1ST PRIZE: Alain Schroeder

“This is my kind of masterpiece. the formal composition and the people within the frame are in a perfect, yet uneasy, balance. the light within the picture is varied and painterly and subtle so that the air feels dream-like and evocative. The stoppage of time, at that split second, makes total sense: this moment must be seen, this picture must be taken! Then there is the crazy “collage-like” feeling of the left side of the frame, where a man from some other photograph, perhaps, seems to have wandered into the frame, announcing yet another layer of reality. The best pictures, like this one, ask more questions than they answer.” — Richard Sandler

2ND PRIZE: Daniel Ramos

“One can only thank the photo gods for this perfect orchestration of this complicated frame. chaos has been transmuted into order for an instant. it’s the thing that only cameras with shutters (and a.i.) can do. In the flow of time, a moment like this is so fleeting, so hard to steal. the great street photographer, Garry Winogrand has been quoted as saying, “There is nothing more mysterious than a fact clearly described.” This picture is one of those facts: cotton candy is being made, the sun is low in the sky and the fact of existence is more profound than its content.” — Richard Sandler

3RD PRIZE: Jonathan Jasberg

“A truly stunning image, rich in color: from the vibrant turquoise and carmine walls, echoed in the stripes on the bags that hang precariously from the bicycle, to the indigo shorts of the man on the right. Perfectly timed and composed, the trio of dogs, in the center, and a fourth sliding into the frame add an element of dynamism and spontaneity to the shot and evoke Elliot Erwitt’s classic depictions of the subject, it captures the atmosphere of the Kolkata streets in a manner reminiscent of the great Raghubir Singh, one of the finest street photographers of his time.” – The Independent Photographer Editors