Mesmerizing Photos of Landscapes

Dreamscape
(2015 National Geographic Photo Contest - First Prize)
This river has carved out a canyon in Tianshan (Heavenly Mountains), exposing the colours and textures of sedimentary rock layers. The picture was captured right after sunset. Without shadows and direct sunlight, the elements appear flat and the image resembles a surreal oil painting.

Circles
(2016 International Photographer of the Year - Grand Prize)
Forming part of the Seascape series "Coastal Geometries", the picture narrates the story of fishermen at work as they steer their way through abstract geometries formed by bamboo rods erected for multiple aquaculture purposes along the coast of Fujian, China.

Farming the Sea
(2016 Sony World Photography Awards - Third Prize)
On a cloudy and drizzly afternoon, a fisherman rows between grids of bamboo rods planted in the seabed for aquaculture. In the absence of intense sunlight, the picture is flattened to two dimensions with pure lines and shapes, like a minimalist Chinese ink drawing.

Boundary
(2016 International Photographer of the Year - First Prize in Architecture)
The boundary of the world's largest Tibetan Buddhist institute in Sêrtar is sharply demarcated due to strict population control in the settlement, forming a strong contrast of density and emptiness in this remote yet religious highland in western Sichuan, China.

Salt Miners
(2017 National Geographic Travel Photographer of the Year - Shortlisted)
As part of the most ancient trade in Ethiopia, the salt miners in the Afar region still use traditional camel caravans daily to carry loads of salt bricks extracted from the salt flats. However, an under-construction railway from Djibouti and a new road traversing the old salt route may soon render the camel caravans obsolete.