Yuan Li splits his time between two careers: in the winter, he works as a ski instructor; in summer, a photographer. When he took this image, Beijing-based Li was visiting Norway and Iceland with friends, on a trip focused on sightseeing and photographing the aurora borealis. He captured this picture while exploring Sakrisøy, a small island in Lofoten, Norway. In the foreground sits this distinctive yellow homestay; in the background, Olstinden mountain.
“It had snowed heavily all day,” Li recalls. “As I was setting up to capture this scene, the snow stopped and the sun came out, which made the perfect environment for taking photos.”
Li used his phone to take this shot, later enhancing the colour of the house and mountain peak. “The contrast is the most important thing about this photo. The warm yellow colour of the foreground buildings contrasts with the cool colour of the background mountains, while the triangular eaves match the triangular mountain peak perfectly,” he says.
When Li shared the image on social media, some claimed it was AI-generated. “I’m not worried,” he says. “AI will never replace my photography, because my photos are warm and full of imagination. That’s something AI could never achieve.”
