“GOD’S OWN MOUNTAIN” BY MUKUL MAHANT | ONEPLUS 13
New PerspectivesThe rise of smartphone photography.
New PerspectivesThe rise of smartphone photography.
The OnePlus Photography Awards were established in 2021 with the goal of celebrating the art of smartphone photography. Open to everyone with a smartphone, rather than just OnePlus users, the awards seek to create a global platform for photography, highlighting the technical capabilities of the phones we carry with us and their role as creative tools. Here, we present a selection of winning entries, and speak with two of this year’s winners about the images that set them apart.
MUKUL MAHANT—GOD’S OWN MOUNTAIN
OnePlus Group, Silver Award, Night and Low Light Category
Using OnePlus 13
The Gonbo Rangjon peak in the Zanskar region of Ladakh, India, is sacred to the local Tibetan Buddhist communities and is known as “God’s Own Mountain.” Mukul Mahant traveled there from his home in Kullu in the neighboring state of Himachal Pradesh in April 2025 with the intention of shooting the mountain against the Milky Way. The resulting image was shot after midnight, on one of the darkest nights of the year, as temperatures dropped to about 15 degrees Fahrenheit.
EH: How did you feel when you found out you were a winner?
MM: I was not expecting it, to be honest. It’s my first major honor. Before I got the email, I never called myself a photographer—I was just someone who liked taking pictures. Now, maybe that will change.
EH: How did you get started in photography?
MM: My father gave me a DSLR as a graduation gift in 2014. I worked with that for four or five years, so I knew the basics of how to expose pictures, shutter speed, aperture. Around 2019, I got my first phone with a nice camera [the OnePlus 6T]. Eventually I stopped using my DSLR, because my smartphone was a lot easier to carry, and it let me take more pictures and share them. Nowadays phones are up there with DSLRs, in terms of image quality. You don’t have to spend thousands of dollars on a camera and different lenses; you can do pretty much everything with a nice phone.
EH: What are some of the challenges of shooting in the dark?
MM: As a photographer—or someone who just likes to take pictures—you need to first visualize the kind of frame you are looking for, especially for night photography. It’s a different process compared to shooting during the day as you need to expose the image for longer. For the stars to appear, there needs to be minimal light from the surroundings and minimal air pollution. That’s one of the challenges with astral photography: You end up in the middle of nowhere. Another factor is weather—if there is even a single cloud in the sky, the image won’t be as clear.
EH: What was the process of taking your winning shot?
MM: I had been to this place in 2021, and had an idea that it would be good for the Night and Low Light category because there is no light pollution there. There are roads, and small tribal villages in the area, but they are far apart. And when I took this, there was no moon, so the maximum number of stars were visible. I brought a friend with me, because I did not want to be alone outside at night in the dark—it’s a perfect habitat for snow leopards. We scouted a few possible locations and just after midnight, we went out. It was very cold, but I was prepared.
EH: What did you like about this image?
MM: I submitted 15 different pictures in the category, but this one is framed particularly nicely: The road leads the eye to the mountain, which is in the middle of the frame and acts like a bridge between the upper half (the Milky Way) and the lower half (the road).
“NORTHERN LIGHTS” BY MARKUS VAN HAUTEN | SAMSUNG GALAXY S23 ULTRA. Markus van Hauten discovered his passion for photography on a trip to Iceland in 2006. The country’s landscape has become an enduring source of inspiration: This shot of the northern lights was taken on a visit in mid-September to Jökulsárlón, or Glacier Lagoon, on a rare clear and windless night. The bright moonlight allowed him to capture both the iceberg and the shimmering lights, earning him third place in the “Light Up Your World” Public group.
“STONE OF THE SKY” BY DEVANSH RAJPUT | ONEPLUS 11R. Shot on a OnePlus 11R, this photograph shows a chhatri, an open, domed pavilion, standing at a corner of one of the largest mosques in India, Jama Masjid in Delhi. It was taken by amateur photographer Devansh Rajput at sunset and won the bronze prize in the “Light Up Your World” OnePlus group.
“TRADITIONAL LIFE ON WATER” BY MYAT ZAW HEIN | ONEPLUS NORD 4
MYAT ZAW HEIN—TRADITIONAL LIFE ON WATER
OnePlus Group, Bronze Award, Movement Category
Using OnePlus Nord 4
Myat Zaw Hein’s winning image, Traditional Life on Water, shows two Intha fishermen dressed in traditional attire sharing tea at dawn on Myanmar’s Inle Lake. It captures a peaceful moment of camaraderie before the day gets underway; behind them, another fisherman demonstrates the Intha people’s world-renowned “leg-rowing” technique, which involves wrapping a leg around the oar to propel the boat along.
Elle Hunt: When did you start taking photos?
Myat Zaw Hein: I started my photography journey in 2015. Since then, I’ve participated in many local and international photography competitions, and have been fortunate enough to win some awards. I currently use both a professional camera and a mobile phone in my practice.
EH: What is the story behind this photograph?
MZH: This photo was taken during a trip I took to Inle Lake, one of the most famous places in Myanmar, together with my friend and fellow photographer, Min Min Zaw, in January 2025. It took us a day to get there, and then we spent three days taking photographs. This photo was taken on the day we were due to return home. It had rained the night before, and in the early morning the sky was cloudy. I was worried about the weather, but we stuck to our plan and took a motorboat to the spot we had chosen on the lake to prepare. Fortunately, around 7 a.m. the clouds began to clear and the sun rose beautifully over the eastern mountains.
EH: What were the challenges of shooting on water?
MZH: We collaborated with the local Inle fishermen to bring my vision to life, creating two or three different compositions—it’s particularly easy to do this with a phone, as it’s more convenient to use. That’s why I value mobile photography; there’s no longer a need to invest in expensive cameras and lenses to achieve high-quality shots.
EH: What did you like about this composition in particular?
MZH: While shooting, I was focused on making the image reflect the beauty of Inle Lake and the traditions of the local people, and the culture of sharing in particular: One fisherman is sharing his tea with another, while a third approaches from afar, all under the glowing sun. I took a lot of photos on the trip, but this one is my favorite.
“I stopped using my DSLR, because my smartphone was a lot easier to carry.”
“MANHATTAN NIGHTSCAPE” BY ZHONG RUI | ONEPLUS 12. The view across lower Manhattan and the Hudson River toward New Jersey, captured by Zhong Rui at dusk on a OnePlus 12. Pier 40, the former marine terminal, now used as a sports facility, glows in the center of the picture. It earned Zhong the bronze prize in the “Light Up Your World” OnePlus group.
“CHASING LIGHTS IN NIGHT” BY MOHAN G | ONEPLUS 12. Mohan G says that he long had the dream of photographing lightning behind Gingee hills and the Gingee Venkataramana Temple in southern India. It was too cloudy to shoot the full moon, as he had intended, but after waiting for two hours, he got this shot with his OnePlus 12, winning him bronze in the “Light Up Your World” OnePlus group. He estimates that the lightning bolt spans 20 to 30km.
“GATEWAY TO ARCTIC LIFE” BY YANG SUTIE | ONEPLUS 13. The winner of gold in the “Light Up Your World” OnePlus group, this photograph of the northern lights in Iceland was taken by Yang Sutie in November 2024 on a OnePlus 13. It shows the Arctic Henge, a contemporary monument still under construction in Raufarhöfn, the northern-most town on mainland Iceland. The monument is inspired by a poem in Norse Mythology that describes how the world was created, and how it will end.
“EXPLORERS IN THE MIST” BY CHEN WEIKAI | OPPO FIND X7 ULTRA. This shot of a lone tree on the Ulan Buton Grassland of Inner Mongolia won Chen Weikai the silver prize in the “Breathe Each Moment” public group. “I persisted until dawn that day, when thick fog quietly spread, making the stars flicker in and out of view as if a dreamy veil had covered the world,” he says.
This story was created in partnership with OnePlus. Founded on the mantra “Never Settle,” OnePlus creates exquisitely designed devices with premium build quality and high-performance hardware.
