Tibetan landscape "Road to Heaven" wins Nikon gold

14:29, October 26, 2009

"Road to Heaven," a picture of Tibet's unique landscape, has won the only gold in a photographic campaign launched by Nikon Imaging (China) Co., Ltd.

"It is an honor belonging to myself and the Tibetan arts as well, because only on the land of Tibet could I finish such works of art. Thanks, Tibet!" said the winner Che Gang, vice-chairman of the Tibet Photographers Association.

"The photo is really outstanding. People who have seen often pictures showing the customary Tibet's blue sky, white clouds and herdsmen dressed in bright colors must be shocked at the first sight of 'the Road to Heaven' -- a gleam of the daylight. Only those highly-gifted can create a most imposing effect by catching a simplest fleeting image. Che made it," said Deng Wei, vice-chairman of the China Photographers Association.

The photo, printed for the first time in the People's Photography on June 29, 2006, was taken in 1991.

Che recalled: "It was a heavy rainy day on our way to Nagqu Prefecture (northern Tibet). When the rain stopped at around eight o'clock in the evening, the west of the sky assumed an ash dark, with a golden beam of light breaking in the horizon. By providence, a prayer appeared moving slowing against the background. I forgot about all the muddy and jumped off the vehicle; I focused the camera and pressed the shutter in a second. And the 'Road to Heaven' was there. Afterwards, I remained so excited and told myself such a celestial phenomena could happen nowhere other than Tibet, a mysterious place." 　

Source: Xinhuanet