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!
#1 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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66points
Hannah Lillethun, the General Manager of the Farmani Group and one of the organizers of BIFA, has given an exclusive interview to Bored Panda and told us about their impressions from this year. "Each year the quality and diversity of the images that we receive certainly increases, as more photographers become aware of the program and share their incredible work with us. Particularly emerging and student photographers present a truly fresh and pure perspective on the world through their raw and inspiring work."
#2 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
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66points
"Each year the Jury's task of selecting the winners is truly challenging, and that is especially true when there is so much outstanding work from photographers all over the world."
#3 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
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66points
If you ever wanted to know how the jury works in such contests, Hannah happily explained the process. "The jury votes on all submissions in each category and sub-category, both in the Professional and student/amateur divisions. Once the jury has completed their voting, the highest rated entries in each sub-category (based on the overall score from the jury votes) are awarded either gold, silver, or bronze prizes. Then the 1st and 2nd place overall winners in the main category are chosen from the gold sub-category winners. And finally, the award's top prize — The Photographer of the Year (Professional) and New Talent of the Year (amateur/student) — are chosen from the 1st place category winners. It is a difficult process, but gives the jury a chance to evaluate all the amazing works that are submitted."
#4 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
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59points
#5 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
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58points
As for a personal favorite, Hannah, of course, had some of her own as well. "It's very hard to choose a personal favorite, but I must say that I was deeply moved by the series called "Change the Conversation", a raw and beautiful work by Sujata Setia that deals with the subjects of perception and beauty. It is such an important issue in our modern culture."
#6 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
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57points
#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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54points
#8 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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53points
#9 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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50points
#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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43points
#11 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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40points
#12 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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36points
#13 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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33points
#14 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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33points
#15 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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32points
#16 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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30points
#17 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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30points
#18 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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30points
#19 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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29points
#20 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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27points