Budapest International Photo Awards is an organization that's been rewarding select photographers from all around the world. The authoritative judges and experts painstakingly evaluate each photo, and award Bronze, Silver and Gold to the best entries. Each year they shuffle through tens and hundreds of thousands of photos just to give you the cream of the crop of the last year.

So, what did this year bring us? Keep scrolling and find out what 47 entries the panel deemed worthy of your attention. Enjoy!

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#1 Migrant Girls Mourn. 1st Place, Editorial

"Two migrant girls mourn during clashes between refugees and riot police on the Greek Island of Lesbos on February 3, 2020 in Mytilene, Greece. Refugees protested against the terrible conditions in which they lived inside the Moria refugee camp. Moria was the largest refugee camp in Europe, providing temporary shelter to around 20,000 asylum seekers before the fires and its final abandonment in September 2020."

Photograph: Ivan Romano

Image credits: budapestfotoawards

#2 Drying Dried Persimmons. 2nd Place, Advertising

"Every autumn is the harvest season of persimmons. Rural women are busy harvesting and making the remainders into dry cakes. The series of photos show the women's spirit of enduring hardships and hard works."

Photograph: Yu Ling Ho

Image credits: budapestfotoawards

#3 Our Past. Photographer Of The Year, Book, Professional

"The history of the Soviet Union is a clear example of how propaganda shapes the worldview, values and way of life of a person. We, who were born in the Soviet Union, sincerely believed in the values that we were inspired in early childhood. And only during perestroika [the reformation movement] we discovered the Other World."

Photograph: Svetlana Melik-Nubarova

Image credits: budapestfotoawards

#4 Change The Conversation. 2nd Place, People, Professional

"I grew up being called a midget by friends and family, who believed it was endearing to call me so. But as a result, I have battled with the concept of beauty, self-love and appreciation of myself beyond my physical appearance for all of my life. When my eight-year-old daughter came back home to ask if she is beautiful, it hit me the most. Changing the Conversation is a personal series that speaks of beauty as not a bondage but a concept that frees you. Beauty is not this or that; pretty or ugly. Beauty exists beyond binaries."

Photograph: Sujata Setia

Image credits: budapestfotoawards

#5 Born Of Fire. 1st Place, Nature, Professional

"During my expedition to the volcanic area of Fagradalsfjall in southwestern Iceland, it was the first photo just after the first contact with lava and the ubiquitous poisonous gas. Volcanoes are a rare opportunity to observe the complete transformation of the landscape. Places that were only recently valleys and meadows became hills, craters and lava fields. Being there was a great experience."

Photograph: Filip Hrebenda

Image credits: budapestfotoawards

#6 Tears For George Floyd. Gold In Editorial, Political

"At a Black Lives Matter protest in Cairns, Australia, US citizen Hermela Bealfan cries as she lies on the ground for eight minutes and 46 seconds – the time it took police officer Derek Chauvin to kill George Floyd by kneeling on his neck in Minneapolis. Cairns residents came out in their hundreds not only to protest against Floyd’s murder but also the Australian indigenous death toll ‘in custody’ – at the time 432 since 1991."

Photograph: Brian Cassey

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#7 Universe During Pandemic. 2nd Place, Science, Professional

"I have spent a year capturing all these mysterious and beautiful images of the universe, including galaxies and nebulas. Every image was shot for at least 25 hours, which means multiple nights per final image. Most of the images were taken at a dark site located in west Texas. Every night I watched the stars while my equipment is working, it makes me think of how tiny we are as human beings, and how little colour and luminosity we can perceive with our eyes."

Photograph: Zixiong Jin

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#8 The Ocean Color Canvas. Silver, Nature

"This is the submerged forest in Lake Shusenko. Lake Shusenko is so beautiful."

Photograph: Hirotaka Shindo

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#9 Forest Fire. Gold, Editorial/General News

"A child inside a car near a forest fire in Oliveira de Frades, northern Portugal, 7 September 2020. This forest fire mobilised 327 firemen, 103 land vehicles and eight airplanes."

Photograph: Nuno André

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#10 Unyielding Floods. Gold, Editorial/Environmental, Professional

"Floods in South Sudan have triggered food insecurity across the country. About 1.3 million children suffer from acute malnutrition, exacerbated by the spread of malaria and drinking water made unsafe by the floods, which have affected a million people since July 2020. Jonglei state is at the heart of the devastation. This project documents the devastation on three levels: natural disaster, food insecurity and loss of dignified living."

Photograph: Peter Caton

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#11 As Time Stood Still. 1st Place, Fine Art

"Diary of a photographer during the London lockdowns in 2020. Not being able to walk the streets to produce my usual work, I decided to turn the camera on to myself and explore my feelings, my insecurities, my hopes and my fears. The camera gave me a purpose during this very uncertain time and the creation of this project became a very psychotherapeutic process.

Margarita Mavromichalis has spent her life living and traveling around the world. She speaks five languages and likes to think that photography is her second language, as it is universal, one that is understood by all and conveys messages in a most powerful way. Margarita is attracted to street photography and the elements that evoke emotions and surprise in our everyday life. Furthermore, she is passionate about documenting current events that she feels strongly about, highlighting their social impact. Award-winning photographer, her work has been displayed in exhibitions worldwide."

Photograph: Margarita Mavromichalis

Image credits: budapestfotoawards

#12 Resonance. 1st Place, Science

"What if we could see sound? We would be immersed in amazing shapes drawn by acoustic waves in space. Thanks to Cymatics, we can go beyond the limits of our senses, and visualize the patterns created by a sound frequency on a fluid’s surface. The Resonance photographic project is a tribute to the secret beauty of Nature by showing the fascinating shapes generated on water by natural objects’ sounds (both Earthly and astronomic), which draw in front of the camera’s lens the invisible symphony of reality. Photos here presented: Magma, Stalagmite, Geyser, Fire, Snowstorm, Beluga, Blu whale.

Simone Arrigoni (Rome, 1973) is a classical pianist, freediving world champion (21 world records) and an award-winning photographer (FIOF Italian Photography Ambassador in China 2017 & Underwater Photography Festival Ambassador) with more than 100 awards in the most prestigious international photo contests, publications and worldwide exhibitions (China, Crimea, France, Greece, Italy, Japan, Singapore, UK, USA)."

Photograph: Simone Arrigoni

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#13 Pasola - A Sumbanese Sporting Tradition. 1st Place, Events

"Heralded by the arrival of the nyale, mythically revered sea worms, the Sumbanese celebrate a spectacular spear fight on horseback at the end of each rainy season. Pasola, a war ritual played to celebrate the rice planting season. Captured in 2020 @ Sumba Barat, Indonesia."

Photograph: Wolfgang Weinhardt

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#14 People Of Tundra. 1st Place, People, Professional

"In the far north of Russia, on the Taymyr peninsula, indigenous peoples continue to live according to the traditional way of life. They wander from place to place with their herds of deer. They spend all year in the tundra from birth to ripe old age, except for the time when children leave to study in boarding schools. It was surprising for me to learn that they are not hostages of the situation, they have a choice. Many families have apartments in settlements, but they do not want to live in them – choosing to roam the endless expanses."

Photograph: Yulia

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#15 Creatures From Another Dimension. 1st Place, Science, Professional

"People are often afraid of insects. The insects are akin to creatures from other parallel dimensions or sci-fi movies. The insects’ physiology, superpowers, and the way of life are different from that of humans. I tried to show the true essence of beings from other dimensions using negative images of the original photos."

Photograph: Irina Petrova

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#16 Fire Escapism. 2nd Place, Advertising, Professional

"My ongoing series of New York fire escapes is an uplifting tribute to the rhythm of this fascinating city. To me the fire escapes and the facades behind them are very characteristic for New York. On one side they are abstract compositions, but at the same time the stairs and windows behind provide a tangible reference to the human scale."

Photograph: Paul Brouns

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#17 2021 Dajia Zhen Lan Temple Mazu Pilgrimage. 1st Place, Events, Professional

"This annual event lasts for nine days and eight nights. Pilgrims set off from Dajia, head to Taichung, go south, arrive at Jiayi Mazu Temple and then return."

Photograph: Chen Che Wang

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#18 The Space Between. 2nd Place, Fine Art

"For this series Holfeld has focused on the the Calpe housing estate La Muralla Roja by iconic architect Ricardo Bofill. Built in 1973, La Muralla Roja is a postmodern apartment complex in Manzanera, Calpe, Spain and is ranked as one of Ricardo's ten most iconic works. The Space Between employs Holfeld's distinctive visual language to assemble the architectural surfaces he encounters as painterly abstractions. Through his lens and borrowing from the clean, vivid clarity of modernist painting, Holfeld transforms his studies into striking compositions of colour and geometric form.

Born in Dublin (1984), Daniel Holfeld grew up in Ireland and graduated with a BA [Hons] degree in photography from Dublin’s Institute of Technology in 2008. Holfeld has always gravitated towards large open spaces, developing a passion and admiration of the complex language of architecture. Earlier in 2020, Holfeld debuted his new series The Space Between in the Royal Institute of Architecture of Ireland and later returned to London to show the series in the Royal Institute of British Architects. RIBA acquired editions in to their permanent and prestigious Robert Elwall collection."

Photograph: Daniel Holfeld

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#19 You Are My Mother. 1st Place, Portfolio, Professional

"As the Covid pandemic rolled over the world, many of us found ourself going back to basics and spending more times with our families. Angelika started photographing her project in April 2020, while in complete lockdown in South Africa, because she wanted to document beautiful emotional healing she witnessed between a mother and her adult daughter. She started exploring the same ‘story’ in other mother/child connections, examining the impact it had on her own family life and on her audience."

Photograph: Angelika Kollin

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#20 Hope... Leprosy. 2nd Place, Editorial

"In March 2020, I was on a volunteering trip in Congo, Kimpese. Here is a leprosy colony... Leprosy can be cured if discovered in time, but unfortunately many do not notice in time. Gabriel is already 75 years old, he has lived here 20 years. Still hoping, many were healed and gone. But unfortunately society excludes them, they think evil spirits have invaded them. Who is denied. There is hope for recovery, but there is no hope of being welcomed back into their family.

I am 32 years old, Hungarian woman. I was born and raised in Romania. I am a passion traveller, during my travels I look for people's real face, life, past, future... I connect all my travels with volunteering... so my main goal is helping."

Photograph: Emese Balázs-Fülöp

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#21 Tartan Army Descend On London For Euro 2020, Silver In Editorial/General News, Professional

"Drunken Scottish football fans in the west end of London to celebrate Euro 2020. Thousands of Scottish fans headed to Leicester Square, where they wore their country’s shirts, kilts, waved flags and set off smoke bombs ahead of watching the match against England which ended in a 0-0 draw, enough to keep Scotland in the tournament. Supporters had been urged not to travel to London unless they had a ticket or had organised somewhere to watch the game."

Photograph: Jeff Gilbert

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#22 Black Eye. Growing Up Travelling. 2nd Place, Book

"Growing up Traveling is a collection of images of the truths and lives of the Irish Traveller children growing up in the caravans on the sides of the road throughout Ireland, with words from the children themselves, who long to be understood, and just treated as humans. I aim to have this book show these beautiful children how they are and who they are and to open up their world for better understanding that a child is a child and should be loved and respected for who they are.

Jamie's passion for faces of the next generation has been a lifelong focus. She has traveled the world capturing images of children and childhood around the globe. From Laos to Cuba, from the Amazon to Mongolia and around the world and back, she has found a universality in the world of children and her passion grows stronger with each new adventure. The lifestyles, cultures and traditions of growing up around the world are closely examined in her photos and each connection she makes with her young new subjects creates lifelong friendships."

Photograph: Jamie Johnson

Image credits: budapestfotoawards

#23 Series From An Unending Sunday Morning. 2nd Place, People / Portrait

"For four months, I've cycled to different areas of London to photograph trans and non-binary people outside their homes. This series is a documentary project about our unique lockdown experiences and the feelings of being separated from our safe spaces and our chosen families. Whilst this work is about covid, I intended to play with atemporal emotions, which we could also relate outside of the pandemic. Hence these large-format black and white photographs suggest a sense of a parallel reality where these portraits might or might not have been taken on a calm and silent Sunday morning.

Emil Lombardo is an Argentinian London-based photographer and is currently completing a MA at the Royal College of Art. Emil's work is about body politics, gender and the representation and visibility of dissident identities. Additionally, he is interested in how concepts of legitimacy, privilege and access apply to the Art world. Hence, he confronts private and public spaces by showing his work in galleries and taking over the street with ad-hacking and street art campaigns. Emil believes photography can be a tool for promoting equality and positive change."

Photograph: Emil Lombardo

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#24 The ICU In Times Of Pandemic. 2nd Place, Science

As a monstrous Covid-19 tsunami ravages continents, indiscriminately flooding the homes of towns and large cities with contagions and death. From then on, our reality changed its texture, plunging us into a kind of overwhelming delirium, in a recurring apocalyptic scenario of confinement and social isolation. And like a real war without a physical enemy and without a quarter, the hospitals, and specifically the ICUs, became the trenches where the toughest and most multifaceted battles could be waged on a daily basis, and for too long. The intrahistory lived by the health professionals of ICU.

Photograph: Fran Fernandez

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#25 Lockdown Swimming Pool. Bronze, Editorial/Photo Essay

"I’m a freelance photographer based in Tuscany but working all round Italy. I have approached professional photography only in recent years and I travel all around Italy for my projects. Every shooting session is an opportunity to grow both as a photographer and as a person. I want to give my portraits a deep and knowable meaning, ‘asking’ my images to spread energy and emotions and sometimes denouncing what I see happening to our world."

Photograph: Sean Glacio

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#26 I Was My Husband. 1st Place, Book & Best New Talent, Non-Professional

"Modern Indian society seems to be not able to modify some aspects belonging to the most orthodox Hindu culture, according to which a widow no longer has any right or social utility, and loses her identity when the husband dies. Kicked out of houses, they are banned from all social moments of life. A phenomenon that crosses all social classes, doubly enclosed within the walls of the ashrams and the cultural prisons of a society that prefers to make them invisible rather than questioning themselves."

Photograph: Valter Darbe

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#27 Twins. 2nd Place, Architecture

This is a Japanese bridge called Meiko Triton in Nagoya-shi. I expressed by a monochrome. Photograph: Hirotaka Shindo

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#28 The Persistence Of Family. 2nd Place, Fine Art

"By compositing together old and new family photographs, this series enables generations to reach each other across time. Driven by personal longing, the images make real those things I hold dear. But in doing that, they address universal experience, interrogating the way in which family relationships and history play a role in shaping our sense of ourselves and our place in the world. They suggest that the present, in each of us, contains both the past and the future. This series portrays the layered process of becoming, and the complex interweaving of time, place, and identity."

Photograph: Diana Cheren Nygren

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#29 Black Dress. Gold, Advertising, Professional

"The conception for the photo project was the creation of a perfect female image, romantic and mysterious, and at the same time daring and exciting."

Photograph: George Maye

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#30 Suspended Lives. 1st Place, Portfolio

"We are living in very dark times, full of anguish and fear, coming to us through the TV screens with real-time updates on the pandemic and through the window panes with the harrowing sound of sirens that repeat and chase each other all day. The pandemic has upset our lives, suspended them, and locked up at home, we wait to start living them again. I took these photos of my neighbors during the last period my region was in the red zone. One photo a day, at sunset. A series of portraits of a humanity that looks out, frightened, tense, but hopeful, has emerged."

Photograph: Salvatore Montagno

Image credits: budapestfotoawards

#31 A Sumbanese Sporting Tradition. 1st Place, Events, Non-Professional

"Heralded by the arrival of the nyale, mythically revered sea worms, the Sumbanese celebrate a spectacular spear fight on horseback at the end of each rainy season. Pasola, a war ritual played to celebrate the rice planting season. Captured in 2020, Sumba Barat, Indonesia."

Photograph: Weinhardt Wolfgang Pasola

Image credits: budapestfotoawards

#32 Waiting For The Last Wave. 1st Place, Editorial, Non-Professional

"Bangladesh is one of the countries most likely to suffer adverse impacts from anthropogenic climate change. Threats include sea-level rise, floods, and cyclones (approximately 130,000 people were killed in the cyclone of April 1990). The impacts of climate change will only exacerbate the problems already facing the population. Climate change and exposure to natural disasters threaten to derail efforts to eradicate poverty."

Photograph: Moniruzzaman Sazal

Image credits: budapestfotoawards

#33 Invisible Light Of The City. 1st Place, Architecture, Professional

"The most iconic buildings and landmarks of major cities around the world shot using DIY modified cameras for infrared photography. Infrared light renders a surreal atmosphere where the notion of colour has no meaning and luminosity is far different from what we normally perceive with our naked eye. This atmosphere is further enhanced by the total lack of human presence."

Photograph: Raffaele Canepa

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#34 Cocoons. Concrete And Steel. 1st Place In Architecture

"A series of buildings in Europe in different shapes, form and textures."

Photograph: Gino Ricardo

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#35 Requiem Pour Pianos. 2nd Place, Architecture, Professional

"What remains of their finery? Blown away marble, disembowelled fireplaces, torn hangings. These great houses have lost their glory. However, lurking in the shadows, astonishing wood and cast iron monsters with lacquered skin display their toothless smiles with ivory reflections. These pianos are the soul of the place, too heavy to be moved."

Photograph: Romain Thiery

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#36 Who Left The Bloody Lights On? 1st Place, Nature

"Shooting the world's lit cities, towns and villages at night from the cockpit of my Boeing B777 and B787. Guess the next best thing if Rico was not smart enough to be an astronaut, but mama and papa still proud, so win win. Oh, and guess Rico should also mention something about climate change/energy consumption blah blah, but sure you got that as well. Enjoy. The End!

Just like the other 7.8 billion people on this planet, Rico believes he is also idiosyncratic or original or special or one-off or unique, oh as well as woke. -ironic "adjective" 1. using words to convey a meaning that is the opposite of its literal meaning; containing or exemplifying irony: (an ironic novel; an ironic remark.) 2. of, relating to, or tending to use irony or mockery; ironical. 3. coincidental; unexpected: (it was ironic that i was seated next to my ex-husband at the dinner.)"

Photograph: Rico X.

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#37 Filling The Void. 1st Place, Fine Art, Professional

"Staying closed at home for months due to repeated lockdowns and being able to go out, as a photojournalist, to photograph my completely deserted city made me think a lot. The sense of loss, the absence of life, I perceived it similar to the sense of pain and absence of all my relatives and relatives who died in recent years. I tried to fill the deep sense of loneliness by making collages from photographs of Venice empty due to the Covid combined with old family photos."

Photograph: Barbara Zanon

Image credits: budapestfotoawards

#38 Girl Power. Growing Up Travelling. 2nd Place, Book

"Growing up Traveling is a collection of images of the truths and lives of the Irish Traveller children growing up in the caravans on the sides of the road throughout Ireland, with words from the children themselves, who long to be understood, and just treated as humans. I aim to have this book show these beautiful children how they are and who they are and to open up their world for better understanding that a child is a child and should be loved and respected for who they are.

Jamie's passion for faces of the next generation has been a lifelong focus. She has traveled the world capturing images of children and childhood around the globe. From Laos to Cuba, from the Amazon to Mongolia and around the world and back, she has found a universality in the world of children and her passion grows stronger with each new adventure. The lifestyles, cultures and traditions of growing up around the world are closely examined in her photos and each connection she makes with her young new subjects creates lifelong friendships."

Photograph: Jamie Johnson

Image credits: budapestfotoawards

#39 Sports Competitions. 2nd Place, Events

"Taiwan hosts some grand sports events every year. These events contain a variety of different competitions. This series of photos shows the players were working hard to achieve great results. and the audiences and fans also enjoyed the fun of the competitions."

Photograph: Yu Ling Ho

Image credits: budapestfotoawards

#40 Clari. 2nd Place, Events, Professional

"What kind of dress is this? That’s what I asked myself when I was covering this Jewish wedding. They put a cape on the bride, it is like a dress with a hole in the middle where the guests go to dance with her, and so the mother, the mother-in-law, the courtship, her friends and so on entered. It was the first time I saw this and the truth was I was delighted with the result."

Photograph: Carolina

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#41 The Death Of Adonis. 2nd Place, Portfolio, Professional

"Teresa Bandettini was one of the most talented eclectic women of the 19th century, born in Lucca in 1763. She is well known as an intellectual dancer due to her captivating and touching performances. She became the first woman to be admitted to the Arcadia Academy with the name of Amarilli Etrusca. I portrayed her through a series of diptychs inspired by Teresa’s feminine character and the deep knowledge she could source to create her art."

Photograph: Nicoletta Cerasomma

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#42 Hair. 1st Place, Advertising

"A small but strong dryer for hair."

Photograph: Štefan Csontos

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#43 Colour Study Series And Reappearance Series. 2nd Place, Portfolio

"Both series start with well-known camera techniques (ICM, DoF) and use layering to create images that reference artistic styles and techniques. I explore the intersections of photography and contemporary art where light and colour become the subject matter to reveal rich palettes and patterns, and layered rhythms and textures. My images explore unseen and abstract elements, creating fragmented painterly images. The Reapparance series starts with 100+-year-old photographs. The Colour Studies originates with photographs of coloured papers and films, stacked in a 3D tower of glass shelves."

Photograph: Paul Gravett

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#44 Water’s Flowers. 2nd Place, Nature

"Here is an art photo series representing an alternative universe. The living pictures unfold in water with the fusion of unique bouquets of flora and splashes of colors. I accidentally discovered Cy Twombly as a photographer. But also, I`ve been knowing and appreciating him as an artist for a long time. The idea to shoot a series of flowers and flowing paint with an implicit reference was born with lightning speed. Guided by the knowledge of color, I have created this series through numerous experiments. All of these carefully planned flower arrangements have been shot underwater using paints."

Photograph: Olga Volianska

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#45 Maletilla Success. 2nd Place, Editorial

"The Spanish bullfighter Francisco Montero triumphs at the Fiesta del Toro in Ciudad Rodrigo (Spain). He managed to get out on the shoulders of the Ciudad Rodrigo bullring after cutting 2 ears on a very emotional afternoon. This is the story of a "maletilla", a young man who, without means and without help, tries to enter the world of bullfighting by participating in "capeas", a popular minor bullfighting festival in which bulls are fought for fans according to the customs of each locality . He was an outstanding participant in the "capeas" of the Carnaval del Toro 2019.

Jordi Cohen is a freelance documentary photographer based in Barcelona. His work has been published in the New York Times, The Guardian, Der Spiegel, National Geographic, Mirror, Sunday Telegraph, CNN Blog, Leica Magazine, La Vanguardia, El Periódico, Photo France, XL Semanal and Piel de Foto among others.Has exhibited in Europe and America, to highlight San Diego Art Institute, CEH “Manege” St. Petersburg, Royal Geographical Society of London, Gallería Hector Garcia of Mexico City, International Festival of Social Photography in Sarcelles (France) and Couvent des Minimes of Perpignan."

Photograph: Jordi Cohen

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#46 Influence. Silver, Book/People

"My submission, entitled 'Influence,' is from a work whose subject matter is my life story told collaboratively. The narrative, in other words, is shaped by differing points of view held in tension. To facilitate this decentered, non-ego-driven approach to storytelling, my ‘counter-autobiography’ aligns three conflicting elements on each page: an original street portrait (all photographs are made by me) above an original caption (a thought inspired by the book’s title) above an original 3-line text (creative prose driven by poetry, ideas, memories, and found writing).

My submission, entitled "Influence," is from the fourth book of a projected 9-book work whose subject matter is my life story told collaboratively. The narrative, in other words, is shaped by differing points of view held in tension. To facilitate this decentered, non-ego-driven approach to storytelling, my work aligns three conflicting elements on each page: an original street portrait (all photographs are made by me) above an original caption (a thought inspired by the book’s title) above an original 3-line text (creative prose driven by poetry, ideas, memories, and found writing)."

Photograph: Josef Timar

Image credits: budapestfotoawards

#47 130617-030619. 1st Place In People

"The built environment, static and inanimate, is the stage upon which a walking choreography is played out. The humans, who bring the animate, are spatially arranged as though carefully directed. Have they been conditioned already to act like automatons or self-absorbed passersby uncannily acting out parts in mental isolation? I don't actually direct images but adhere to the rules of candid street photography. I'll often 'build' a shot by waiting for a satisfactory outcome in real time. This, according to other commentators, is perhaps why the images ring true as documentary."

Photograph: Streetmax 21

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