Winners and finalists of the 5th annual Chromatic Photography Awards
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Yesterday, the winners and finalists for the 5th annual Chromatic Photography Awards competition were announced. Photographers from all over the world submitted images as either professionals or amateurs to 20 categories including Architecture, Culture, Nature, People, Sport, and Travel.
The Chromatic Photographer of the Year title and a $2,000 cash prize was awarded to Felicia Simion for her image of women wearing traditional kerchiefs during an Orthodox Epiphany Day liturgy. An underwater image of an ice diver in the Arctic Circle netted Petr Polách the Chromatic Discovery of the Year award and $1,000.
Winners, finalists, and honorable mentions will be published in the Chromatic Awards Annual Book. This slideshow features images from the professional pool. All images selected for this and the amateur division can be viewed on the competition’s website.
Chromatic Photographer of the Year 2021: ‘Epiphany Day’ by Felicia Simion (Romania)
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About this Image: Women wearing their traditional colorful kerchiefs during the Orthodox Epiphany day liturgy (January 6th) in Breb village, Maramureș (Romania).
Chromatic Discovery of the Year 2021: ‘Under the White Sea Ice’ by Petr Polách (Czech Republic)
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About this Image: This photo is a view on the ice of the White Sea from underwater. The ice is usually about one meter thick, on the coast it breaks due to the tides and forms various shapes. Light from the sun’s rays decomposes into individual colored components at the edges of the ice, diver added. This image was taken while ice diving in the White Sea on the Arctic Circle, Russia.
2nd Place, Abstract: ‘From Rubik to Kubrick’ by Paul Brouns (Netherlands)
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About this Image: The original building in this composition is the Maciachini Center in Milan, Italy. It is an office complex that has a very engaging rhythm and colorful intensity. Looking up onto one of the façades I particularly loved the different sections of multicolored window screens that were open and closed.
By repeating this façade four times an atrium is created, in which the asymmetrical division becomes more balanced. The title refers to two associations I had with the resulting work: with the geometrical puzzle object known as Rubik’s cube and the futuristic and visually haunting worlds created by movie director Stanley Kubrick.
1st Place, Architecture: ‘Orange Lines’ by Adam Fisz (Poland)
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About this Image: Part of the building of the Center for Research and Conservation of Cultural Heritage of the Faculty of Fine Arts of the Nicolaus Copernicus University.
1st Place, Culture: ‘Warriors in Motion’ by Andre Porto (Brazil)
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About this Image: Indigenous women occupy Brasília and ask for rights.
The 2nd March of Indigenous Women occupied Brasília between the 7th and 10th of September, 2021, to fight for the rights of indigenous populations.
The mobilization brought together 4,000 women from 150 ethnic groups from various states in the country and strengthened support for the “Luta pela Vida” camp, which is trying to stop the “Marco Temporal” – a government law that is being voted on and intends to do away with indigenous lands, in order to favor cattle ranches, gold mines and plantations on industrial scales. In the foreground: Sabrina Hunikuin, from the Hunikuin ethnicity.
1st Place, Fashion and Beauty: ‘Desert Postcards’ by Rebeka Legović (Croatia)
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About this Image: Fashion editorial representing a strange dream. Or rather one might wonder if it is reality or fiction. I like to dance on the precipice of both. These photos were taken in one of the strangest places in Croatia. It is a very small desert, perhaps the smallest on the planet and it almost seems to be in another dimension.
I like to play with the delicacy of permanence and impermanence, and the magic in the ability to switch one to the other, kinda like the feeling of existence. The desert best represents this metaphor. In contrast to these pastel colors and this tranquility, the strong colors of the clothes worn by the models. At first glance they seem totally detached from the environment, but over time they become subjects that fit into the context almost by symbiosis.
2nd Place, Fine Art: ‘What Nature Knows’ by Gjert Rognli (Norway)
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About this Image: With the photo project “What nature knows”, Rognli draws in references from his affiliation with Arctic Northern Norway, to light, darkness and the seasons. He transforms ordinary landscapes into an enigmatic place to be and takes us on a visual experience in the evening and the atmosphere of the night. In the project he immerses light installations in water, and creates harmony where there is conflict between the elements. He illuminates nature with LED lights, luminescent material, and uses photographic effects.
The project reminds us of our connection to nature, and according to the Biophilia hypothesis introduced by the American biologist Edward O. Wilson, humans have an innate instinct to connect emotionally with nature and other life forms, including natural light and light changes.
1st Place, Landscapes: ‘God’s Plan’ by Virgil Reglioni (France)
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About this Image: The road is winding from the shadow area, through the incredible low hills leading to the coastline. The backlight offers vibrant contrast and relief into the frame. The more we look toward the right side, the more depth comes to our eyes.
Always looking for the dramatic light, the perfect moment. These moody times provide the strongest emotion elevators ever. I adore this kind of weather which sometimes can be so hard on you.
At the beginning of the day, my hopes of catching this type of light were really down as visibility was quite limited.
Starting my hike from the roadside, I popped my snowboard on my back and started hiking up these amazing hills covered with snow, until I could be high enough to look behind me and have more depth insight.
I get stuck in a whiteout after 20 minutes, and think:
“Why am I doing that ?”.
One minute later, the sky opens up, and dramatic light casts in, and I think :
“ah that is why…”
My camera is always in my backpack and some days I am really wondering why should I take it with me. These are the days that usually provide the best shooting opportunities.
1st Place, Nature: ‘EXTRAGALACTIC’ by Martin Sanchez
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About this Image: The intense and glorious moments during an erupting volcano with an exclusive view from the inside. Captured in Iceland.
2nd Place, People: ‘I love the Skin that I’m In’ by Gabriel Holguin (Colombia)
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About this Image: Proud of the mantle that covers us, of our color, to love every part of us, to be able to understand that we are all equal and beautiful. We live in an era where we see that racism continues to kill the dreams of many people, this must stop, we are all born human and we do not decide what color to be, so we must love the skin in which we live.
3rd Place, Photojournalism: ‘Well of Death’ by Siddharth Kaneria (India)
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About this Image: The photograph is of Daredevil Stuntmen at “Well Of Death” performing in their car. Hundreds of spectators crowded around a circular pit to witness daredevil drivers in cars & motorcycles performing stunts in a vertical pit known as the “Well of Death.”
Once a sight at festivals across northern India, the practice is now waning but that doesn’t stop festivalgoers and stuntmen from capitalizing on the few remaining Wells of Death in the country. The Photograph is one of the biggest “Well of death” which exist in India. It is said that only 6 of this kind is in practice.
1st Place, Sports: ‘Skydive’ by Jesper Grønnemark (Denmark)
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About this Image: Photograph of skydiver Emil Landevaern Kristensen from Team Flux Free Fly while skydiving at 13,200 feet.
1st Place, Travel: ‘People on Train’ by Wei Fu (Thailand)
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About this Image: People are waiting for going home on train after Muslim festival.
1st Place, Wildlife and Animals: Wings of Confidence by Fenqiang (Frank) Liu (United States)
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About this Image: After several months of photographing great egrets, I realized that they always take off with confidence and decisiveness and already know where they’re going to land. This photograph attempted to capture that decisive quality at the precise moment of takeoff. The bird was standing on a branch with hanging moss providing the ideal composition. I just had to wait for the perfect moment when it would spring into flight.