Must-See: Justin Scholar’s Photos of Hangzhou’s West Lake

Justin Scholar is the winner of the Radii Photo Contest, which you already know. One judge called his winning picture (above) “timeless… an extraordinary image.”

But we were equally impressed with his two other submissions, which we’d like to highlight here (you’ll want to click to enlarge):

Scholar had this to say about his work:

In many ways, China was the first place I considered myself an artist.

Cheesy, I know, but in New York, I was a technician. I was a hired hand as the VFX supervisor on many many films, but never had the time nor need to make my own content. I was encouraged to travel to a new country and explore traditional art forms, and China seemed like the natural choice.

I spent 90% of my time at school in Shanghai, practicing calligraphy, guzheng and various studio art forms. I did get the chance to visit one other place: Hangzhou, for two days. I felt drawn to it after writing intensely on the Legend of the White Snake, because the West Lake & the Golden Pagoda were there. I wanted to walk along the lake, just as Xu Xian and Lady Bai had.

So I did.

It was a hazy, cloudy morning in Hangzhou. The boatsmen were out, but the tourists were not. It was perfect. The fog removed contrast from the landscape, making the West Lake look like a muted 水墨 Chinese watercolor painting. My friends and I walked speechlessly along the lake, astounded by how peaceful it was.

I remember the moment clearly, after taking this photo and thinking, for the first time, I had created a viable work of art. This photo was a discovery, both of an ancient history and of myself as an artist.

Simply excellent.

Photographer’s bio:

Justin Scholar is an American Visual Content Producer & Multi-Instrumentalist. Based in NYC, Justin has produced commercial content for Coca-Cola, NYU, Gibson Guitar and more. He frequently collaborates with Chinese classical & contemporary artists and is preparing for his November return to Shanghai. He also plays 20 instruments.

You can check out the other winners — and their photos — here.