Professional Competition/Landscape/Finalist. Photo by Nenad Saljic
The World Photography Organisation announced the finalists for the Professional, Open and Youth categories of the 2013 Sony World Photography Awards. The selection of pictures are worth 1,000 words and is bringing together the very best international contemporary photography, the shortlist offers a unique insight into 2012 through the eyes of some of the world’s best emerging and established photography talents.
In a year that saw over 122,000 entries from 170 countries – the highest number of submissions to date – the judges have selected a shortlist of photographs that stood out beyond all others for their impressive high quality, originality and modern appeal. Topics ranged from haunting shots of the Syrian conflict to the Obama presidential campaign; an intimate study of cinema-goers in Kabul to quirky and witty shots of the animal kingdom.
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Alien Hunt © Alexander Semenov
Hunting Cyanea capillata. White Sea, Russia
Alexander Semenov graduated as a marine biologist from the department of Zoology at Lomonosov’s Moscow State University in 2007. Specializing in the study of invertebrate animals, he began his working career at the White Sea Biological Station (WSBS) as a senior laborer and progressed to become chief of the diving team after four years.
Operating from the WSBS at the Kindo peninsula on the border of the Arctic Circle, Semenov is also a gifted and patient underwater photographer – unbelievably, looking at the extraordinary images he creates, he is self-taught. Generously sharing his work (“Flickr”, “Behance”, “thisiscolossal.com”, “twistedsifter.com”, “1x.com” etc.) with those of us far distant from the Karelian Coast on the White Sea, Semenov creates breathtakingly beautiful images that alternately can look like strange extra-terrestrial organisms, or exquisite fine-art glass-blown sculptures.
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Beauty © Elvina-Mae Farkas
Elvina Mae Farkas, called Elly by her friends and family, is only 22 years old, but her photography has been around for a few years already. The self-taught fashion and portraiture photographer from Melbourne, Australia has been a freelance photographer since the age of 16, and the years of experience have proven to be very beneficial. The unique style and vision of her photography are evident from image to image in her impressive portfolio. Her photographs vary from formalistic color pallets and tones that could be taken from a dream to stripped down and purely expressive natural portraits.
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Alisa Frolkina © Paul de Luna for Mojeh Magazine
Paul de Luna left Southern California to explore the world after completing a degree in English Creative Writing, as an unexpected result of his globe hopping he became involved with the fashion industry. His involvements lead him to travel for the next decade, extending and enhancing his storytelling skills with the addition of imagery.
Photographically self taught whilst continuing to utilize his literary background, de Luna’s outstanding portfolio illustrates the everlasting beauty of fashion, intuitively framed and fuelled with emotion and sensuality.
As a photographer and film maker he is keen to make images that are as poignant tomorrow as they are today. Feeding his creative mind with inspiration from cinema, theatre, dance and general observations of life as it happens; his dreamlike sensibilities are transformed into reality as a result of the photographic medium.
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Underwater Worlds Winner: Bubble-jetting emperors -Paul Nicklen (Canada)
The winners of the internationally acclaimed Veolia Environnement Wildlife Photographer of the Year Competition were announced amid much excitement at a gala awards ceremony at the Natural History Museum in London.
Now in its 48th year, the competition attracted more than 48,000 entries from 98 countries, with Paul Nicklen’s Bubble-jetting emperors, a spectacular image of the chaotic underwater world of emperor penguins at the edge of the Ross Sea, Antarctica, claiming the overall title of Veolia Environnement Wildlife Photographer of the Year.
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Maria Dvirnik © Gabor Jurina
Gabor Jurina is a commercial beauty and fashion photographer whose style is “warm, crisp and unmistakably luxurious”. His work has been published in countless magazines all over the world, promoting some of the most recognised icons of the current age. The magazine covers include popular celebrities such as Rihanna and Katy Perry. Gabor’s intimate work with models produces some fantastic, striking images that show how angle and perspective can be used to enhance the visual impact of a photograph.
His work is intriguing as the stimulating colours, particular in the “Garden Punch” set, produce some visual images that make you hungry to experiment yourself. We are entusiastic to share with you the results of a fruitful collaboration with concrete details regarding his spectacular photography style.
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Spring © Christopher O’Donnell
Christopher O’Donnell is a landscape photographer who has lived and worked near the coastlines of Maine for the past few years since leaving college. While he does shoot subject matter beyond what he has built his reputation on, his primary focus, his gift, is—and will remain—the ever-changing and breathtaking landscapes in and around Maine. One thing that his fans have noticed-and he touches on it briefly in the interview we had below—is that even when he shoots in the same location, no two images are ever the same. More so than that, each image he captures has its own life, its own personality, and its own powerful dynamic.
Each photograph is a separate world unto itself. As he continues to build on his impressive body of work, Chris has also incorporated writing on photography—he has an e-book in the works now—and teaching other photographers through his private lessons and tutorials. Landscape photography may be a conventional genre of photography, but Chris continues to show just how unpredictable nature can be in all of its subtle yet glorious states.
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Butterfly © Cedric Houin/National Geographic Traveler Photo Contest
National Geographic Traveler announced last week the winners of the 2012 Traveler Photo Contest. The grand-prize winner is Cédric Houin of Brooklyn, N.Y. He has won a 10-day Galápagos Photography Expedition for two with National Geographic Expeditions. His winning photo, “Butterfly,” captures a Kyrgyz woman and her daughter sewing with an old-fashioned-looking machine in a remote region of Afghanistan.
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Captivity © Brian Day
Based in Detroit, MI, USA, Brian Day gravitates toward urban, conceptual, and landscape themes. Inspired by masters of landscape, street, and conceptual work, Brian starts his adventure into photography 3 years ago and evolved quite dramatically in a unique black and white style featuring visual scenes with as few subjects as possible. Brian’s legendary talent explores new opportunities for black-and-white imagery guiding the viewer’s eyes trough lights, contrasts and visually stunning compositions.
We have the privilege to feature today Brian and interview him about the secrets behind his stunning black-and-white imagery and to share it with you, photography lovers.
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