A photograph of a red taxi in Hong Kong's Yau Ma Tei district has won an award in the 2025 Mobile Photography awards. The image, taken by William Shum, captures the contrast between the city's iconic red taxis and its dense residential architecture.
Shum described Yau Ma Tei as 'one of the region’s older and most characterful districts', drawn to its authentic local life. He waited for half an hour on the far side of the road, using burst mode on his iPhone 13 Pro Max to capture the taxi as it passed by at the precise moment it aligned with the building behind.
'The building is full of repeating windows and air-conditioning units, which creates a dense and layered background, while in front the taxi appears in a very simple and clean shape,' Shum said. He emphasised the need for the taxi to appear centrally in the frame to balance the massive building.
The winning image brings together two instantly recognisable elements of Hong Kong: its compact residential architecture and its red taxis. Shum's careful composition and patience resulted in a photograph that the judges deemed worthy of a top prize in the mobile photography competition.
