Seoul's Songpa-gu, led by district mayor Seo Gang-seok, is holding a smartphone photo event — "One Shot from the Heart: Songpa-gu Waterfront Smartphone Photo Event" — from Monday through Aug. 31, inviting residents to share the charm of Songpa as a waterfront city.
Songpa-gu has been developing a waterfront city project centered on its abundant water resources — Seongnae Stream, Jangji Stream, Tancheon and the Han River — to give residents spaces for everyday leisure and relaxation. After completing the Jangji Stream Waterfront Sensibility Park last year, the district is this year building a Seongnae Stream waterfront vitality hub featuring a community space and a panoramic café.
The district is also continuously expanding its walkable, stay-awhile waterfront spaces through landscape improvements along the Seokchon Lake cherry blossom path and a 4.5-kilometer snowbell tree trail along Tancheon.
The event gives residents a way to share diverse views of Songpa-gu's waterfront spaces and document the district's water resources through photos they take there.
Entries should be smartphone photos capturing the scenery, ecology, people, seasons and night views of Songpa-gu's waterfront spaces. Residents are free to submit everyday shots taken at those locations — family strolls, the changing natural landscape through the seasons and more.
Anyone who uses Songpa-gu's waterfront spaces may enter. Photos taken on a smartphone are eligible regardless of when they were shot, so both past and present images can be submitted. Each person may submit up to two photos through a Naver form accessible via QR code. Multiple prizes to the same person are not permitted.
The district will select 200 outstanding works based on submission standards and judging criteria, awarding each a coffee gift card worth 10,000 won ($7). Results will be announced in September on the district office website and official social media channels, with individual notification sent to winners.
Some selected works will be featured in a special photo exhibition at the Jangji Stream Waterfront Sensibility Park activation event scheduled for late October. The exhibition will run as a participatory display sharing waterfront scenes captured by residents themselves, and the photos will continue to be used afterward to promote waterfront space use and district initiatives.
The event is sponsored by Garden Five Life Co., adding a public-private partnership dimension in support of the local commercial district.
"The beautiful waterfront scenes that residents discover in their daily lives are yet another landmark of Songpa," district mayor Seo said. "I hope many people will share the happy moments they have experienced at our waterfront spaces and help spread the appeal of Songpa as a waterfront city."
seouldream01@heraldcorp.com
