Winning Photographer Ivana Sunjic

“About Giulia”
I “painted” my daughter, and my muse, in her essence; The light reveals her elegance but also her inner beauty. © Ivana Sunjic

Second Prize Olga Steinepreis

“Brothers”
Two brothers are so different, but sometimes they are as one. They quarrel, but cannot live long without each other. After all, neither of them recall a time before he had a brother. © Olga Steinepreis

Third Prize Dave Davis

“The Waiting Mother” - Sri Lanka
In the summer of 2023, I traveled to Sri Lanka where I engaged in a project to document the Tamil people whose family members had disappeared during the civil war. Reports estimate that at least 100,000 people were kidnapped by the Sinhalese government during its long and bloody conflict with the Tamil tigers. The majority of which happened in the last year of the conflict in 2009. The government did not discriminate between men, women, or children. Innocent or otherwise. Leading to widespread loss amongst multiple generations. Pictured above is a mother whose 14-year-old son vanished one day whilst on his way home from school. A tragic case, yet one which so many of the people I met shared. The most heartbreaking thing was not witnessing the constant breakdowns of the people, the trauma still so present in their lives. But, due to being afforded no closure with any recorded deaths, all still believe that one day their fathers, mothers, sons, daughters, uncles, aunts, sisters, and brothers will return to them. Having been released from one of the supposed underground prisons the community has fabricated as a conspiracy to tackle their grief. The look on this mother’s face is a mixture of grief and hope. Stuck in the torment of an emotional limbo. She will sit with this for the rest of her days. Without electronics, books, a job, or any of the other distractions we take for granted to numb and distract us from the pain in our own lives. In a world that has almost entirely forgotten about this tragedy and breach of human rights. © Dave Davis

Finalist Michael Oulton

“Geoff Toogood” - UK
Geoff Toogood is a cardiologist, mental health ambassador, and open-water swimmer. He has used his love for the ocean to help improve his mental health and in 2015 and 2016 he attempted to swim the English Channel, coming within 1.5 kilometers of finishing in 2016. He is also the founder of the charity Crazysock4docs. A charity that aims to reduce the stigma around mental health in the healthcare industry. © Michael Oulton

Finalist Han Yang

“Romantic Memories”
A part of my childhood memory inspired this project. In the pleasant days of childhood, where there were wildflowers from the forests of home, poems, and the thoughts of young girls. The flowers and poems were enclosed in thick books. It was a dream that lived in a world of fairy tales. Long afterward you can open the book and still smell the flowers, still recall the mood of the time, and fantasize about the future. The modern material world, full of consumption and desire, seems to have taken us further and further away from the romantic state of mind in which we live. These works commemorate those romantic and wonderful times. © Han Yang

Finalist Maricruz Sainz De Aja

“Connection” - South Sudan
In this captivating image, a Mundari boy proudly holds two framed cow horns, symbolizing the deep connection and reverence his people have for their cattle. © Maricruz Sainz De Aja

Finalist Claire Dam

From the series I Find You In Myself
In the words of Canadian author Elizabeth Hay, “My mother went in and out of lucidity the way you go in and out of a lake. The lucid waters, the forgetful shore.” ; She and I may have our troubled past, but I felt very strongly beginning at the onslaught of her decline that my only responsibility was to honour my mother. How can I be honouring her by photographing her face bruised and cut from a fall? Her sallow flesh? Her fierce but frightened gaze? I don’t think honouring means I have to paint a rosy portrait of ageing and dying. The whole affair is undignified and horrible. I’ve chosen to honour her by witnessing where she is at without flinching; without fear; without shame. The walls I had built since my childhood to protect and distance myself from her began to crumble as I photographed, developed and then gazed back into the confused, but bold gaze of my mother. From the safety of a print I was able to actively put myself into her place; this place she very, very much wants to leave. And I also began to recognize parts of myself in her that I had previously tried to deny. Since I was a child we’ve both been described as vulnerable but fierce, painfully honest, but painfully sensitive, hospitable and warm, frightening and intimidating. Through these portraits I’ve been able to see and accept those juxtaposing words spoken over us for 40 years, for better or for worse, because I do, after all, find her in myself. © Claire Dam

Finalist Billy Dinh

“14th St” - New York, USA
Portrait inspired by the hustle and bustle of the city and the missed connections of everyday life. © Billy Dinh

Finalist Giandomenico Veneziani

“Back to you”
© Giandomenico Veneziani

Finalist Sander Vos

“Interpolation 1”
“Interpolation” in an ongoing series of photographic collages creating surreal worlds that challenge our perception. © Sander Vos