Photographer Jasmine Poole took the image while visiting Forbes on a journey through rural NSW to capture the unique part of our culture that is the local Chinese restaurant.

She grew up around her family’s own restaurant in the suburbs of Sydney, but on a road trip to Broken Hill saw the number of Chinese restaurants scattered through the country communities and wondered how they ended up so far west. 

“I was really interested in people’s stories, the back stories,” Jasmine said. “So I did a couple of road trips.” 

It was on one of these that Jasmine came to Forbes, entered the Wan Wah and chatted with Kevin Chen. 

She was captivated by the rich interior of the local restaurant, even after visiting so many.

“Every restaurant has its own personality,” she said.

“Of all the interiors I saw this was one of the ones that blew me away. You don’t expect it from the outside.”

The image first featured in a Zine Jasmine and her friends produced, as part of a series titled Middle Kingdoms. 

The image won the Landscape NSW Award which is sponsored by NSW Parliament and celebrates the landscapes of New South Wales, and the photographers who capture them so beautifully.

Winners were announced at the official opening of the Head On Photo Festival at UNSW Art & Design Paddington.

The Festival also announced entries are open for a brand-new award, presented in partnership with the NSW Government.

Stories of NSW, The NSW Arts Minister’s Award for Visual Storytelling is a first of its kind in Australia and will award $10,000 to a project aimed at recording contemporary life in NSW.

The award is open to NSW artists with an idea or work in progress, which must fall under the category of fine art photography, photojournalism, or documentary photography telling the stories of NSW.

Entries close Monday 11 June, 2018. Applications can be submitted atwww.headon.com.au