Buyu Lyu ’26 Named Runner-Up in New York Times Photo Essay Contest

Rutgers Prep junior Buyu Lyu ’26 was recently named a runner-up in the 2025 New York Times “Where We Are” photo essay contest. His entry–Horse-Racing Tibetans at Gannan, Blessed by Nature–was one of just nine runners-up selected from more than 600 submissions from around the world. 

"Where We Are" asks teens from 13 to 19 years old to document a community of people that interests them. Through words and photos, the essays must paint a picture of who these people are, why they gather, and what they get from spending time together. 

For Buyu, writing competitions have been a steady part of his creative journey. “I’ve been submitting to the New York Times competition since 9th grade,” he said. Now in his final year of eligibility for the NYT teen competition, he set out to challenge himself one last time with a submission he hoped would stand out. With a track record that includes essays, film reviews, and photography submitted to platforms like the Times and the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards, Buyu sees these opportunities not just as contests, but as a chance to share his voice. “I often enter various competitions because I feel like I’m not just writing for myself—I love when others see my work, understand me, and connect with the value, experience, or emotion I try to convey,” he said.

In his NYT essay, Buyu told the story of a horse-racing festival he attended in remote Gannan, Tibet, that, as it turns out, wasn't a part of his original travel plans. The trip was driven by a desire to explore Tibetan culture and witness their religious practices. "Although they are part of my country, Tibetans belong to a completely different ethnicity, with traditions and beliefs that felt both foreign and deeply meaningful," Buyu said. "I saw sights along the way that I will remember for the rest of my life."

But it was happenstance that brought Buyu and his group of friends to the festival. They were eating at a hotpot restaurant when they overheard that they had arrived just in time for the annual horse race in a nearby village. The descriptions of the locals—a divine ritual with great significance to their culture—convinced them. They decided they had to see it for themselves.

Judging by the photos alone, it might seem that Buyu has had a camera in his hands for years, but photography is a passion he discovered just last year. He found his father's Canon EOS 500D DSLR camera and began to tinker with it. It wasn't until he stepped into the classroom of photography teacher Scot Wittman, though, that he realized the potential both he and that camera had.

In the two years they've spent together in Photography I and II, Mr. Wittman has taught Buyu everything from the basics of how his camera works to advanced photo editing skills in Photoshop. The most important lesson Buyu has learned in those classes is that photography is art. Mr. Wittman encouraged him to create artistic compositions and more thoughtful ways of applying his new skills. "It’s not simply about capturing a moment," Buyu shared. "An interesting photo tells a story." 

The words Buyu used to tell his story were just as thoughtfully chosen. It was important for him to capture a sense of the sacred in the festival. He wanted to choose the moments that would reveal the invisible bond between the local Tibetans and Buddha and to convey the gravity of what was happening. One such moment was when, before the race, the villagers held a ceremony in which they lit campfires and cast paper talismans into the smoke-filled air to ask for Buddha's blessings in the coming year. Buyu also filmed the race, so the villagers could go over the footage and decide the results.

Buyu expressed his gratitude to Mr. Wittman for his support and guidance, calling him an important mentor who will continue to influence his academic path. Both Mr. Wittman and Buyu’s father encourage him to keep taking photos and developing his skills as a photographer.