2017 Winning Photographers

Sebastiano Tomada

New York City, USA

Grand Prize Winner
Photographer of the Year

Sebastiano Tomada is a photojournalist based in New York City and the Middle East whose work brings together documentary photography and portraiture in conflict zones in some of the world’s most volatile regions in the Middle East and Asia. Sebastiano travels extensively for some of today’s most recognized publications including The Sunday Times, Vanity Fair, The New Republic, Zeit, The Atlantic, Businessweek, GQ and Vogue.  He has earned a series of prestigious awards for his powerful work including a World Press Photo Award Photographer of the Year and the 2013 Humanitarian International Red Cross Visa d’or award.

Children of Qayyarah
“Children roam the streets in Qayyarah, Iraq, near the fire and smoke billowing from oil wells set ablaze by Islamic State militants (ISIS). November 4th, 2016”

Brendan Ó Sé

Cork, Ireland

1st Place
Photographer of the Year

Brendan Ó Sé  is a University Teacher and Teacher Trainer, in his free time he is also an award-winning fine art and iPhone photographer from Cork, Ireland. In addition to winning awards in several international photography competitions, Brendan was part of the original Apple World Gallery of images shot on iPhone 6 in 2015 in which his photograph was showcased on billboards and posters throughout the world. Brendan has given popular iPhone photography workshops in Ireland as well as Cyprus, Iceland, Thailand, Indonesia and Hong Kong.

Dock Worker
“I shot this photo on an early morning photo walk around the docks in Jakarta in April 2016. These were the hands of a dock worker who was taking a break. I was struck by the texture created by the accumulated dirt on his hands.”

Yeow-Kwang Yeo

Singapore

2nd Place
Photographer of the Year

Yeow-Kwang Yeo born in Singapore. He is a freelance photographer focuses on travel and social photographic projects. He has won numerous international awards for his work, including the Best Single Image of The Travel Photographer Of The Year Award 2011 and two First Prize in the Sony World Photographic Awards 2013.

The Performer
“Chines traditional street opera is part of the Chinese culture. Unfortunately, the young generation in Singapore is no longer interested. Hence the street opera is fast disappearing.
Instead of shooting their performance, I decided to go the back of the stage to capture the performers’ preparation activity. I spotted this experience performer who is taking a short rest and was waiting for his turn to perform. I was attracted by the lighting of the old plastic curtain, electric fan, and the overall calm atmosphere.”

Kuanglong Zhang

Shenzhen, China

3rd Place
Photographer of the Year

Kuanglong Zhang is a a freelance photographer from Shenzhen city, China. When asked about his work he said “ I think, photography is derived from life, and only people who love life can take a picture of temperature.”

The City Palace
“Udaipur is one of the most romantic cities in India. in the City palace, I snapped a moment of one of the staff gazing out of the window as if he saw the slowly historic course of the palace’s construction, which was as quite attractive moment.”

Juan Carlos Castañeda

Astoria NY, United States

1st Place – The America I Know

Juan Carlos Castañeda is a writer, director and cinematographer who has worked around the world for the past 20 years. His work has been broadcast nationally and internationally and has been screened widely at International film festivals. Juan Carlos is one of the co-founders of Human Pictures, a production company dedicated to media creation for social change. His involvement with Human Pictures has allowed Juan to create a voice against the injustices of humanity and promote Human Transformation his work. He holds a Bachelors in Multimedia Arts from the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology University, Melbourne, Australia, and a Masters in Fine Arts in Film Production from Chapman University, Los Angeles, California.

“These pictures were taken on December 5th, 2016 at Standing Rock, North Dakota. That day the water protectors, the people standing up for the Sioux tribe were supposed to get evicted by the Morton County Sheriff’s Department. Thousands of veterans came to the aid of those of us who were protesting. They told us that they had vowed to protect this country from all enemies, foreign and domestic. President Obama announced that the Dakota Access Pipeline had to be halted until an investigation was made. The veterans still marched on that afternoon and made sure to let everyone know that they were there helping protect Standing Rock. Mother Nature stepped in that day with a blizzard of 40 to 50 mph winds with temperatures of -30F. The height of the storm and the march was captured with the photo that was selected for first place. Everyone there stood until it was physically impossible to continue. Shortly after that picture was taken everyone had to go back to camp and the officers on the other side of the bridge had to leave as well. It was a great reminder of who truly was in charge.”

Davis Bell

Los Angeles CA, United States

2nd Place – The America I Know

Davis Bell, originally from a small town on the island of Oahu lives and works in Los Angeles. His mom is an artist and always encouraged him to be visually expressive. He likes to create narratives with his visuals. He is always trying to create something genuine and authentic.

“As we made our way around Antelope Island on that clear and crisp September day I couldn’t help but be startled and amazed at the immenseness of these bison. Out here on the open field as they moved about the dry golden grass above the Salt Lake, slowly, deliberately, the feeling of quiet strength was humbling to me, the observer. In many ways this image encapsulated my internal search on this particular road trip. Being but an arms length away from this gargantuan creature gave me some pause for reflection in my search for so many answers. Here this animal that became the imagery of The West, and whose lore is interwoven with pioneers, cowboys, and the earliest inhabitants of these American plains, stands as a mythical remnant, a symbol, of our American journey and what is possible with a little foresight, a little courage, and a lot of dedication.”

Maria K. Pianu

Pordenone, Italy

3rd Place – The America I Know

Maria K. Pianu is an Italian born independent journalist who is a passionately in love with New York. She previously has worked in communication and fashion industry.

“When in NY area, I like to take an out of season walk in Coney Island. This photo was taken during an Indian summer windy day,breathing the Ocean breeze and getting inspired by Coney Island decadent and old-school Brooklyn atmosphere.”

Christopher Armstrong

Sydney, Australia

1st Place – Abstract

Christopher Armstrong was born in Cape Town, South Africa and currently lives in Sydney Australia. He holds a BFA in Photography and has taught digital media at Collage of Fine Art. His winning image is taken in Looking Glass Bay, Gladesville Australia.

“I’ve always sought to connect to the viewer though notions of beauty and the sublime and this has continued to shape my image making. I am striving to capture the luminous tones of light, ones that glow and transport. I hope to touch the viewer with simply beauty but also to connect to the history of art making as I reference and am inspired by other practitioners.”

David Redhill

Sydney, Australia

2nd Place – Abstract

David Redhill is a photographer, writer, journalist and musician who has lived and worked in Sydney, Barcelona, London and San Francisco. He is currently global chief marketing officer for Deloitte Consulting. David learned to shoot photos on 35mm and print them in his parents’ darkroom in the early 1970s. His work has been published in several international newspapers, used in advertising campaigns, and exhibited in Australia, Spain and the UK.

“This photo was taken on my first visit to the Holocaust Memorial, Berlin, Germany. After absorbing the adjacent museum’s documentation of WW2 horrors, I walked around the concrete stelae of the Holocaust Memorial for a couple of hours, often in tears, criss-crossing the 54 X 87 grid repeatedly while absorbing its meaning and significance. As the sun gradually set, the afternoon shadows rose higher up the Memorial sentinels, with the evening light transforming from a stark, unforgiving exposé to a softer, more compassionate warmth.”

Lee Jones

Shanghai, China

3rd Place – Abstract

Lee Jones is an designer and iphone photographer from Shanghai.

I was at an exhibit viewing an art work with light shining through the spider net and most of people were observing the spiders. There was dust flying in front of the net and captured the dancing particles.

Francesca Tonegutti

Milan, Italy

1st Place – Animals

Francesca Tonegutti is an Architect and an iPhone photography enthusiast living in Milan, Italy. Francesca most enjoys shooting photos of buildings, landscapes, horses and other beautiful animals in such a way as to capture moments that feel magical and tell a story without using too many filters.

Yeguizo
“The photo is shot after a dressage-clinique at the stable “Cuadra de la luz” in Chiclana de la Frontera , Andalucia,  Spain. The horse in the photo is my horse, Yeguizo. He was resting and drying on the sun, looking at me.”

Dongrui Yu

Yunnan, China

2nd Place – Animals

Dongrui Yu is a freelance photographer from Yunnan, China who graduated from University of the arts London. Dongrui Yu loves traveling the world and his photos become his memories. He contributes work to many publications, including National Geographic Traveler and China National Geographic. Since 2015, Dongrui Yu has been using his iPhone as his camera.

The Swan in the Pond
“This photo was taken on a cloudy morning by a pond. I liked the reflection in the water which was dark and smooth because of the cloudy sky.”

Shuo Li

Beijing, China

3rd Place – Animals

Shuo Li is an editor at Popular Photography magazine as well as a freelance photographer and lecturer for and online course Mobile Photography and Digital Retouching.

“It was taken in Maasai Mara National Reserve, on October 6, 2016. It was the last safari that day, my friend and I were leaving Maasai Mara. The sky was pure blue with beautiful clouds, I noticed a giraffe was eating Kigelia Africana leaves. We drove our SUV around the giraffe ,and then I found the best angle to took this photo.”

Paddy Chao

Taipei, Taiwan

1st Place – Architecture

Paddy Chao is from Taipei, Taiwan. He loves traveling and enjoys capturing moments in his journeys as well as his daily life. His passion is documentary and street photography as well as portraiture.

Chand Baori
“This photo was taken when I was traveling in India. Chand Baori consists of 3,500 narrow steps over 13 storeys. It extends approximately 30 meters into the ground making it one of the deepest and largest stepwells in India. I marveled these elegant stepwells and shadows, I immediately took out my camera and captured this beautiful scene before it was gone.”

Naian Feng

Shanghai, China

2nd Place – Architecture

Originally from Shanghai, China, Naian Feng studied at the London College of Communication in the UK. After graduating, Naian Feng returned to China to continue his career as a freelance travel and landscape photographer as well as a photographic instructor based in Shanghai.

“This photo was shot during a trip to the Forbidden City in Beijing. I was walking on this wide boulevard with two high red walls on both sides which really make me feel nervous and majestic. There were pigeons flying around the Forbidden City from time to time, this particular photo was one of the shots I took using the burst mode on my iPhone.”

Szymon Felkel

Poznan, Poland

1st Place – Children

Szymon Felkel lives in Edinburgh, Scotland. He works as a graphic designer and motion designer. He loves to go different places and in search for interesting images with his iPhone.

“The photo titled “Children’s curiosity” was taken in August 2015 in New York at the Time Square”

Varvara Vislenko

St. Petersburg, Russia

2nd Place – Children

Varvara Vislenko mom of twins, is a doctor living in St. Petersburg, Russia.

“On the pic is one of my 3 year old daughter who is making her silly face. It was taken in the beach on island Bali -Changgu in 2017 with an iPhone 6s.”

Barry Mayes

Herts, United Kingdom

3rd Place – Children

 

 

 

Sidney Po

Cebu, Philippines

1st Place – Floral

Sidney Po is from Cebu, Phillippines, he is a self-taught photographer and has been taking pictures for almost 40 years.  Sidney beileves the world is a storybook that one can choose to simply live within, or one can choose to be the storyteller.

“About 20km southeast of Cebu City where I live is Cordova town which belongs to Mactan Island. This place has become a tourist (both local and foreign) attraction especially at night when all the white LED roses lit up.”

Smetanina Julia

Moscow, Russia

2nd Place – Floral

Smetanina Julia is from a small town in Tatarstan, Russia.  She spent her childhood engaged in artistic gymnastics, dancing and choreography followed these passions throughout her school years.  Later she studied finance and moved to Moscow where she now works as a financial director in her own business. She is also professional photographer, photography teacher and make up artist.

“This photo was taken when I was preparing for a lecture on composition in a still-life. This was one of the classes on mobile photography which I conducted last year.”

Laura Warren

Putney, VT, United States

3rd Place – Floral

Laura Warren has always been interested in art.  She is a resident of Riverdale, New Jersey and is currently in her twentieth year teaching special education.  She also spent a year as an instructor for the Paterson Youth Photography Project in Paterson, New Jersey, where Saturday mornings were spent teaching children about the technical and artistic elements of photography. Additionally, this will be Laura’s fifth summer teaching Photography at Landmark College in Putney, Vermont. Laura received a Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation grant to study digital storytelling at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.

I’m a special ed teacher throughout the year in NJ but have been teaching photography at Landmark College in Putney, VT for the last 5 summers. I was teaching my students how to minimize backgrounds and use natural light.  I also teach how to look for “gesture” in nature.”

Christian Horgan

Fremantle, Australia

1st Place – Landscape

Christian Horgan works in Film, Television and Radio as a producer and presenter.  He is based in Western Australia, with his work screening nationally and around the world.  Christian has the opportunity to capture images from the filming locations he travels to, but much of what he photographs is a unique take on what he comes across in everyday life.  He’s all about using his iPhone to see the world in a different light.

Singing Rock
“I captured this image in the Margaret River region of Western Australia.  It’s my second home, and one of the most spectacular places on earth.  This was taken on the coast at Wyadup Rocks, and is called Singing Rock.  I was swimming there with family when I was drawn to it by the sound of it’s song as the wind whistled through it, and just had to capture this image.”

Sergey Pesterev

Mendeleevo, Russia

2nd Place – Landscape

Sergey Pesterev is from the Moscow region in Russia. He is a programmer by profession and an amateur photographer. He loves to travel and tries to convey the atmosphere of places he visits through photography. Sergey is a member of the Russian Union of Art Photographers, has participated in several collective photographic exhibitions in Russia and has won several awards from FIAP salons including the “Artist FIAP” distinction in 2016, a “Special Mention” award in Travel Photographer of the Year 2016 and was a commended photographer on Sony World Photography Awards 2017.

“ This photo was taken on January 30, 2016, on Olkhon Island, Lake Baikal, Russia. It was the first ice on the lake after heavy frosts below -30C, it is titled, Baikal Ice on Sunset.”

Alexandra Maldonado

Quito, Ecuador

3rd Place – Landscape

“This photo, titled Pachamama, was taken on June 5, 2016 at the Cayambe Volcano in Ecuador, at 5790 meters.”

Nick Trombola

Pittsburgh, PA USA

1st Place – Lifestyle

Nick Trombola was born in Pittsburgh in 1996. He will be graduating from Indiana University with a degree in Journalism next year, but photography is one of his great interests and hobbies. He hopes to one day become a foreign correspondent, and has just recently completed a newsroom internship at the Daily Monitor newspaper in Kampala, Uganda.

“I went on a ski trip to Telluride, Colorado last winter with some friends. On the second morning we were already outside before the trails even opened for the day, so we were one of the first groups on the lift. The snow was perfectly white and mostly undisturbed because the only people who were on the Mountain before us were locals who had houses higher than our hotel. On our way up we passed over a group of three skiers, and I thought that they contrasted so well against the snow and our skis in the foreground that I quickly dug my iPhone out of my jacket and took the shot.”

YuMing Guan

Guangdong, China

2nd Place – Lifestyle

Yuming Guan is a high-school teacher currently lives in Shenzhen, China. He’s a keen amateur photographer who manages to snap poetic moments in each ordinary day.

“This picture was taken in the summer of 2015, in Oia, a beautiful small town of Santorini. Tourists from around the globe gathered at the cliff to see the breathtaking sunset that is known as one of the Greatest Views in the World. Everyone was amazed by the stunning moment with awe and applauds, that’s when this local old man caught my attention. He was so concentrated and undisturbed, as if no crowd or view deserves his attention better than his own windowsill. I guess perhaps in his mind, the Greatest View in the World is HOME.”

Chung Hung

Taipei, Taiwan

3rd Place – Lifestyle

Chen Chun Hung is a Taiwan based illustrator and travel writer. He has travelled to more than 50 countries from the Arctic to Antarctic capturing and writing about the primal beauty of the earth.

Aaron Sandberg

Chicago IL, United States

1st Place – Nature

Aaron Sandberg is from Chicago, Illinois and is currently working as a high school English teacher.

“I took this photo in late June of 2016 while in Sigtuna, Sweden. I used my old iPhone 6s (native camera) then did some light post-processing with Snapseed, Photoshop Fix, and VSCO. This photo didn’t need too much editing at all unlike some of my others—nature did most of the work here. This was the best shot out of maybe a dozen or so captures.”

Dongrui Yu

Yunnan, China

2nd Place – Nature

Dongrui Yu is a freelance photographer from Yunnan, China who graduated from University of the arts London. Dongrui Yu loves traveling the world and his photos become his memories. He contributes work to many publications, including National Geographic Traveler and China National Geographic. Since 2015, Dongrui Yu has been using his iPhone as his camera.

Joseph-Cyr

Tucson AZ, United States

3rd Place – Nature

Joseph Cyr is a language teacher in Tucson, AZ. Born in Seoul, he has also lived and worked in Georgia, the Pacific Northwest, France and Nicaragua. The clarity of light and the sculptural quality of the plants in the mountainous Sonoran Desert have instilled in him the habit of always keeping his iPhone with him when going for runs or hikes in the hills and canyons near his home. Whether it’s the man-made details of a streetscape, or the effects of time and seasons on a landscape, he’s fascinated by what constitutes a sense-of-place in a scene; the spontaneity of iphone-photography inspires him to always be looking for ways to capture the ephemeral.

“Coming down from an after-work trail run on a ridge above a canyon in the Santa Catalina Mountains, this grouping of saguaros caught my eye. Iconic, perhaps cliché, these giant cacti, but I never tire of running among these living columns that can live for more than two centuries and weigh a couple tons. The slant of light on winter evenings adds such a contemplative flavor to the desert. It’s good to be reminded of our own brevity.”

 

Samuel Nacar

Albacete, Spain

1st Place – News/Events

Samuel Nacar is a young photojournalist who has been covering migrant crisises for the past 4 years. Samuel began in Melilla in 2014 where he had his very first experience with migration, after doing an internship for three months in “El País”.  Later he covered the Spanish migrants in Londonm and In September of 2015 he went to Lesvos where he spent 6 months, then Idomeni, where he spent two months more. His most recent work covered the eviction of migrants from Calais, in October 2016.

The nomads of Europe
“Monday 24th of October started the eviction of the biggest migrant camp in Europe named The Jungle, located in northern France only 5 kilometers away from the city of Calais. On Wednesday 26th of October the camp was set on fire and thousands of migrants had to leave, some of them were relocated while others were not.
  In this photograph you can see thousands of migrants being evicted from the camp due to the many fires.”

Thea Mihu

Sibiu, Romania

2nd Place – News/Events

Thea Mihu is an architecture student currently living in Stuttgart, Germany, she was born in Sibiu, Romania and studied for 2 years in Bucharest.

“Shot on February 4th, 2017 during anti-corruption protests in Romania, the largest protest since the fall of communism, where thousands of people protest creatively against Romanian government.”

Xirui Huang

Hunan, China

3rd Place – News/Events

Xirui Huang,a chinese photojournalist, has been to many countries and places covering current events.

Taken on January 2016, during clashes between Turkish Government forces and PKK militants at the old district Sur, Diyarbakir.”

Darren Boyd

London, United Kingdom

1st Place – Other

Darren Boyd is a London based Graphic Designer and a freelance portrait photographer who loves telling stories through visual communication.  For Darren, the most enjoyable part of making photographs is post-production where his creativity comes alive he can create the atmosphere he envisioned when shooting.

“This photo, Late Night Dumpling Run, was taken in China Town, London, on the celebrated Chinese New Year, 29th January 2017.”

Zarni Myo Win

Yangon, Myanmar

2nd Place – Other

Zarni Myo Win is from Yangon, Myanmar and is an enthusiast of travel photography.  In 2017 he was the 3rd place winner in the Sony World Photography National Awards and Overall winner of the Travel Photographer Society.

“This photo was taken on 16 August 2016 of a young man walking on puddle after rain in Yangon city, Myanmar. His image and the buildings were mirrored on the water and I shot that moment. It had nice movement and the buildings were a beautiful color”

Glenn Homann

Ipswich Queensland, Australia

3rd Place – Other

Glenn Homann lives in Ipswich, Queensland, Australia, just outside of Brisbane. He is an amateur photographer who has taken to using the IPhone as his main photographic device. Due to its compact size and being always at hand, the iPhone camera has made Glenn feel liberated in his journey as a photographer, in using it Glenn has had success in international photography competitions and exhibitions around the world.

“This image was taken whilst exploring the streets of a country town during a Christmas road trip. A lack of tall buildings and general visual clutter, wide streets and vacant lots enabled and inspired this minimal shot.”

Nick Trombola

Pittsburg PA, United States

1st Place – Panorama

Nick Trombola was born in Pittsburgh in 1996. He will be graduating from Indiana University with a degree in Journalism next year, but photography is one of his great interests and hobbies. He hopes to one day become a foreign correspondent, and has just recently completed a newsroom internship at the Daily Monitor newspaper in Kampala, Uganda.

“This photo was taken at the American cemetery in Normandy, France in March 2016 as my best attempt to do it justice. There is a kind of indescribably transcendent quality to the memorial that I’ve never really felt anywhere else. It remains to this day my favorite place I’ve ever been, and the way the sun reflects off the perfect white headstones in this photo always remind me of the feeling of wholeness I have when I go there.”

Andrew McCausland

Abbotsford BC, Canada

2nd Place – Panorama

Andrew McCausland is an amateur photographer who is passionate about capturing the beauty of nature. He lives in Abbotsford, BC and travels extensively for work and vacation, his iphone 6 is a constant companion. Andrew particularly loves shooting in black and white.

Yoho Sunset
“This picture was taken in the Yoho National Park of Canada just outside of Field, BC on October 12, 2016. I was traveling to Banff from Vancouver and the sun was disappearing over the mountains and I was compelled to stop and capture the Majestic mountain in the fading light.”

Brian Marchuck

Lancaster PA , United States

3rd Place – Panorama

Brian Marchuck is a resident of Lancaster, Pennsylvania. He is a 2006 college graduate of Millersville University with a Bachelor’s Degree in Accounting and Finance.  He is a Certified Public Accountant at Brown Schultz Sheridan and Fritz. He is a football fanatic, movie enthusiast and a technology guru. His favorite places to vacation are Florida and Arizona.

“The day started beautiful and sunny. During an ATV ride through the Sedona Mountain wilderness I jumped off the ATV as a rain storm blew in and portions of the sky started dropping rain bands over the landscape. The photo is called, Rain Over the Reds.”

Dina Alfasi

Israel

1st Place – People

Dina Alfasi is from Israel, she is a mother of a 13 year old boy and an Architectural Engineer. Dina is constantly looking for moments that convey an emotion or story..

“I shoot mostly street scenes and portraits, trying to capture intimate moments. Every day I get to work by train and bus. For two hours every day I’m in a place with different people. At first, to pass the time, I was just observing them and trying to guess where they’re going, what they are dealing with, or what their story may be. Along with this observation, I noticed intimate moments and so I started to take photos, and I was surprised with the result.”

Jiabing He

Zhejiang, China

2nd Place – People

 

Marina Spironetti

Milano, Italy

3rd Place – People

After earning a university degree in Languages and Literature, Milan-born Marina Spironetti trained as a journalist in Italy. She studied photojournalism at the London College of Communication. She launched her photographic career in 2004. Originally working as a UK correspondent for an Italian picture agency, she now freelances for a variety of magazines/newspapers. Marina has travelled extensively worldwide. She lived in London, Paris and Buenos Aires. She is currently Milan-based.

“This picture was taken in Arles, France, during the Rencontres d’Arles, an annual photography festival. I was visiting one of the exhibitions when I saw the picture – it was almost too good to be true: the bright yellow of the walls, the lady sitting down and then, all of a sudden, another visitor approaching in the background. It was one of those lucky moments. I decided to crop the lady in the background so that the two women in the picture could form two halves in the frame.”

Gabriel Ribeiro

Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil

1st Place – Portrait

Gabriel Ribeiro is a photographer  from Campo Grande, Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil.

“This photo was taken in January of that year, my aunt came from Bahia to Campo Grande and my cousin was with me when I had the idea of doing a picture of him, we went to the nearest window and began to photograph using natural light. My main goal was to capture the depth that a look can achieve, especially when it comes to children. I used the Lightroom Mobile app along with Snapseed to get the final result.”

Dan Liu

Sichuan, China

2nd Place – Portrait

Dan Liu is a professional landscape and portrait photographer based in China. His work focuses on eastern religion and ethnic minorities. He works with the Chinese branch of several companies including National Geographic.

“This photo was taken in October 2016, in a Tajik people’s community in Tashkurghan county, China. Tajik people are an Iranian-speaking ethnic minority in China. This old lady was just back from herding her sheep.”

Vlad Vasylkevych

Kiev, Ukraine

3rd Place – Portrait

Vlad Vasylkevych is a graphic and motion designer from Kyiv, Ukraine, he also works with photography and video. Vlad is an engineer with a computer science degree from the National Technical University in Kiev, Ukraine and has been working for 13 years in this industry. Vlad always want to get better at what he does, learning more and finding new ways to create and design. He is also passionate about traveling and capturing interesting moments around the world.

“The title for this work is “Run with us, they said. It’s just a run, they said,”and it is from an annual bright event that combines sport and fun with a goal to bring the message of healthy lifestyle to the city. The color run is a holiday in which there is a place for running under the splashes of holi paints, a music program, a drawing of prizes and charity for kids. The Color Run celebrates the individuality and uniqueness of every member of it.”

Joshua Sarinana

Cambridge MA, United States

1st Place – Series

Dr. Joshua Sariñana was born in San José, California. He obtained his neuroscience degrees at the University of California, Los Angeles and at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Sariñana has had a solo exhibition at the Griffin Museum of Photography, shown at the Houston Center for Photography, Photoville, and the Center for Fine Art Photography. His work has been recognized by the Sony World Photography Awards, PX3 Prix de la Photographie Paris, and the Head On Photo Awards. In addition, Sariñana’s work has been featured on Buzzfeed, The Huffington Post, and Time. One of his images was also licensed for an iPhone 6 commercial ad. Sariñana has published writings on the intersection of photography, neuroscience, and culture in the photography periodicals Don’t Take Pictures and The Smart View. Sariñana currently resides in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

“ I always have at least one camera with me at all times, and now that I have a toddler most of my images are made between work and home. Because I work across the street from the Stata Center — which contains the Computer Science and Artificial Laboratory (CSAIL) and Department of Linguistics and Philosophy at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology — I come across the building several times a day. It’s an easy building to shoot in that it lends itself to photography, and I’m constantly bumping into people taking a photo of it. However, it’s difficult to make a unique image of the building that stands out from the plethora of photos online.”

Javier Wandosell

Madrid, Spain

2nd Place – Series

Javier Wandosell was born in Cartagena, Spain in 1970. He started working there as a musician and advertising illustrator before moving in Madrid in 1999 to become Art Director for Young & Rubicam. During his career, Javier has worked for agencies such as McCann Erickson and J Walter Thompson. He is now Creative Director for TBWA.

Hidden Parts
“For several years while working for different agencies, I have had the great fortune of being the creative director for the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao account.

Walking through its exhibition rooms, footbridges, corridors, and stairs, during many long productions sessions gave me the opportunity to discover beautiful corners and backlit spaces that often pass unnoticed when visiting the museum. Perhaps these less familiar areas didn´t carry the iconic burden of the rest of the building, but they still preserved the intention and the presence of its author Frank Gehry in the lines.

In my first next visit as a tourist and without the rush of work, I couldn’t resist the temptation to search out these corners and spaces, but this time bring them home with me.”

Pierfrancesco Ajroldi

Roma, Italy

3rd Place – Series

Pierfrancesco Ajroldi is from Rome, Italy, and works in an advertising and cinematography company. Pierfrancesco lived for many years in the United States of America where he studied Business Management. He is a partner and collaborator in the Italian electronic music festival Dissonanze, where he has worked with many photographers, sparking. An intense and personal passion for mobile photography.

Alzheimer
“I read an article explaining how women were to pay the highest price in Alzheimer disease. One day in Leverano inside a garbage basket I found these old photographs, some ruined and others missing in some parts. Photographs are for me associated with memory, and thrown away photos are like losing a memory. I associated this with Alzheimer’s disease, so I decided to develop a project on this subject, combining the collage and what I had read in the newspaper article.”

 

 

David Hayes

Milford, OH

1st Place – Still Life

David Hayes is a photographer, mixed media artist, and explorer of life. HIs work expresses his life experiences and his take on things around him.

Over
“I’ve been working in the still life genre for the last several years and like styling vignettes such as this one. I had recently seen several other images that had used a smoking candle and wanted to see what I could do with that concept.”

Deena Berton

Weston MA, United States

2nd Place – Still Life

Deena Berton has had an abiding interest in making images since high school. In college and business school she studied “serious” subjects – math, economics, physics and business – while indulging her passion for photography by shooting for her daily college newspaper, the Cornell Daily Sun, where she ultimately served as Photo Editor. She is a founder and CEO of an IT consultancy, has three children and a dog. She creates images in many different media. Her current passions are mobile digital image making and mixed analog and digital media.  She has two Instagram accounts: DeenaBerton for mobile photography and DeenaBertonArt for analog and analog/digital mixed media.

Waldemar Nowak

Gdańsk, Poland

3rd Place – Still Life

Waldemar Nowak is an amateur photographer, his passion is mobile photography and everything that is connected with it. He takes his photos with his iPhone exclusively. Waldemar has previously had one of his images featured in the “Shot on iPhone 6” World Gallery.

“This photo, “Abandoned Chair,” was taken in abandoned resort in Poland –  I love to explore abandoned buildings. Everything that surrounds me and brings out emotions to me – is my inspiration. I catch a moment, I’m a thief of frames.”

Kuanglong Zhang

Guangdong, China

1st Place – Sunset

Kuanglong Zhang is a freelance photographer living in Shenzhen city, China.

“The sunset and the Golden Temple in Amritsar add radiance and beauty to each other. The ripple in water seems to be formed by doves’ flapping of wings. I think photography is derived from life, and only people who love life can take a picture of temperature.”

Xiaoying Tang

Shenzhen, China

2nd Place – Sunset

Xiaoying Tang is a travel photographer and travel blogger based in Shenzhen, China.

“I shot this photo in the vineyard of Tuscany, Italy in October 2016 with my iPhone 7 Plus. I love the beautiful countryside landscape of Tuscany. It was so lucky to capture the beautiful moment with a simple composition of the photo under the amazing golden lights.” 

Joseph Cyr

Tucson AZ, United States

3rd Place – Sunset

Joseph Cyr is a language teacher in Tucson, AZ. Born in Seoul, he has also lived and worked in Georgia, the Pacific Northwest, France and Nicaragua. The clarity of light and the sculptural quality of the plants in the mountainous Sonoran Desert have instilled in him the habit of always keeping his iPhone with him when going for runs or hikes in the hills and canyons near his home. Whether it’s the man-made details of a streetscape, or the effects of time and seasons on a landscape, he’s fascinated by what constitutes a sense-of-place in a scene; the spontaneity of iphone-photography inspires him to always be looking for ways to capture the ephemeral.

“”Sky on fire” has become a popular hashtag on social media, but cliché or not, the description rings so true so often in the deserts of southern Arizona. I try to time my after-work runs during the winter so that I finish right at sunset. Lingering in the desert, the colors ‘ripen’ for up to a half-hour after the sun dips below the horizon. The sky on this particular evening stopped me in my tracks; the seasonal angle of the sun during the winter months often adds a touch of pastels to the usual fiery mix on the bottoms of the clouds.”

Jen Pollack Bianco

Seattle WA, United States

1st Place – Travel

Jen Pollack Bianco is Seattle-based photographer and travel blogger. She runs the luxury travel blog My Life’s a Trip. Her mobile photography images have appeared everywhere from magazine covers (including TIME and Mobiography), popular websites (Buzzfeed, Mashable) to the Apple Shot on iPhone 6 campaign. She is a graduate of USC’s Peter Stark Producing Program and NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts.

Snow + Fishing Cottages = Win
Hamnoy, Norway
“I shot this image on a bridge in Norway’s Lofoten Islands overlooking Reinefjord towards Olstinden. The red cabins are traditional fishing cottages. I try to push myself outside of my comfort zone photographically a few times a year, and this year I headed to the arctic in February. I took this shot just after sunrise during a snowstorm. The colors changed every few minutes, and the snowfall was heavy at times changing the moody dramatically from minute to minute.  It was a classic “wait for the light” situation. It was amazingly atmospheric and beautiful, but very cold and windy. I shot this image using the native camera app on my iPhone 7 plus. The light was beautiful and I and used a touch of the Instagram Clarendon filter, which punched up the blue in the water. I’ve always been a fan of sunsets but photographing sunrise can be just as magical.”

Joshua Sarinana

Cambridge MA, United States

2nd Place – Travel

Dr. Joshua Sariñana was born in San José, California. He obtained his neuroscience degrees at the University of California, Los Angeles and at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Sariñana has had a solo exhibition at the Griffin Museum of Photography, shown at the Houston Center for Photography, Photoville, and the Center for Fine Art Photography. His work has been recognized by the Sony World Photography Awards, PX3 Prix de la Photographie Paris, and the Head On Photo Awards. In addition, Sariñana’s work has been featured on Buzzfeed, The Huffington Post, and Time. One of his images was also licensed for an iPhone 6 commercial ad. Sariñana has published writings on the intersection of photography, neuroscience, and culture in the photography periodicals Don’t Take Pictures and The Smart View. Sariñana currently resides in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

“I took this image in the summer of 2016 in Cambridge, MA.”

Li Jinquan

Beijing, China

3rd Place – Travel

Li Jinquan is a photographer from Beijing, China. He has been taking photos for many years, often focusing on people in the pictures not only shooting grand scenes

The Taj Mahal and people
“Every year, people coming from all over the world are gathering in front of The Taj Mahal no matter whatever their beliefs are. I went there in January of 2014 as a tourist. I saw this marvelous architecture, the people and the shadow of the building on the water, which are very impressive to me. In my eyes, the people in this photo seems to be between an illusory and the reality and the real worlds. I believe beautiful photos are everywhere but stories behind photos captured by photographers are much meaningful to me, even to the world. 

Magali Chesnel

Ferney-Voltaire, France

1st Place – Trees

Magali Chesnel is an artist, painter and self-taught photographer. Born in Versailles and a native of Brittany, France, she now lives and works in Geneva, Switzerland.

Frozen Tree
“Stormy winds have swept across Europe this winter, with Siberian temperatures transforming trees in wonderful icy show in Versoix, a little town close to Geneva, in Switzerland. After a conjunction of intense cold (-10 to -18 degrees Centigrade), with very strong winds, blowing at over 100 kmh, the waves from the Leman Lake got so harsh that they passed over the dikes and the droplets immediately froze everything they touched, including the trees. Braving the frozen ground, I took this photograph, early in the morning.

I am constantly amazed with ways Nature can create beautiful designs and compositions. I really enjoy having the flexibility of stretching my wings, in order to explore all the moments that life has to offer to photography. When the moment is captured, causing an emotion is my ultimate objective.”

Dyllon Wolf

Huntingtown MD, United States

2nd Place – Trees

Dyllon Wolf is a high school student living in Southern Maryland. Dyllon began to take his iPhone photography seriously during the summer of 2015. Although he has experience in film and DSLR photography, he prefers to use his iPhone because he enjoys the ease of accessibility that it offers, as well as the wide array of apps available for editing.

“This image was taken in Huntingtown, Maryland in May of 2016. After a long walk through the woods, photographing the nature around me, I stumbled upon this majesty and tried to capture it in a unique way that would showcase its enormity. The result was this worm’s eye view of the trunk leading up to the canopy that has been several times  compared to a python.”

 

 

Kaiyuan Teng

Taipei, Taiwan

3rd Place – Trees

Kai-Yuan Teng is from Taipei City, Taiwan.  Kai-Yuan Teng loves taking photos in order to record the changes of human beings, creatures, and time.

“The photo was taken in 2016 when I traveled to Osaka.I found the tree in a plaza, which looked just like a person wrapped in bandages. Trees themselves are creatures intertwined by their roots, and now they are also covered by straps. The tense and smothering atmosphere triggered my curiosity to take this photo.”