National & Regional Awards 2023 | World Photography Organisation

Galaxy Explosion

Fireworks celebrate the dawn of a new year in the small town of Santa Rosa Xochiac, Mexico.

Lady of the Garden

This image is from my series, Lady of the Garden. As with other portraits in the series, I wanted to create a sense of movement in the photograph.

Norma

Norma was the real name of Marilyn Monroe. Norma is also the energy I invoke when I think about the consumption of happiness and success through social media.

Untitled

To create this photograph I positioned my model behind a piece of broken glass, which was illuminated by a red LED strip.

Slow Motion

Sometimes, watching a still diver can be beautiful.

Iceberg

The Ilulissat icebergs off Greenland’s coast lend perspective to the staggering immensity of the distant ice walls, which stretch for several kilometres and can be as tall as a one-hundred-storey skyscraper. That is only the ‘tip of the iceberg’, though. The glaciers extend well below the water, to an average depth of 2,100 metres, and discharge more ice into the global oceanic current than any other glacier in the Northern Hemisphere.

Bosnia Old Bridge Diving

Stefan Jevtic dives from the Old Bridge during the 456th traditional annual high diving competition in Mostar, Bosnia. A total of 31 divers from Bosnia and surrounding regions leapt from the 23-metre-high bridge into the Neretva river.

Roots of Life

This photograph was taken around Passo delle Erbe in the Italian Dolomites, with the magnificent peak of Sass de Putia (Peitlerkofel) behind. I took the shot just before sunset with an ultra-wide-angle lens, using a polarising filter to maximise the drama in the sky.

Vojtech

Vojtech, a ballet student in Prague. This portrait is from the series Ballet Life.

Traditional Dress

A girl in traditional dress in a region of Saudi Arabia.

Tuffie

Navigating life's twists and turns, one step at a time.

Jumping Rope

I took this photograph from a low angle so I could include the clouds and make the picture more dramatic.

Untitled

The famous hot springs at Güroymak, Bitlis, Turkey. The hot springs maintain a temperature of about 40℃, even when the outside temperature is as low as -14℃.

Ascendance

We climb in order to reach our highest self, rather than to reach the mountain top. As each person walks their path, they shall rise to their full potential.

Crocodile

As the rainy season comes to an end in Guatemala, the water level of the Usumacinta river fall dramatically and huge crocodiles take over the mud banks. These crocodiles are a key part of a healthy, functioning ecosystem, but it is very important not to feed them, as this increases the likelihood of conflict.

Matthew

Matthew is my dear friend from New York. It was so surreal to see him in rural Lithuania running around in the fields and connecting with this horse. When I look at this image I see serenity, inner peace and a connection with nature.

Wonderland

Wonderland hometown.

Sangay Dawn

Sangay has been active for the last couple of years in Ecuador, sending ash to cities that are hundreds of miles away. I travelled to the volcano and waited for 72 hours before I could photograph it at dawn with the clouds and stars in the same picture.

Watching Each Other

During the DokuFest film festival in Kosovo, films being shown at one of the cinemas set up in the city are watched without a ticket.

Exhausted

In Andalusia, Spain, the traditional Easter processions are a fascinating event to watch. The different brotherhoods (Hermandades) with their uniformed brothers (cofrades) are an everyday sight during the holy week, Semana Santa. Central elements of the processions are the heavy wooden frames (pasos) showing biblical scenes with one or more statues. These are carried through the streets by volunteer paso carriers underneath – usually one only sees their feet, but sometimes during the rare breaks one gets an impression of the tough job they have.

Man and Nature

Man and nature, a scene in Pamukkale, Turkey.

Pink Village

Every year between November and February, wild Himalayan cherry trees blossom around the village of Ban Rong Kla in Thailand. On the way to the village you have to pass through Phu Hin Rong Kla National Park, which was a key communist stronghold in the long-running conflict between the country’s Royal Armed Forces and the (now defunct) Thai Communist Party.

The Girl with the Red Hat

A little girl walking through Eleftheria Square in Nicosia, Cyprus. This great building was designed by Zaha Hadid.

Lapland

Moonrise in Lapland, Finland.

Live the Life

It is estimated that around 20,000 children from various parts of Rajasthan are leading a nomadic life, staying close to their animals.

Ballerina

This reminds me that cats are such beautiful creatures.

Imperfect

What the world might see as imperfections are what make us unique. For this portrait I wanted to strip my subject to their most basic self, removing the colour and background distractions to show them in their true form.

Old Car Full of Flowers

This image was taken in Mexico City in April 2022. We were walking along the street when we saw this beautiful old car full of flowers and took the opportunity to use it in a photoshoot.

Sirens Dawn

A portrait of a woman I met at the Baltic Sea in Poland.

Untitled

Youths jostle to drink alcohol as part of a cultural practice during the Indra Jatra Festival in Kathmandu, Nepal. During the week-long celebration a statue of Swet Bhairab (not seen in this picture) is unveiled and the alcohol is served through an extended brass pipe coming from the idol’s mouth. It is a crazy experience, even for spectators, with many participants getting injured every year.

Turtle Dream

A female diver glides peacefully alongside a friendly sea turtle off the coast of Perhentian Island, Malaysia, a harmonious coexistence between human and nature.

Confident

A picture of a young ‘knight’ demonstrating his horsemanship, while simultaneously looking at the assembled photographers waiting to take a picture of him. This photograph was taken in the Sultanate of Oman.

Portrait of a Girl

This portrait of Nastea was taken in Varancau, Moldova. It is part of a series entitled Homeland, which explores the connections between young people from the northern part of Moldova and their surroundings. One third of Moldova's population has emigrated and the number of citizens leaving increases every year. Homeland isn’t only a place, person or event. It is a poetic quest for my roots; for a home whose meaning always changes.

The Peaceful Morning

It was a foggy November morning at Nara Park in Nara, Japan, when I photographed the autumn leaves and grazing deer. It was so peaceful.

Great Joy

I took this photograph on the day that my friend’s father passed on. We received the news after the shoot, and all I can now remember about his father’s passing is this photograph.

An Absolution

The second night of the volcanic eruption in Meradalir valley, Iceland, which started in early August, 2022.

Ballet in the Park

This photograph was taken using available light at Santa Maria Park in Santiago, Chile. The ballerina is in her fifth year at the Ballet School of the Municipal theatre of Santiago.

Ski Jumper Above Fans

A ski jumper soars above fans at a contest in Planica, Slovenia.

Natalia and Ksenia

A portrait of Natalia Adamenko, 44, and her 17-year-old daughter, Ksenia, at a church housing Ukrainian refugees in Irota, Hungary, taken on 1 April 2022. ‘Everyone from Hungary has tried to help us. They are amazing people’, said Natalia, who stayed in one of the church cottages when she first fled Kyiv.

Guard Illimani

The majestic peak of Illimani stands like a guardian of La Paz city. I took this photograph at sunset to capture the beautiful contrast of blacks and oranges.

Same But Different

Phare performers tell Cambodian historical and folklore stories through performance, combining theatre, music, dance and circus techniques. I took this image during one of their series called Same But Different.

Untitled

As a young photographer, one of the major challenges I face is getting a good camera and other accessories to use. For this portrait I used a Speedlight fitted with a softbox and a reflector to bounce light onto my models. Taken at Rivers State University, Nigeria.

Phoenix

After the harvest, the farmers in my hometown burn the straw back to the soil. From the air, this burning wheat field looks like a phoenix.

The Jetty

A 132-second long exposure of the jetty at Desaru, Malaysia.

Convergence

Team Brazil competes in the preliminaries of the women’s team highlight artistic swimming event during the 2022 World Aquatics Championships at the Alfréd Hajós National Swimming Stadium, Budapest.

Slow Walk

A red-eyed tree frog walks slowly through the rainforest in northern Costa Rica.

Flame

A woman represents fire; she is like an element that burns you.

Portal of Night

Winter in the mountains has its charm, even at night. The patterns formed in the frozen lakes are natural artworks in their own right, and help the creativity of the artist who is trying to capture them. This photograph was taken in early winter in Tatra National Park, Slovakia.

The Darkness of Oil

Sixto Vásquez is a fisherman from Playa Bahía Blanca in Ventanilla, Peru, which was seriously affected by an oil spill in January 2022. Considered to be the worst ecological disaster to occur in Peru in recent years, many fishermen lost their livelihood.

The Captivating Eyes

This spotted owlet was photographed from a hide at the National Botanical Garden of Bangladesh. During the day these amazing birds tend to hide in nests made in the holes of tree trunks, but they sometimes peep out to observe their surroundings with their captivating yellow eyes.

Retro Vibes

As a fan of the 1980s, I wish today's technology was available in those days.

The Horse Rider

Anna is a kitesurfer who loves horses. I wanted to take a portrait of her and her beautiful horse at the beach in El Gouna, Egypt, where she spends most of her time training.

1,001 Yachts

An aerial view of the yacht harbour.

Ki-Re-i

The diverse array of vending machines and photo ID machines is unique to Japanese culture. I felt that a woman coming out of this photo booth in Shibuya, Tokyo, with the two vending machines to the side, would create a stylish scene. Ki-Re-i means ‘beautiful’ in Japanese.

Forest Entrance

I spotted this person riding their bicycle on the bike path next to the Yangjaecheon, a small river in Seoul. The path was surrounded by trees that were so dense the road could not be seen, so it felt like he was riding into a deep forest.

Dynamic Athlete

To demonstrate the dynamic nature of this young Swiss athlete I worked with water splashes and gelled lights.

Knights

This photograph was taken in November 2022 at a horse festival in Morocco. The picture was taken using a slow shutter speed, while panning the camera to follow the movement of the knights.

Glare of a Predator

During a game drive in Sri Lanka’s Kumana National Park I came across this magnificent Sri Lankan leopard resting in a tree, staring at us through the branches. It was an unforgettable encounter.

Run

A para-athlete running during the Asian Para Games competition.

Family Donation

This image was captured in Myin Twin Village, in upper Myanmar.

Nature’s Abduction

While travelling in Madeira, I was mesmerised by this specific tree engulfed in fog. I decided to photograph it alongside a mysterious human presence.

National & Regional Awards 2023 Winners & Shortlist