Digital Journal today announced the winners of its global Photo Essay contest. With submissions from Nigeria to Vancouver, Australia to Michigan, Digital Journalists captured stunning portraits of life in all corners of the world.
Launched in December 2012, Digital Journal’s Photo Essay contest challenged Digital Journalists around the globe to capture moments in their lives, cities and towns.
Attracting more than 100 entries from dozens of countries, the Photo Essay contest submissions showcased Digital Journal’s reach and breadth of talent.
Covering a diverse range of subject matter, the contest’s photo reportage captured everything from bustling Nigerian markets to Spanish ports to Detroit neighbourhoods.
“When we launched this contest we knew we would see a pretty diverse range of content,” said David Silverberg, Digital Journal’s Editor-in-Chief. “But when we looked through everything that was published at the end of the day, it was truly remarkable to see just how incredible the photography submissions were and how international Digital Journal’s footprint has become.”
Out of all submissions, one photo essay was selected as a grand prize winner, four photo stories were named as runners-up, and three honourable mentions were chosen. Entries were judged on journalistic value, composition, clarity, realism, photographic skill, timeliness, and a flair for the unexpected.
“Photographs from almost every continent on Earth provided fascinating tours of communities both large and small,” said Silverberg. “We’re overjoyed to see how passionate Digital Journalists have been to tell their story, photo by photo.”
The following is a list of winners, along with a link to each of their winning entries. The grand prize photo winner takes home $100 and four runners-up will receive $50 each. We also want to applaud three honorable mentions.
Grand Prize Winner – JohnThomas Didymus
Photo essay: Agbeni Market — Ibadan’s ‘mother of markets
Why it won: JohnThomas takes us on an intimate tour of a popular Nigerian market, providing a deep glimpse of how Nigerians shop and congregate. The photos made us feel like we were right there in the middle of the busy market, and several photos provided an on-the-ground view of a bustling market .
Runners-up
Richard Milnes
Photo essay:Les Misérables Australian premiere red carpet
What we liked: Richard captured the organizational intensity required to produce a red-carpet Hollywood event, while also snapping photos of well-known celebs and media executives who were attending the Sydney premiere of Les Misérables. This photo story does a great job of capturing the atmosphere of the premiere of a major motion picture.
Matt Harding
Photo essay: Detailing some of Detroit’s diverse neighborhoods
What we liked: Matt provided a comprehensive pictorial of his hometown of Detroit, Michigan, including unexpected detail and unique subjects. He didn’t just look at just one Detroit community, but scoured the city to provide a memorable overview of an American city with dramatic, contrasting neighbourhoods.
Igor I. Solar
Photo essay: Tsukiji Fish Market — A slice of daily life in Japan
What we liked: Scanning the photos of this Japanese fish market, we felt as though we were right there, able to feel and smell the clams, squid and other fresh fish. Igor made sure to visually tell us about the staff who make this market work; from views of cutting fish or shipping goods, the reader learns about the stories and people from behind the scenes.
Anne Sewell
Photo essay: Changing moods of the Mediterranean
What we liked: “Most people imagine the Mediterranean sea as a calm blue ocean and dream of warm, sunny beach holidays. But the Med is much more than a calm blue pond.” So began Anne’s photo essay of Fuengirola, on the south coast of Spain. And she fulfilled her promise of providing a wide range of Spanish perspectives. From the gorgeous image of ships docked at port to a sunset painting a skyline, the photos made us itch to visit this lovely region.
Honorable Mentions
Greta McClain
Photo essay: Everyday items can hold a beauty of their own
What we liked: Greta succeeded in photographing objects not often caught under a lens, providing an Instagram-like experience to these discarded items and commonplace structures. There’s a new poetry to these photos of things we may often overlook.
Joseph Boltrukiewicz
Photo essay: Aeriosa dancing on walls
What we liked: Photographing a dance society in British Columbia, Joseph wowed us with unusual images of dancers careening off walls like an urban Cirque du Soleil. Joseph put us right there in the action, capturing physical movement and drama from an unusual street spectacle.
Lonna Lisa Williams
Photo essay: Faces of Turkey
What we liked: This visual walkabout provides an extensive portrayal of life in Turkey. Lonna surveyed this part of the world to tell us about the Istanbul citizens whose simple portraits convey emotional impact.
