1ST PRIZE: Dimpy Bhalotia / 2ND PRIZE: Javier Arcenillas

“It is a very intuitive process for me to choose my favorite images. It’s the same as when I take pictures. I follow my gut feeling. What touches me? ; What images ask questions more than trying to give answers? – I want to be like a newborn seeing the world for the first time. Open. Honest – When you focus on what you share with the subject, also the viewer will feel invited inside; “yes I remember how it is to feel free and jump after flying birds, I remember how it is to love unconditionally. I remember how it is to feel the soft water caressing my back and the warm sun on my skin. I remember how it is to feel as a part of nature. At the moment I look at these two photographs, I AM the little boy jumping in joy after a 1000 birds, I AM the young woman being caressed by the stream. I am free.” – Jacob Aue Sobol

3RD PRIZE: Mushfiqur Rahman

“Black and white photography as a way of revealing things that can’t be find in color and it ‘is truly quite a departure from reality’; as master photographer Ansel Adams once said. Representing the world through the use of a monochrome palette provides the artist with a level of abstraction that can emphasize on the photographer’s connection with the subject and the message conveyed through the lens. Here, a well-composed, quiet and seemingly peaceful scene at first glance, soon disappear to reveal all the hardship and living conditions of the working class; Clearly, a photograph portraying two miners laying on a pile of charcoal at night was not meant for color.” – The Independent Photographer Editors