Winner of 2014 National Geographic Photo Contest

“A Node Glows in the Dark,”  by Brian Yen of Hong Kong

Selected from more than 9,000 entries, a photo of a woman spotlighted by the glow of her phone on a crowded train was chosen as the grand-prize winner of the 2014 National Geographic Photo Contest. The photo, titled “A Node Glows in the Dark,” was shot by Brian Yen of Hong Kong. He has won $10,000 (USD) and a trip to National Geographic headquarters in Washington, D.C., to participate in the annual National Geographic Photography Seminar in January 2015.

“I feel a certain contradiction when I look at the picture,” said Yen. “On the one hand, I feel the liberating gift of technology. On the other hand, I feel people don’t even try to be neighborly anymore, because they don’t have to.”

Nicole Cambre of Brussels, Belgium, placed first in the Nature category for an image of migrating wildebeests in Tanzania, and Triston Yeo of Singapore won in the Places category for a photo of the Budapest thermal spas. Yen’s photo won in the People category, and all three images will be published in National Geographic magazine.

The annual photo contest attracted entries from more than 150 countries. Contestants submitted photographs in three categories: People, Places and Nature. Judging consisted of multiple rounds of evaluation based on creativity, photography quality and genuineness/authenticity of the content. All of the winning photos, along with the honorable mentions, may be viewed at www.ngphotocontest.com.