When workers become 'photographers'

Perhaps no other photo contest in the province has gathered as many professions, fields, angles, and jobs as in this contest.“The beauty of workers in labor and production”organized by the Provincial Federation of Labor. With the participation of trade unions from districts and sectors, the subjects in the works have full roles and professions, from doctors to teachers, from workers to farmers, from factories to construction sites, from the lowlands to the highlands... Each work brings its own perspective on the culture and geography of each locality and each enterprise. That is why, although there are many photos in the contest, the works are not boring, on the contrary, they are very diverse, colorful and varied.

The contest received many beautiful images of workers in all industries. Photo: Provided by the Provincial Federation of Labor

The special thing about the contest is that the photographers are workers, laborers who live in that environment, are attached to that job, understand their characters, perhaps that is why the photos have emotional authenticity. In the photos, people find both sublimation and hardship, both success and difficulties, both risks and opportunities... Without embellishment or arrangement, many entries touch the hearts of viewers with the authenticity, simplicity and simple beauty of the workers. Those are drops of sweat under the eyebrows, soaked in masks, smiles smeared with grease, dust from construction sites, noisy, rushed assembly lines...

Photo: Provided by Provincial Labor Federation

Sharing about her entry, Ms. Dam Thi Thanh Thuy - an employee of Cua Lo Water Supply Joint Stock Company confided: "The photo captures the familiar image of the times we went to install water pipes and handle the flow points. Rain or shine, day or night, whenever there was an incident, the workers had to be there to handle it immediately. Seeing my colleagues wallowing for hours in water, mud, sand, struggling with large pipes, I felt very sorry for them."

Sharing about her emotional work, Ms. Dinh Thi Trang - Luxshare - ICT Nghe An Co., Ltd. said: “The photo captures the joy of workers holding new products in their hands. The photo was taken in mid-September 2021, when the first batch was successfully produced at a time when the epidemic situation was in a tense period. To achieve this joy, there were days when the production line worked until nearly 20 hours, even 21, 22 hours, and the night shift had to work until 7:50 am, everyone tried their best to deliver the goods on time as planned. There were even times when fatigue led to arguments, but in the end, we did it, customers were very satisfied with the progress and quality of the products. In recognition of the efforts of the production line, the leadership of Bu11 Factory Company had meaningful gifts to encourage the spirit of the brothers".

The joy of workers at Luxshare-ICT Nghe An Co., Ltd. when completing orders during the outbreak. Photo: Provided by the Provincial Federation of Labor

In addition to the stories, behind the photos are also deep thoughts and reflections. Sharing about her contest entry, Ms. Nguyen Thi Cam Tu - Trung Lai Gas Lighter Company shared: "Not everyone can do the job they love. But no matter what job you do, try your best, put your heart into it and gradually you will find passion for that job." Perhaps this reflection is true for all the contest entries. With hundreds of jobs in hundreds of environments, the characters in the contest entries all find their passion, live fully with it and are happy with their own "mission".

“Most of the entries were taken with normal phones, without the composition, color, and lighting adjustments of professional photographers. But it is that very natural, everyday nature that makes the contest a success, it exudes the true beauty of the workers, very real, very close” - a photographer commented.

The work "Drops of Sweat" comes from author Ho Thi Ngan Ha - Trade Union of Thanh Xuan Stone Mining and Processing Joint Stock Company (Quy Hop). Photo: Provided by the Provincial Labor Federation

It's impossible to tell all the stories behind the 500+ photos in this article, but perhaps the contest“The beauty of workers in labor and production”organized by the Provincial Federation of Labor was successful beyond expectations with many meaningful messages and values. At the end of May, although only a few works received awards, one thing is certain, all of those works deserve to be honored. Because they have fulfilled the role of honoring workers and the role of "diary" in the overall picture of labor, production, recovery and socio-economic development after the pandemic.

Photo contest "Beauty of workers in labor and production" is organizedWorkers Month2022, to create a playground for workers, motivate and encourage workers, and at the same time, create excitement in labor and production. The subjects participating in the contest are workers and laborers working directly at business units, non-public career units under the Labor Federation of districts, cities, towns, industry unions and Nghe An Sugarcane Union.

Contest entries are photos recording real-life activities.worker, laborercurrently working, laboring and producing at the workplace, taken from January 2021 to present, not submitted to other competitions.