A few years ago, we started this adventure in order to bind a uniquely beautiful and historic city like Siena with a photo festival and contest: the Siena International Photo Awards. In these six years, our project has become, year by year, a highly anticipated event appreciated worldwide. This success is confirmed by the numbers and by the continued participation of the internationally renowned professionals who have chosen to contribute to our project, thus placing us among the major photographic contests in the world. We are happy that our dream has been enthusiastically supported since the beginning, both by the local authorities in Siena and private partners, without whom we couldn't have started this adventure.
French photographer Greg Lecoeur’s stunning shot, “Frozen Mobile Home,” of a giant iceberg surrounded by crabeater seals, is the overall winner of the 2020 Siena International Photo Awards (SIPA) contest, one of the world’s top international photography competitions. Jurors selected the winning image among tens of thousands of photos submitted by photographers from 156 countries. Winning photographers were announced on October 23rd.
Lecouer, an award-winning professional ocean and wildlife photographer, shot the image in Antarctica, where he is often involved in scientific projects that highlight the fragility of our oceans and the importance of preserving our planet.
South African photojournalist Brent Stirton won this year’s “Best Author” Award thanks to his powerful storytelling through images and his commitment to covering issues related to wildlife and conservation, as well as global health, diminishing cultures, sustainability, and the environment.
Egyptian photographer Nader Saadallah won the category "Short Documentary Film" with the extraordinary video, "The Forgotten."
#21 Dentist (Remarkable Artwork In Animals In Their Environment Category)
Symbiosis between a moray eel and a cleaner shrimp. This moray eel was having its routine dental checkup. The cleaner shrimps clean parasites, insects, algaes, etc. off of the eels, making them more healthy – in return, the shrimps get a free meal.
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52points
#22 Sisters (3rd Place In Fascinating Faces And Characters Category)
Natalya, Irina, and Tatyana are three twin sisters from the northern Russian city of Krasnoyarsk. I found out about their existence from social networks a couple of years ago and really wanted to take pictures of them. This year, I managed to do it. Three sisters, three friends, three soulmates. Their love for each other is respected.
52points
#23 Desert Ice (2nd Place In Sports In Action Category)
Professional ice climber Will Gadd climbing on the remaining glacial ice on the crater of Mount Kilimanjaro. This ice wall is freestanding and looks like an iceberg emerging from the sand.
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48points
#24 In The Storm (Remarkable Artwork In Journeys & Adventures Category)
Nenets people during a snow storm in the harsh siberian winter. In this part of the world, during winter time, temperatures can go as low as -50° and wind blows over 100km/h making these reindeer herders' life very difficult.
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46points
#25 Benediction (1st Place In Journeys & Adventures Category)
Muslim women praying in Hamedan, Iran for Eid al-Fitr. The last day of Ramadan is celebrated by Muslims all over the word with special prayers and gatherings.
46points
#26 Think Different (Remarkable Artwork In Animals In Their Environment Category)
A big-scale sand smelt moving towards a moon jellyfish. To defend themselves from predators, these fish move together grouping in ever-changing forms. In this case, a single specimen appears to be making a "counter-current" decision.
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42points
#27 Death Of A Fire Victim (1st Place In Documentary & Photojournalism Category)
A man desperately tries to save himself during a fire that destroyed a 22-story building in Dhaka. The blaze resulted in 25 deaths and 70 injuries. The man was lowering himself by holding onto a cable, but the heat forced him to suddenly let go and he crashed to the ground.
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39points
#28 Church Ceiling Concrete (2nd Place In Architecture & Urban Spaces Category)
Nevigeser Wallfahrtsdom church has truly unique architecture, with this concrete ceiling that seems to be an abstraction in reality.
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39points
#29 The Rescuers (Honorable Mention In Documentary & Photojournalism Category)
This image was taken during the Vijay Diwas celebration in Kolkata. This day is known as the victory of the Indian Army over Pakistan.
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29points