211 territories entered the 2022 edition of Sony World Photography Awards in total, according to a press release announcing the winners Tuesday.

The program is an initiative set up by World Photography Organization and Sony to support local photographic communities around the world.