The Sony World Photography Awards has recently announced the list of works winning National & Regional Awards in 2024.Accordingly, the work "The Highest Peak in Southern Việt Nam" has surpassed 415,000 other entries submitted by over 74,000 photographers from more than 206 countries to become Việt Nam's representative on the list. Not only that, the work ranks highest on the list on the award's official website.The photo features the Tây Bổ Đà Sơn Buddha at the summit of Bà Đen Mountain amid billowing clouds.

The award-winning work is titled "The Highest Peak in Southern Việt Nam". Photo: Trần Tuấn Việt

The beauty of Bà Đen Mountain has caused a sensation in the international media. A series of famous newspapers and magazines with large global readerships such as BBC, Daily Mail, The Mirror, Daily Record, Euronews and The Times have praised and placed the photograph at the top of the list of award-winning works.On the BBC's Instagram platform, alongside other images, the photo of Bà Đen Mountain received more than 40,000 likes within just over 12 hours of being posted.The writer Laura Sharman of Daily Mail bestowed the term “spectacular” upon the photo. “With an elevation of 3,268ft (996m), the peak, which resembles an upside-down bowl, is the tallest in Việt Nam’s Mekong Delta,” Laura described.Meanwhile, The Times was highly impressed with the focal point of the work, the tallest bronze Buddha statue in Asia located at the summit of the mountain in the middle of a sea of clouds.Photographer Trần Tuấn Việt captured the work at dawn in October 2023 at Bà Đen Mountain, Tây Ninh Province. The photo captures the moment the Tây Bổ Đà Sơn Buddha is illuminated by the early morning sunlight, while much of the mountain remains shrouded in a thick layer of smooth clouds. It creates a harmonious and magical image, leaving a lasting impression on anyone seeing the work for the first time.The Tây Bổ Đà Sơn Buddha statue in the photo is 72m high, cast from over 170 tons of red copper, setting the record for “The tallest bronze Buddha in Asia at the summit of a mountain”.Bà Đen Mountain is known as the "Roof of Southern Việt Nam”, which is also the name that Trần Tuấn Việt gave to his work. This sacred site, associated with the legend of Linh Sơn Thánh Mẫu, attracts millions of tourists annually to worship and pilgrimage.In recent years, Bà Đen Mountain has asserted its position as the top spiritual destination in Southern Việt Nam and the whole country. With a modern cable car system, it also features a magnificent spiritual complex based on the spiritual energy of Bà Pagoda located halfway up the mountain.

The newly launched Maitreya Buddha statue is made from 6,688 sandstone stones, contributing new endless inspiration about Bà Đen Mountain for the photography community

In particular, spiritual works of international scale and quality such as the Tây Bổ Đà Sơn Buddha statue and the Maitreya Buddha statue, created from 6,688 sandstone stones, have further enhanced the sacred beauty and natural richness of the region. These have contributed to making Bà Đen Mountain an endless inspiration for the photography community.The Sony World Photography Awards has been conducted by the World Photography Organisation for 11 years. The award is internationally recognised as one of the most important events in the global photography community annually. It attracts broad international media attention every time it is announced.

The photographer's black and white photo also won an Honourable Mention at the 2023 International Monochrome Photo Contest, category Nature for Professional Photographers. Photo: Trần Tuấn Việt

This award contributes to the global voice of photography, bringing profound perspectives on contemporary photography. It is also an opportunity to widely introduce beautiful images of countries to friends around the world. Along with other works, "The Highest Peak in Southern Việt Nam" will be exhibited at Somerset House, London, England in April this year.