Bucket Tech: HUAWEI XMAGE Awards

The 2025 HUAWEI XMAGE Awards Ceremony and "The World, You and Me" Annual Imaging Exhibition was held this week at the Grand Palais in Paris. The event, jointly hosted with Paris Photo, one of the most world’s largest international art fairs dedicated to photography, drew attention from a host of accomplished creators, media, industry leaders, and photography enthusiasts.

Kevin Ho, CEO of Huawei Consumer Business Group, said of the event: " Through XMAGE, we can use the power of technology and images to better perceive the world, and more gently, to see one another."

Founded in 1997, the annual Paris Photo event regularly attracts over 100,000 attendees. This year's exhibition represents the third time (originally in 2018 and 2019) that Paris Photo and Huawei have collaborated to introduce mobile photography to the global art scene, and the first since the company unveiled its genre-defining XMAGE brand that signalled a meaningful shift from technical innovation to creative expression and storytelling.

This year's exhibition is based on the theme "The World, You and Me" and showcases the works of talented creators and how they are perceiving, recreating, and interpreting the world around them. It also plays host to three exhibition areas, titled "I Capture, Therefore I Am", " The Constructed, The Perceived", and "In Their Own Words." Each have been carefully curated to reflect the competition's emphasis on visual immersion.

All of the works on display delve into the idea of reimaging the relationship between individuals, their unique perspectives, and the visual worlds they inhabit. In addition to being one of the top photography exhibitions, the event is a major drawcard for leaders in global photography, providing the perfect backdrop for networking, relationship building, and idea sharing. This lends itself to the very ethos of Huawei XMAGE as it aims to serve as a global platform facilitating artistic exchange for all.

This year's competition attracted over 743,000 submissions from users in 78 countries/regions. The “XMAGE 100” showcases the competition’s most outstanding images, selected without traditional categories. From this group, three Grand Prize Winners of the Year were chosen. The works are shown below with the judging panel's comments (in no particular order).

According to Alex, CMO of Huawei Consumer Business Group: “Let’s continue to capture, share, and inspire the world through XMAGE.”

Ethereal Lines

Judges' comments: “Outstanding photographers are exploring uncharted territories of photography with high-end smartphones. The evolution of mobile technology is transforming the way we view the world. A premium smartphone has become a "spaceship" to infinite possibilities. This is a complex interplay of optics and algorithmic computation. Explorers move freely between the macro and micro worlds, transitioning from "seeing" to "insight." And thus, a fascinating unknown emerges in the most unexpected moments.”

New Life

Judges' comments: "This concise, straightforward photo shows the entire cycle of life, with the mother, the newborn calf, and the farmer who probably gave no thought to the uniqueness of this scene. It is the ordinary nature of this image that makes it so extraordinary. The photographer employs no special tricks, simply capturing an image of extraordinary depth and meaning as it occurs."

Origin of Skiing

Judges' comments:  "This picture captures the gaze present between two people who encounter each other. The child is standing on the snowy plain, but basking in the sun, dressed in traditional Altay clothing. The photographer shows remarkable restraint, not projecting their own feelings on to the image, but rather, letting the child's personality shine through."

Through these images and countless others, HUAWEI XMAGE is inspiring a paradigm shift in photography from "seeing" to "perceiving" our world, forging connection in unexpected places. Now that pictures are no longer images to be passively viewed, but rather, windows to what surrounds us, each touch of the shutter opens up a world of possibility.

Bucket Tech: HUAWEI Kicks Off the Global XMAGE Awards 2023

 

Huawei has officially kicked off the HUAWEI XMAGE Awards 2023. As Huawei’s open platform for smartphone photographic excellence, the annual competition celebrates inspiration and creativity, through amazing photos and videos captured with Huawei devices around the world. Since 2017, users from more than 170 countries and regions have participated in the yearly competition, contributing nearly 4 million entries to date. This makes the HUAWEI XMAGE Awards a cultural heritage of its own, containing fragments of human history from worldwide perspectives.

Capture and Inspire: A New Direction for XMAGE Awards

This year’s XMAGE Awards hopes photographers everywhere – casual or professional – will seek inspiration in their photography. The award takes its name from Huawei’s proprietary Imaging Research & Development arm XMAGE. Like its namesake, XMAGE Awards aspires to help photographers find inspiration and be innovative in photography.

Launched in 2022, the XMAGE brand focuses on optical system, mechanical structure, imaging technology, and image processing in photography. All four pillars of XMAGE now form the tenets of Huawei’s new and upcoming smartphone camera technology, such as the latest HUAWEI Mate 50 Series’ Ultra Aperture Camera and HUAWEI P60 Pro's Ultra Lighting Telephoto Camera.

New Night Walk category to capture Wonders of the Dark

This year's competition has the following categories: Night Walk, Portrait, Art & Fashion, Outdoor, Hello Life, Storyboard, Action and Storytelling.

Night Walk is a new category, encouraging users to photograph the hidden wonders of night life, using Huawei’s unique night-photo settings.

 Attractive prizes and new judges

This year, the following prizes will be given out to outstanding submissions: 3 Grand Prize winners, 24 Best-in-Category winners, 27 Runner-up winners, and 5 Honourable Mentions. Winners can receive up to USD 10,000 in prize money.

New judges were invited, including Molife Kumona, GQ South Africa Editor-in-Chief. This also includes five leaders in photography: Chen Xiaobo, Vice President of China Photographers Association; Chinese fashion photographer Pei Tongtong; Portuguese landscape photographer José Ramos; Australian portrait photographer Jessica Hromas; and Li Changzhu, Vice President of the Consumer Strategy Marketing Dept at the HUAWEI Consumer Business Group.

The XMAGE Awards Submissions will close at 23H59 GMT+8 on August 15, 2023. We look forward to your participation and seeing your creativity come alive.

Users can visit the unified global submission channel via XMAGE Awards 2023 for their submission, as well as submit their entry via HUAWEI Community. Entries must be images or videos captured with a Huawei mobile phone, and there are no restrictions on when the work was captured or using which Huawei mobile phone.

For more information and competition terms and conditions, as well as submission, please refer to the competition website: https://gallery.consumer.huawei.com.

Bucket Seat: New KIA Sorento wins 'Large SUV of they year' Award

KIA have really being done some great things in the motoring world, their SUV's have been particular ones that have been drawing a lot of attention in the market. With a wide range of small crossovers to the larger models, they all seem to offer great quality, comfort and not to mention, really good looks. One model I'm looking forward to this year is the new Sorento, its the largest SUV in their arsenal and features the new KIA design language and it looks amazing! The Sorento is a 7-seater large SUV, offering luxury and comfort to its occupants and was recently nominated in the "What Car?" car of the year awards for large SUVs and it claimed the prize! 

Up against worthy competition in the Large SUV category, the What Car? judging panel chose the Sorento for its impressive fuel economy, driving dynamics, high levels of standard specification, and exceptional build quality. The variant chosen by the judges at What Car? was the 1.6 T-GDi Hybrid in the UK’s ‘2’ specification*, packed full of standard features such as a Reversing Camera System, Intelligent Speed Limit Assist, and Forward Collision Avoidance with pedestrian, cyclist and junction detection.

Commenting on the Sorento win, Steve Huntingford, Editor of What Car? magazine said: “The Sorento's hybrid tech combines good real-world fuel economy with comparatively low CO2 emissions, while the ride is comfortable and the steering accurate. Throw in a nicely made and well-equipped interior, and a driving position that’s lofty enough to make HGV drivers jealous, and the Sorento is an outstanding all-rounder.” Won-Jeong Jeong, President at Kia Motors Europe commented: “It is always a great honour to receive awards for the vehicles that we produce, and particularly from such well-known and highly regarded publications as What Car? magazine. The fourth-generation Sorento is a car we are very proud of, particularly as it represents the first application of electrified power in our flagship SUV.”

The all-new Sorento has only been on sale in Europe for a short time, yet has already cemented itself as an important halo product in the Kia line-up, having also won ‘Car of the Year’ in the UK’s Carbuyer 2021 awards. Models shown in the pictures are from European market, South African models and engine variants to differ upon market introductory. 

Winning Year for Tsogo Sun Suncoast!

2017 has been an award-winning year for us and it’s not over yet!” says Louise Howell, Marketing Manager at SUNCOAST.

The awards range from recognition for contributions in the community to topping popularity-polls by readers of one of Durban’s daily newspapers.

In Women’s Month (August) SUNCOAST scooped the Corporate Citizenship Award, sponsored by British American Tobacco, at the 14^th edition of the prestigious Standard Bank Top Women Awards held at Emperors Palace in Johannesburg.

The Corporate Citizenship Award acknowledges the role of business in improving the communities in which they operate and the positive impact on quality of life, economic prosperity or regeneration through direct investment, pro bono work or employee-led initiatives.

The award recognized the ongoing contribution that SUNCOAST makes to the community of Chesterville via its partnership with Vukukhanye (an NPO operating in the area).

Vukukhanye was formed in 2001 and offers essential community services in the form of children’s foster homes, Educare centre, bursary projects, health and welfare services as well as support for community-based organisations and schools. SUNCOAST has been collaborating with the NPO since 2009 providing financial support and regular participation from SUNCOAST staff on various community projects.

“It was extremely gratifying receiving the Corporate Citizenship Award as it validates the culture that the TSOGO Group has instilled in all their properties,” says Howell. “Partnering with Vukukhanye and the CEO, Dr Anthony van der Meulen, allows us to practise the values of Teamwork, Service, Opportunity, Growth and Ownership and make a positive difference in other people’s lives.”

Another award won during the year is the PMR Awards, where SUNCOAST won a Golden Award (4.2 out of 5) in the category of Casino Executive Lifestyle. SUNCOAST also topped a popularity poll from Durban readers when it was recently voted the Best Casino in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) in the 2017 Daily News Your Choice Awards for the 14^th year running.

“Being voted the Best Casino in KZN for 14 consecutive years is a record that SUNCOAST is extremely proud of,” adds Howell. “It also gives our staff the recognition they deserve. SUNCOAST firmly believes that keeping staff members motivated and happy are the keys to great customer service. The award confirms that our guests notice and appreciate our efforts!”

Individual employees have also been excelling in their departments.  Croupier, Cheszine Muller, was named first runner-up in the 2017 Tsogo Sun National Dealer of the Year Championships at Montecasino, Johannesburg in September.

Muller was one of 18 finalists and was joined in the top five by fellow SUNCOAST colleague, Mbuso Dube (who placed fourth). The table dealers were judged on various criteria in the preliminary rounds of the competition, including knowledge, dealing skills and customer service standards. Once through to the final round they were assessed on technical skills and other aspects of the dealing cycle in American Roulette and Blackjack. The winner was announced after the final five had to answer judges’ questions at the prizewinning dinner.

“Taking part in the Championships was so much fun and not difficult at all because the tasks involved what I do every day,” says 29-year-old Muller, who has been a croupier at SUNCOAST for the past three years.

Meanwhile, finalists Devina Dawkinun and Lebo Mohoko are anxiously awaiting the outcome of their respective competitions.

Dawkinun (founder of the Gemkids Catch-up Programme and manager of SUNCOAST’s Day Care Centre) is one of the top five in the 2017 Tsogo Sun Entrepreneur of the Year Award, a competition for entrepreneurs and alumni benefiting from the Tsogo Sun Entrepreneurs development programme.

The Day Care manager at SUNCOAST was selected as a finalist from 200 fellow-entrepreneurs and will be attending a National Showcase and Conference at the Southern Sun in Pretoria at the end of October, where the Tsogo Sun Entrepreneur of the Year will be announced.

“I feel proud to be acknowledged by Tsogo Sun,” says Dawkinun. “All too often entrepreneurs go unrecognized. The nomination has meant the world to me and it would be that much more special if I was to win.”

The Tsogo Sun Entrepreneur for 2017 will receive R50 000 from Tsogo Sun, a bursary valued at R30 000 from Tsheto Leadership Academy and will be ambassador for Tsogo Sun Entrepreneurs for the next year.

Mohoko (barista at Café Vigour and KZN winner of the 2017 Tsogo Sun - Avanti Coffee National Barista Competition) is eagerly anticipating the national battle of the baristas in Gauteng in November. His expert coffee-making skills saw him win the regional round earlier this year.

“Coffee is my passion and, although I am nervous and excited about the Gauteng finals, I hope to make Café Vigour and SUNCOAST proud by bringing the National Barista Champion title home to Durban,” says the popular barista.

“We are eagerly awaiting the judges’ decisions in these two competitions and hope that Devina and Lebo will come out tops,” says Howell. “The accomplishments of the year have made all the hard work worthwhile and motivated everyone to aim for more success in 2018. The public’s support also plays a large part in SUNCOAST’s success for which we are very grateful.”