Winners of International Photo Contest Celebrate the Art of Movement

“Wild Carrots” by Anne Mason-Hoerter (Canada/Germany). Movement Photographer of the Year. First Place, Fine Art.

For this year’s thematic photo contest by the International Photography Awards, creatives were asked to submit their best single image depicting motion. The results are an incredible look at how this deceivingly simple concept can breed wide-ranging results. Thousands submitted their images to the Movement contest, but the win went to Canadian photographer Anne Mason-Hoerter.

Her winning image, Wild Carrots, also took the top prize in the Fine Art category and uses an unusual technique. Mason-Hoerter actually takes plants apart and scans each piece, later reassembling them and combining them with photographs she’s taking. This stunning image is a powerful and elegant look at the movement of nature.

Readers will also be familiar with many of the names of this year’s winners. With a theme like movement, it should come as no surprise that Ken Browar and Deborah Ory made it into the winner’s circle. Known for their expressive photographs of ballet dancers, they placed for an image included in their book The Style of Movement. Dog lovers will recognize the work of Italian photographer Claudio Piccoli, who specializes in images of gravity-defying dogs. Pilot and photographer Christiaan van Heijst is another familiar name who placed third in the Technology/Machine category for capturing his unique perspective from the pilot’s cockpit.

“The idea that everything moves, changes, and evolves, is such a great concept to explore through photography,” said Hossein Farmani, Founder and President of IPA. “It’s been inspiring to see how photographers of all levels of expertise have captured this concept in its many forms—universal, abstract, human, and machine. Even though it seems the whole planet has almost come to a standstill, through these images we see that life goes on and moves forward.”

All first place winners won a cash prize, which was matched by IPA in the form of a donation to the charity of the photographer’s choice. Check out more winners below; and, if you can’t get enough, go to IPA’s website to see the honorable mentions.

See how these photographers capture motion through still imagery for the International Photography Awards.

“Flying Over the Sea” by Claudio Piccoli (Italy), Second Place, Nature.
“I love to represent the dog as a superhero in my action shots. This dog and its owner were practicing disc dog in the water. It’s very difficult to do such amazing performances in these conditions, since the water brakes every movement. It was sunrise and I love the colors. The position of the girl is really focused on her dog and the launch of the disc was perfect. It’s a shot you can repeat more than one or two times since after that the dog needs to rest. The dog remains the main subject and his position in the air is perfect and extended with the maximum tension of muscles.”

“‘Night Journey’ by Ken Browar and Deborah Ory (United States). Second Place, People.
“‘Night Journey’ is a photograph of the Martha Graham Company taken for our book “The Style of Movement” The image is of 6 dancers performing the piece “Night Journey” choreographed by Graham. The dance is based on the Greek myth of Oedipus and Jocasta with six women portraying the Greek chorus. Martha Graham designed the dramatic costumes, which accompanied the text in our book discussing Graham’s influence on fashion design. We felt this piece worked well for the theme of “movement” as the women are moving together in perfect harmony, both in their movement, and in their dynamic expression.”

“Moonlight over the Atlantic” by Christiaan van Heijst (Netherlands). Third Place, Technology/Machine.
“Full moon. About to cross 30 West, halfway, a stormy Atlantic Ocean when the radiant moon ascents above the horizon. Blinding out most stars, the bright lunar spell adds a touch of magic to the world around me. Silver-painted clouds drift by while the capsule of the 747 cockpit allows me to breathe, live, and appreciate this alien-like landscape. Far beyond, the gently glowing horizon marks the delicate edge of space. Almost home.”

“Almost Free” by Patrizia Burra (Italy). Second Place, Fine Art.
“An artistic vision of movement.”

“Good Sheepherd” by F. Dilek Uyar (Turkey). Third Place, People.
“The dusty and arduous journey of sheep herds in Bitlis. Sheep herds do this dusty path to reach the highlands where they graze until the middle of July after milking.”

“Wallace Flying Frog” by Chin Leong Teo (Singapore). First Place, Nature.
“Wallace’s Flying Frog is a moss frog found in Malaysia and western Indonesia. It is generally quite photogenic given its large size, brilliant colors, and calm temperament. This is a shot taken of a specimen swimming in water, with full extension of its beautiful long legs.”

“Surfacing” by Jean-Christophe Girard Lemay (Canada). Third Place, Nature.
“Such a memorable day navigating the St. Lawrence (Quebec, Canada) on the CCGS Amundsen. A was assigned as official photographer for the scientific mission that took place on the ship, for two weeks and a half. On the fifth day, a beluga came to visit us very closely when we were stopped at the last sampling station. I knew I saw one earlier, but very far offshore. This time, it couldn’t have been closer than; it dived right in front of our eyes, and then came out often on the other side of the boat about fifteen minutes later, each time blowing air just before it hit the surface.”

“Flying Boys” by Dimpy Bhalotia (India). Second Place, Street Photography.
“This was shot in Varanasi, India.”

“Momentum” by George Stastny (Canada). Third Place, Street Photography.
“We all have a driving force that keeps us moving at a forward momentum.”

“School Run, Rwanda” by Benjamin Buckland (Switzerland). First Place, Street Photography.
“I drove down here in a wild storm. South towards Lake Rweru and the deepest source of the Nile. Pools of water on the road. Hard enough that my creaking windscreen wipers couldn’t keep pace and I stopped for a while. Peering downhill at Burundi through the mist. Rain intense enough that even the usually indomitable Rwandese cyclists disappeared from the road. But like all rain here at this time of year, it was quickly over. And the cyclists were back before I knew it. Rwanda. October 2019.”

“Porsche Type 64 Ice Race” by Richard Seymour (United Kingdom). Second Place, Technology/Machine.
“Tracking shot of a replica Porsche Type 64 at the 2020 GP Ice Race at Zell am See, Austria.”

“‘Rice Growers’ by Jacopo Maria Della Valle (Italy). First Place, People.
“Rice Growers” was shot in China, a country that’s quickly moving to industrialization and globalization. I went to China to find evidence of the ancient Chinese civilization, increasingly rare but not yet disappeared. China is one of the great producers and consumers of rice but near Lijiang, in Yunnan, women belonging to Bai, Naxi, and Yi ethnic tribes still harvest rice by hand, following their ancient traditions. They wear characteristic clothes, load heavy baskets full of rice on their shoulders, and move singing traditional songs.”

“Giant’s Causeway and figure, Northern Ireland” by Ugo Ricciardi (Italy). Third Place, Fine Art.
“This picture, that is part of the “Nightscapes” series, was taken in Northern Ireland. The Giant’s Causeway is an ancient part of the coast. Is an area of about 40,000 interlocking basalt columns, the result of an ancient volcanic fissure eruption. The tops of the columns form stepping stones that lead from the cliff foot and disappear under the sea. This place, so still and immovable, is illuminated by the moving light, that is fluid and changing. Two elements in contrast, and between them there is the figure of a man, on the top of the rock.”

“The urban semiconductor” by Youngkeun Sur (South Korea). First Place, Technology/Machine.
“We live in an age of massive and fast transmission.”