In 8 pictures: National Geographic prize-winning teen Hong Kong photographer’s stunning journey to success

Still, the second-year student at Hong Kong Baptist University is getting a lot of recognition for shots that did turn out well; last month he won first prize and an honourable mention in the youth division of the Taiwan section of National Geographic’s International Photo Contest 2015. His prizes included a smartphone and return air ticket to the United States. The Hong Kong Observatory used one of his pictures for its 2016 calendar, and musical productions and a university have paid him for landscape and architectural photographs.

The winning picture for the National Geographic contest is one Yuen took from Kowloon Peak (Fei Ngo Shan) in East Kowloon, which is close to where Yuen lives. He said he spent about a month planning the shot before he took it.

“The tent and the cliff represent the natural areas of Hong Kong, and I had the city in the background, so the contrast shows the close relationship between Hong Kong and nature.”

His title for the picture translates to “a child’s pursuit of a dream”, and he says it’s partly a lament that not a lot of people can see the work he and his fellow photographers do.

“Me and my friends often go out to take pictures, and we realised that young people like us might put a lot of effort into doing something, but there aren’t a lot of artistic outlets for us to show our work. Not a lot of people can see the work that we put so much effort into,” Yuen said.

He says he can share his work with photography groups, but ultimately there aren’t a lot of outlets for him to get his work out to a wider public.