Huawei's Consumer Business Group announced that it will host the second edition of the NEXT-IMAGE Award this year, following the successful conclusion of the inaugural NEXT-IMAGE Award last year. The NEXT-IMAGE Award is a smartphone photography-related award held annually by Huawei's global headquarters, and is organized based on a partnership with the International Center of Photography (ICP) in New York, a leading global institution in photography and visual culture.

The NEXT-IMAGE Award is part of the 'HUAWEI NEXT-IMAGE Plan' and aims to redefine visual expression and culture through professional and intuitive smartphone cameras featured in Huawei products.

The NEXT-IMAGE Plan is carried out with the following pillars: ▲Product technology implemented through Huawei P series smartphones and proprietary AI processor Kirin 970 ▲Image technologies including artificial intelligence, VR/AR, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), and hologram ▲Latest image trends resulting from increased smartphone photography and social media usage.

The NEXT-IMAGE Award, first held in 2017, established an online gallery where Huawei smartphone users worldwide could showcase their works. Over 157,000 submissions were received from more than 90 countries, and 500 finalists were selected.

Kevin Ho, head of the handset division at Huawei's Consumer Business Group, announced the NEXT-IMAGE Award during his keynote speech at CES Asia, saying "The NEXT-IMAGE Award, held annually, was created with the intention of enabling smartphone users to capture and share moments in their lives and experience the joy of photography." He added, "Huawei is redefining the meaning of visual expression at the forefront of mobile photography technology, and through the NEXT-IMAGE Award, we aim to explore the unlimited possibilities of next-generation smartphone photography and videography with Huawei mobile users."

Mark Lubell, Director-General of the International Center of Photography in New York, said "I am delighted to host the second NEXT-IMAGE Award with Huawei. The works submitted to this award last year were powerful and impressive. We are pleased to continue hosting the NEXT-IMAGE Award, which enables us to actively engage with image creators around the world based on the power of mobile photography and contribute to raising the level of visual expression across all generations."

The 2018 NEXT-IMAGE Award consists of six categories in total: 'Good Night', 'Faces', 'Hello, Life!', 'Check-In', 'Timeline', and 'Story Board'. After 500 finalists are selected, judging will be conducted by five industry experts including Mark Lubell of the International Center of Photography in New York, as well as five visual storytellers representing the younger generation who actively share mobile photography on social media.

The grand prize winner will receive USD $20,000, while the best award winners in each category will receive a HUAWEI P20 Pro smartphone and HUAWEI MateBook X Pro notebook. Additionally, 50 excellence award winners will be selected.

Along with the NEXT-IMAGE Award, Huawei will host related events including ▲NEXT-IMAGE College workshop with photography experts, ▲global exhibitions in major cities such as Paris, ▲NEXT-IMAGE Master Class with world-renowned photographers such as Alec Soth of Magnum Photos (scheduled for late 2018).