Photo From the Gaza Conflict Wins 2024 Siena International Photo Awards

Sep 30, 2024

Jaron Schneider

A distressed woman with a bloodied face sits on the ground, grasping a lifeless arm. She wears a purple garment and a patterned headscarf. Three individuals around her extend their hands in what appears to be an attempt to offer help. The setting appears to be chaotic and damaged. — Ali Jadallah’s photo “Irreplaceable” wins Siena International Photo Awards 2024 Photographer of The Year

The Siena International Photo Awards (SIPA) announced the winners of its 2024 competition that it hosts with the goal of making Siena and the region an international capital for photography.

The photo competition is one of three such “Siena” branded awards, the others being the Drone Photo Awards and the Creative Photo Awards.

“The uniqueness of Siena Awards is the continuous attempt to be avant-garde and create, in the ideal place, strong positive and always new emotions, which are the ones that give joy, unite, and allow audiences and participants to overcome distances, and different cultures & goals. Siena Awards awaits you in Siena, the capital of the world of imagination,” the organization says.

This year, Ali Jadallah — a Palestinian photographer — was awarded the title of Photographer of the Year for his photo “Ireeplaceable” (above) which was captured in the midst of the conflict in Gaza.

“This powerful photograph conveys the heartbreaking reality of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, depicting a woman mourning beside the body of a loved one, wounded by an Israeli airstrike in the Ridwan neighborhood of Gaza City,” the competition writes.

Jadallah’s photo was entered into the Documentary and Photojournalism category of the competition, which joins eight other categories: Fascinating Faces and Characters, The Beauty of Nature, Animals in Their Environment, Sports in Action, Street Photography, Underwater Life, Journeys and Adventures, and Storyboard. The winners of these categories — including Documentary and Photojournalism, which honors a separate winner despite Jadallah’s Photographer of the Year win — are below:

A single whale swims gracefully in the deep blue ocean. To the left of the whale, white, gauzy trails of underwater currents or possibly exhaled air create a swirling pattern, adding a sense of movement and mystery to the serene underwater scene. — Whale Milk by Karim Iliya | Underwater Life

A group of people gather by a dock next to a brick house. A man is mid-flip into the water while children watch from the dock and a small boat. Some people are seated on chairs, while a woman in a yellow shirt stands nearby. Trees and boats are visible in the background. — 72 by Ilvy Njiokiktjien | Street Photography

A man with a serious expression sits in front of a dark, mechanical, and industrial backdrop. Overlapping the right side of his face is an intricate mechanical object that magnifies his right eye. A small mask with an eerily glowing eye is placed above him. — Ryan Gosling by Dan Winters | Fascinating Faces and Characters

A group of bees, some flying and some clustered on the ground, engage in a tussle on a dirt-covered terrain with sparse vegetation. The sky above is overcast, adding a dramatic atmosphere to the scene. — Men at Work by Karine Aigner | Animals in Their Environment

A person is seen trapped under rubble, with only their face visible through a small opening. Another individual in military or rescue clothing peers down at them, surrounded by debris and broken concrete. The scene is lit by a focused light, highlighting the person’s face. — Irina – Ria Pizza Survivor by Wojciech Grzedzinski | Documentary and Photojournalism

A person wearing protective clothing climbs a rope ladder against a steep, rocky cliff covered in beehives. They are carrying a long stick and large wicker basket, seemingly in the process of harvesting honey amidst swarming bees. The background is hazy with smoke. — Honey hunters 3 by Andrew Newey | Journeys and Adventures

Sunlight filters through the dense canopy of a misty pine forest, casting warm golden rays onto the moss-covered tree trunks. The serene scene highlights the natural beauty and tranquility of the woodland environment. — The Monarch’s Forest by Jaime Rojo | The Beauty of Nature

Underwater view of a surfer duck diving under a large wave. The surfer, wearing a full wetsuit, holds onto the board as the wave crashes above, creating a dynamic and dramatic scene with bubbles and turbulent water. The ocean floor is visible in the background. — Teahupo’o – Wall of Skulls by Ryan Pierse | Sports in Action

Photo competitions typically see a similar group of entrants. For example, PetaPixel notes that two of these photos may look familiar. Karine Aigner won with a photo likely taken moments before or after her Siena Awards win this year two years ago in a separate competition. Second place in the category won first place in a different competition from this year.

A full list of prizes can be read on the Siena Awards website, but all category winners as well as second place, third place, and honorable mention are featured in the Siena Awards “Imagine all the People Sharing all the World” Exhibition. All honored photos can be seen on the Siena Awards 2024 results gallery.

Image credits: All photos are individually credited and were provided courtesy of the Siena Awards