Award-Winning Simplicity: Platinum Prize Photo Captures Nature’s Quiet Drama

In a world overflowing with visual noise, the most powerful images are often the quietest. Leka Huie’s Phantom of Lizard is one such image—a monochrome masterpiece that strips nature down to silhouette, texture, and light. Captured in Hong Kong’s Sai Kung Country Park, the photo freezes the moment a tiny lizard rests upon a leaf, its form outlined against the glowing veins of nature’s canvas.

With a careful blend of technical mastery and emotional restraint, Huie uses an off-camera flash to backlight the leaf, revealing every delicate vein while casting the lizard in dramatic contrast. The result is both intimate and monumental—a microcosmic world rendered with cinematic mystery.

Awarded the Platinum Prize and selected as Best Photo of the Season, this work exemplifies the power of minimalist composition and the emotional weight that lives in the shadows. Huie reminds us that art isn’t always about what we see—it’s about how we choose to look.

1. What inspired you to take this award-winning photo? Is there a story behind the piece you’d like to share?

I capture this Lizard photo in Hong Kong Sai Kung Country Park. When I see a small Lizard rest on a Leaf , I decide to take a picture of silhouette of a Lizard which full of dramatic and mystery

2. Were there any challenges during the process of creating this series or image? How did you navigate them?

I used off- camera flash (TTL Speedlight SB-900) as a main light source to show more details in the leaf. I hope the final result will be more dramatic. Black and white photography is all about shape, form, and texture. As a rule, the more simple the subject, then the more effective the image, and this photograph is a great example of that. I combined simple shapes with contrasting tones to create a very strong image, the viewer's focus falling immediately upon the silhouette of the lizard. the veins and detail in the back-lit leaf are a delight, offset beautifully against a black background to avoid any distraction. So simple, but so effective - the power of black and white revealed.

3. How do you approach the balance between technical skill and emotional/artistic expression in your photography?

I tried to keep more details in the photo as possible since it is a macro shot, and keep more contrast to show the mystery emotion.

4. What message or feeling do you hope your photography conveys to viewers?

The macro world can often be overlooked and it should be championed more. Seeing the beautiful sections and cells of the leaf shows us the tiny scale of the world the photograph has taken us in to. Then that beautiful silhouette of the animal, with its familiar looking limbs and digits. I do hope the viewer can feel this photo full of dramatic and mystery.

5. In your view, what role does photography play in today’s world?

In my point of view , the role of modern photography is an art of observation; observe more and try hard to make it better.

Learn more about the photographer:

https://filmfreeway.com/LekaHuie/photos