These are the Winners of the 2021 International Photography Awards

The annual International Photography Awards (IPA) competition has revealed its professional and non-professional winners across its comprehensive group of categories.

Now in its 19th year, IPA’s annual competition is a sister-effort of the Lucie Foundation, a non-profit charitable foundation that aims to honor master photographers, discover and cultivate emerging talent, and promote the appreciation of photography worldwide.

The competition awards both professional and non-professional winners, each across thirteen categories: Advertising, Analog/Film, Architecture, Book, Deeper Perspective, Editorial/Press, Event, Fine Art, Nature, People, Special, Sports, and Still in Motion/ Video. Each category is also broken down further into sub-categories, such as Advertising: Automotive, Advertising: Beauty, Advertising: Brands Campaign, and more. In short, the competition is extremely comprehensive.

Each individual category winner was selected from over 14,000 entries that were submitted from over 100 countries. The winners were announced at an online event and each professional level entry was awarded a $1,000 cash prize non-professional entries received $500. All finalists also have the opportunity to be nominated for the Photographer of the Year and the Discovery of the Year titles which are to be announced at the Lucie Awards Gala in New York.

The winning photos are published in the annual International Photography Awards book while an established curator will review the top three winners in each category and select 30 images that will be exhibited in an exclusive show in New York during the week leading up to the Lucie Awards Gala to be showcased alongside the IPA finalists. This “Best of Show Exhibition” will travel to various countries and will be included in photo festivals, galleries, and other photography events throughout the following year.

The overall winners of professional categories are as follows:

Advertising Photographer of the Year

Advertising Photographer of the Year: Rush by John Huet

Analog/Film Photographer of the Year

Analog/ Film Photographer of the Year: Marées by Angélique Boissière

Architecture Photographer of the Year

Architecture Photographer of the Year: Flying Away by Julia Anna Gospodarou

Book Photographer of the Year

Book Photographer of the Year: Flowers of the isthmus by Delphine Blast

Deeper Perspective Photographer of the Year

Deeper Perspective Photographer of the Year: Shadows of Emmett Till by Bob Newman

Editorial/Press Photographer of the Year

Editorial/Press Photographer of the Year: Capitol Riot 1.6.21 by Mel D Cole

Event Photographer of the Year

Event Photographer of the Year: Qingshan King Festival by Chong Kok Yew

Fine Art Photographer of the Year

Fine Art Photographer of the Year: Infinite Essence by Mikael Owunna

Nature Photographer of the Year

Nature Photographer of the Year: Beyond Horses by Liselotte Schuppers

People Photographer of the Year

People Photographer of the Year: Lady Gaga by Art Schreiber

Special Photographer of the Year

– of the Year: Growing Up by Howard Schatz

Sports Photographer of the Year

Sports Photographer of the Year: Action and Light by Andre Magarao

Still in Motion/Video Photographer of the Year

Still in Motion/Video Photographer of the Year: Embers – A fashion film by Shilpa Narayanan

“We’re honoured to have been able to share these incredible images with you, shining the spotlight on the brilliant and talented photographers who created them, and highlighting the vital role of photography as an art form and a medium of communication in the world today. We hope that you will also be inspired to take more photos yourself,” says Mr. Hossein Farmani, founder of the IPA.

“We hope that you will also be inspired to take more photos yourself. And if you have great images to share, and important stories to tell, join the International Photography Awards community, share your images with us, so your talent and vision can be recognized and celebrated.”

The full gallery of both professional and non-professional winners across the different categories, honorable mentions, and other finalists can be found on the IPA website.


Image credits: All photos individually credited and provided courtesy of the IPA.

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