All About Photo is delighted to announce this year's winners of All About Photo Awards 2023 - The Mind's Eye, recognizing the best single images from photographers around the world.
Visionary photographers from around the world, both professional and amateur, shared their unique perspectives and competed for international recognition as the next Photographer of the Year, $10,000 in cash prizes, and publication in the printed magazine ''Special Edition All About Photo Awards 2023''.
#1 Curious Baby By Pedro Jarque Krebs
This photo shows a gorilla cub born in January 2022 in the breeding group at Madrid Zoo, which is part of the European Endangered Species Programme. These western gorillas are critically endangered and every birth is a ray of hope for the survival of the species. Conservation programmes are more necessary than ever. It is called Kibo, after the highest peak on Kilimanjaro. This photo has a very special meaning for me, because I have been with this baby gorilla almost from birth and have been able to witness its gradual growth and awakening to the world and to consciousness. In this photo, as soon as I pointed the camera at the mother, she turned her back to me, but soon Kibo couldn't stand the curiosity and stuck his head out. It just goes to show how similar we are to this species so close to us. Watching them interact is fascinating and thought provoking.
146points
A panel of 8 expert jurors, including Lisa Kristine (humanitarian photographer), Harvey Stein (photographer, teacher, lecturer, author, and curator), Ann Jastrab (Executive Director, Center for Photographic Art, Carmel, CA), Balwin Lee (photographer, teacher), Marcus Yam (Los Angeles Times Foreign Correspondent and staff photographer, Winner All About Photo Awards 2022), Francesca Hummler (photographer, Community Manager at Der Greif Magazine), Kenneth Dickerman (photographer, Photo Assignment Editor for the Washington Post) and Sandrine Hermand-Grisel (photographer, Founder & Editor of All About Photo) have evaluated thousands of entries from all over the world.
#2 Before Migration By Tommaso Vecchi
Nenets are indigenous Siberian people whose traditional economy has long been rooted in nomadic reindeer-herding, fishing and hunting. They live in chums: small huts made of reindeer skins, in order to ensure a minimum of thermal insulation, especially during the winter. In this picture Roman looking out of the chum, with his red cheeks worn by the cold, -50°C.
107points
#3 Becoming Wheelchair Bound From The Series 'The Living Death' By Whitney Dafoe
I have been photographing myself living with a chronic illness for which there is no cure for the last 13 years, since 2010. I have Chronic Fatigue Syndrome / Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (ME/CFS). The project follows the progression of my illness from being housebound to having to leave my apartment and move in with my parents in order to receive assistance with daily living, and then continuing to get worse and becoming completely bedridden in a room in the back of that house, unable to speak at all, hardly able to move for 7 long years, and needing a feeding tube and PICC line installed in my body because my stomach became paralyzed.
I have had ME/CFS for 18 years, or since I was 21. But it has gradually become more and more severe and in 2010 I became housebound.
I went for a long time without being able to photograph at all, which was a dark time for me emotionally. Photography has been my main creative outlet since high school and without it, I felt lost. But in 2010, I had a breakthrough; I realized that my story of living with such a severe chronic illness for which there was no cure was the exact kind of story I would be inspired to photograph and show the world if I was healthy, and that I could photograph myself. So I turned the camera on myself and started making images of myself doing things I did every day.
It was revelatory for me because not only was I able to make portraits again, but since I was the subject I was able to let the camera into my life completely without question. These images are representations of real moments in my life and honest depictions of things I was going through. I never thought of these images as self-portraits. I split my mind into photographer and subject and thought about both separately. I always called them ''documentary photographs of myself''.
A dark period followed in 2013 and lasted about 7 years. My health plummeted and I became extremely severe. For much of this time, I could not even move.
Then in 2020, a miracle happened. I took an experimental drug and I slowly started getting a little bit better. It meant I could photograph again. I bought a DSLR and continued photographing using both my phone and when I had the energy, my DSLR.
In making these images, I hope to not only make interesting, provocative works of art that speak to people about the nature of human suffering and chronic illness, and evoke emotion and inspiration in viewers without explanation, but also spread awareness about ME/CFS. Please visit this link to read a full explanation of this project as well as some information about ME/CFS and why it is such an important story.
104points
Now in its 8th year, All About Photo Awards - The Mind's Eye has become a reference for discovering new talents and celebrating outstanding photographers. The jurors selected 39 winners who come from 18 different countries and across 5 continents.
Most of this year's submissions were in color, as are four of the five winning images. Many submitted images to this year's competition reflected on the catastrophic events happening in the world, including the war in Ukraine, but in the end, only two images out of the 45 selected are about the conflict. It seems that the jurors were drawn to lighter images. Overall, this year's selection seems less emotional and focuses more heavily on strong aesthetics.
#4 The Dancing Dream Of The Girl By Huaifeng Li
A grandmother who is sewing a cloth tiger watches her granddaughter dance in a clay kiln in Licheng County, Shanxi Province, China,on November 7, 2011.
92points
#5 Photographer Of The Year 2023: The Winning Shoot By Priyo Widd
On September 9th, 2022, the Indonesian National Wheelchair Basketball Team had been practicing for the Paralympic basketball competition at Solo, Central Java, Indonesia. Their spirit echoed through the arena, creating a wild atmosphere among the fans. They competed impressively, like The Avengers. Despite their physical limitations, they fought way better than some healthy people.
84points
The winning image by Indonesian photographer Priyo Widiyanto features the Indonesian National Wheelchair Basketball Team in the middle of an intense match where the decisive and winning shot is about to be thrown. In a dynamic composition where the action is frozen by the photographer, two opponents, almost symmetrical to one another, are lifting their wheelchairs with all their might in an attempt to stop the shot. It is a powerful image of resilience.
#6 Shelling From The Series Desolation By Guy Chapellier
Picture taken in 2015 with a Leica Q and 1.7/28 mm at “Le champ de Mars“ near La Tour Eiffel in Paris (France) where the French puppet show named “guignol“ is regularly played. I crouched under the stage in the darkness to get all the expressions of the children during the spectacle and I was amazed of how they were attentive and moves to what happened. As an actor it was a lesson for me, looking all the ways of expressing surprise, laughs and fear.
82points
#7 Fatigue Sleep On The Boats By Muhammad Amdad Hossain
Many homeless people in Dhaka, Bangladesh have lost their homes and properties due to frequent floods, river erosion, and other natural calamities. They were forced to migrate to the city in search of a better future. These people have no place to take shelter in big cities. Their day starts in boats and ends on roads to nowhere. The boat is a flower bed for these refugees who practically do not have any identity. They live by working as street hawkers, boatmen, etc.
80points
The other four winning images are also very dynamic in their composition. The image by Haikun Liang shows a man running away from an explosion. Raul Cacho Oses captured cavaliers galloping while performing a Tbourida in Morocco. Andrea Bettancini photographed children running and diving into the port of Stone Town (Zanzibar, Tanzania) while Pedro Luis Ajuriaguerra created an almost unbelievable shot of a diver in the sky in front of the Guggenheim Museum during the Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series in Bilbao (Spain).
#8 Charley From The Series 'The Lost Years' By Laurie Freitag
This is Charley. He lives in the hills beneath the Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles. His playmates are a 5-year-old boy and a 10-year-old girl. During Covid, the family was all lucky enough to have moved to a new house with lots of room outside to play. The boy likes to hang from a swing (that hangs from a tree) and Charley chases the boy back and forth...wishing he too could dangle from a swing!
This is part of my series, ‘The Lost Years’ which addresses the years that most adults cannot remember before the age of 7 years old.
78points
#9 Alex And Zoe From The Series Natural Tendencies By Emily Neville Fisher
Alex and Zoe from my ongoing project Natural Tendencies in which I study the complex and symbiotic relationship between humans and the natural world. I am acutely aware of the precarious nature of our shifting environment, of the fragility of life and the ephemerality of childhood.This is an image of my son, Alex, an identical twin, holding our pet duck, Zoe. During the covid lockdown, our children spent a lot of time with the animals on our little farm since they weren't able to play with other children.
77points
#10 Floating Together By Zola Chen
My name is Wen Hua Chen, but everyone calls me Zola Chen. I am a passionate admirer of art and photography that captures the beauty of marine life. My particular fascination lies with whales, which has taken me to various locations, such as Tonga, Sri Lanka, New Zealand, South Africa, and Japan, to capture stunning images of these magnificent creatures.
One of my most significant series of works is Floating Together, which is my art creation of Humpback whales underwater in the Kingdom of Tonga Vava'u from 2015-2022. Humpback whales are named after their long pectoral fin and can grow up to 11 to 16 meters long, with newborn calves measuring 3 to 6 meters. They reproduce and give birth in tropical regions, migrating from the distant Antarctic to the warm waters from July-October to nurture their young before returning to the Antarctic for food. During this period, adult whales do not seek food, and only calves can drink their mother's milk.
The ocean surrounding Vava’u, the Kingdom of Tonga, is a place to search whales, jumping into the Whale Soup. It's an addiction I've never been able to quit, and an experience many people long to have. The direct face-to-face visual experience is incredibly shocking, and to capture the perfect shot, one needs physical strength, willpower, and a little bit of luck. The moments when you hang out with the whales and capture stunning images are some of the most beautiful in my series of works. It requires persistence, and I spend almost a month in Tonga each time, 6-8 hours a day searching for whales, sometimes spending an entire day at sea without finding any, or facing miserable wind and rain.
My focus is not limited to photographing whales alone, as I also engage in other ocean projects. Working closely with biologists, I have participated in various collaboration projects such as the Lemon Shark Research Project in Dongsha Island, Taiwan, the survey and underwater photography of whales in eastern Taiwan, and contributed to the Black Tide Navigation Project and the Megamouth Shark Documentary Program. I am committed to using my work to capture stunning images of the magnificent creatures of the ocean and to inspire those around me to cherish and protect marine life. The ocean is vast and fragile, and it is essential to do what we can to preserve and protect it for future generations.
70points
#11 Temporary Bronze Statue By Klaus Lenzen
They did it voluntarily and with great enthusiasm, the participants at a Women's mud run in Duisburg (Germany) in 2019 . After completing the course, they paused for a short while, frozen into a temporary bronze statue and then returned to everyday life, thoroughly showered.
68points
#12 Sinking Sundarbans By Supratim Bhattacharjee
That photo was taken during complete lockdown period of COVID-19 on a cyclonic day. I was in a hotel at Bakkhali to depict the disasters of a cyclonic weather on a full moon day. Before the day the picture was taken, that night I made a plan to visit Lakkhipur village as in that region (Fraserganj, where the picture was taken) there are no embankments. I reached early in the morning there and witnessed the power of high tides. The people of that village (village name - Lakkhipur, Bakkhali Island) were running here and there trying to save their belongings from sea water. Pallavi was also there and her house which had a tea shop, got completely submerged in water the night before. I observed her strong face and calm nature during that devastating period. It forced me to capture her photograph to show her strong and powerful identity at the time of a destructive rising sea.
68points
#13 The Routine From The Series Between Then And Now By Patricia Mcelroy
My Mom’s daily routine is to roll curlers into her hair and then cover them with a scarf as the curls set. When she sleeps at night her hair straightens and the next morning she repeats the task. Despite her dementia, she remembers to do this every day. Her hair and how she presents herself are very important to her. This image is part of a deeply personal and emotional project that delves into the everyday struggles my mother faces as she ages and battles the effects of dementia and declining physical abilities. This project serves as a reflection on the bond I have with my mother, both in the present moment and through the perspective of her past. It captures the challenges she faces, but also celebrates the resilience, strength, and grace she exhibits in the face of adversity. The project is ongoing and a tribute to the remarkable woman she is.
60points
#14 The Shoreline By Mitchell Anolik
The ocean, seashore and its surroundings are often viewed as dynamic, intense and restless. I, however, choose to focus on it's quieter side. There are times when the light is muted, the lines and forms are clear, the shadows are softened and the reflections are fanciful. I aim to capture a version of Cartier-Bresson's decisive moment but in nature and at the shoreline. This powerful environment can be quieted by the lack of color Drawn to minimalism, I eliminate all unnecessary pixels to create the essence of the image.
58points
#15 Father, Brother, Son... African! By Rico X
This image is from me wandering the neighbourhood streets near the pyramids in Giza, Cairo, Egypt . I came across this family whose young children were playing having fun, not a games console insight. I spoke with some of the family members who had little english, but also with the help of Google Translate we spoke for a little while. I noticed their father, the young children's grandfather sitting there so composed, so content, so happy, he appeared happy with his lot. I asked for a photo and they obliged.
54points
#16 Change The Thought By Shahriar Farzana
Change the thought: In an Islamic environment, it's not common for a female teacher to take her students to the seashore for recreation and to take selfies with them but time changes as well as people's acceptance level. Now following all Islamic requirements, some women try to do what they are supposed to do not like what they are told to do. Things are changing over the course of time as well as peoples' thought processes that have a direct positive impact on society.
The photo was taken in Chittagong, Bangladesh on March 18, 2019.
53points
#17 Drying T-Shirt Clothes By Azim Khan Ronnie
Rows of brightly colored fabrics shimmer in reflections as they are hung to dry above a field in Narayanganj, Bangladesh on 24 September 2022. Workers hang the vivid clothing on wooden frames as the colorful dyes set in the sun. The clothes will be used for t-shirts, Under-vest, trousers etc. making.
51points
#18 Funeral From The Series Desolation By Alejandro Martinez Velez
Relatives of the Ukrainian soldier Taras Didukh, 25, mourn his body at a funeral held in the Church of the Most Holy Apostles Peter and Paul of Lviv, Ukraine, before being buried at the Lychakiv Cemetery on March 11, 2022. The Officer Andrii Stefanyshyn, 39, and the Sergeant Dmytro Kabakov, 58, were also buried on the same day. The escalating tension between Russia and Ukraine finally blew up in the early morning of February 24, 2022, after almost eight years of war in the Donbas region, with the entry of the Russian Army into the Ukrainian territory. This new conflict phase has caused millions of lives to be cut short and the devastation of several parts of the country. The shellings and the frontline advance have cost more than 6,800 deaths and 10,900 verified wounded (United Nations. December 27, 2022). Currently, the number of military casualties participating on both sides can not be accurately estimated. According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), at least 6.5 million people have fled Ukraine and the number of internally displaced persons rises to 8 million.
49points
#19 Past - Present Of Gagauzia By Maria Bratan
The purpose of this shooting is to show the past and present of my people who live in Moldova - ATU Gagauzia. After all, Without the past, there is no present. The shooting was carried out in the fall of 2022. In the photo, young girls in the national costumes of the people of Gagauzia, which were worn in the past by our grandmothers, mothers and girls of that time. And the horse-drawn wagon was in the picture quite by accident. During filming, a couple drove by on a cart; they were going to another town. In many rural areas, people use the horse and cart for transportation and farming. After all, each nation has its own national costumes, which can characterize the status and marital status of its mistress. Therefore, preserving the ancient national costumes, we keep the memory and honor the traditions of the people. And by dressing modern youth in ancient Gagauz clothes, we preserve our history.
49points
#20 War, Irak 2003 By Baptiste Hugnet
48points