People Award November 2017
Congratulations to photographer Simon Urwin whoโs image won the competition!
โ Theme: People / Competition Judge: Matthieu Paley
From all corners of the world, across all cultures and borders: We wanted to discover and celebrate all the diversity of the human race. Be it in street, portrait, documentary, conceptual, travel or any other form of photography that tells the story of people. There were very little boundaries and we are open to all approaches!
Join us over on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter where weโll be sharing all our favorite images from the competition. Congratulations to all the talented photographers who made it to the final!
Finalists
Jury's Feedback
First Prize: Simon Urwin
โYou have to always remember the first impression an image gives you, and being surprised is good. I like the intimacy of the image, the composition keeping Mt Fuji in the frame, and I know itโs not easy to photograph in a thermal environment, for obvious reasons (the nakedness, water everywhere etc โ you think twice about taking you camera). So I gave the image a win; itโs a bit quirky, it has this slight tension, and it gives a sense of place, all wrapped upโฆ well done.โ
โ Matthieu Paley
Second Prize: Justin Barton
โI like images that makes you question things. And this one does that. An African man dressed in what looks like a Russian army fatigue, in snowโฆ I feel I can learn something from that image, and a decisive element here, is that the caption is well researched, showing me that the โworkโ had been done.โ โ Matthieu Paley
Honorary Mention: Marc Ressang
โRobert Frank once said: โThere is one thing the photograph must contain, the humanity of the moment.โ โ And it is precisely what this image demonstrates. We are given the opportunity to feel the various emotions and narratives unfolding in front of us and on peopleโs faces. From sheer joy to solemn concentration, the photograph is perfectly framed and the black & white bring a unique sens of abstraction working wonderfully with the surrealness of the scene.โ
โ The Independent Photographer Editors
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ยฉ Matthieu Paley
Judge: Matthieu Paley
French-born photographer Matthieu Paley is a National Geographic photographer and member of The Photo Society.
Over the last 15 years working as a photographer, Matthieuโs passion for human nature has taken him all over the world, from sharing the life of the last true hunter-gatherers in Tanzania to documenting the isolation of Nauru, the worldโs smallest republic in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.
Exploring themes of remoteness and isolation, his passion to always look โover the next ridgeโ has provided him with countless opportunities to witness our common humanity.
Matthieu regularly leads workshops for National Geographic Expeditions and is a lecturer for National Geographic Live. Over the years his work has been exhibited globally and published in numerous magazines including Geo, Newsweek, Time, Outside, and Le Monde.
