Every year, the International Photography Awards (IPA) hosts a thrilling competition for photographers around the globe. Open to both professionals and amateurs, the 2020 exhibition centered around an exciting theme: movement.
IPA recently announced its contest winners in a dazzling gallery of stunning images. Each photograph captures movement–of plants, animals, people, and machines–in a variety of creative ways.
IPA’s Photography Contest Captures Beautiful Moments
The Internation Photography Awards is a sister project of the non-profit Lucie Foundation. According to the IPA, the Lucie Foundation’s goal is to “honor master photographers, discover and cultivate emerging talent and promote the appreciation of photography worldwide.” The IPA’s OneShot awards are part of the ongoing effort to share the work of photographers from around the world. (1)
Aside from yearly awards, the IPA’s OneShot contest focuses on one specific theme for photographers to capture. Past word themes have included Harmony, Climate Change, One World, and Spaces. While entries are open to the photographers’ interpretation, all contestants must use one image to express the theme.
Nature As Inspiration
Because natural phenomena and species vary greatly around the world, many entries feature incredible moments of nature in motion. For example, winners in the Nature category captured the movement of a variety of animals.
The second-place winner, Claudio Piccoli from Italy, shows a dog and owner practicing disc throwing in a shallow body of water. After launching into the air off of its owner’s back, the canine is captured with mouth open about to catch the disc. The sunrise lighting and slow-motion movement of water drops capture the theme perfectly.
Since nature is so awe-inspiring, the Fine Art category’s winning photographs also showcase the natural world. The third-place winner, Ugo Ricciardi from Italy, captured Ireland’s Giant’s Causeway in incredible grayscale colors. Using an LED light and a long exposure, Ricciardi created the illusion of a swirling glow around a single figure on the stones.
Additionally, the overall photography contest winner also used nature as a subject matter. Anne Mason-Hoertner, a photographer from Germany, won with her fine art capture of wild carrots. While the scans and snaps of her wild carrots were painstaking, the final image shows the incredible movement of the plants at night. As a result, Anne took home the ultimate title of Photographer of The Year. (2)
Man And Machine In Movement
While nature features in many of the winning photographs, others used people and machines as their inspiration. For example, the Technology/Machine category winner features one photographer’s aerial shot of a Korean freeway. The vibrant colors and lighting are reminiscent of computer machinery; photographer Youngkeun Sur titled it “The Urban Semiconductor.” With attention to detail, it’s easy to see why Sur won.
Another Italian photographer focused their attention on people in a vivid capture in China. Jacopo Maria Della Valle’s “Rice Growers” shows a rare look at traditional rice harvesting by Chinese ethnic tribes. As they wear traditional clothing and carry heavy baskets, the women sing traditional songs as they work. The vibrant colors are simply breathtaking.
As a result of the entries, amazing photographs were collected to make this year’s OneShot contest a truly memorable one. While next year’s theme remains to be seen, future contest winners will no doubt bring attention to more amazing photographers.
