1st Prize: Biljana Jurukovski

“I couldn’t get this photograph out of my mind. I would look at it, walk away, and always return to it as something that I found mysterious, beautiful and very original. The photographer applied the idea of an avant garde approach to the tribal world of the Surma tribe. It is intimate and beyond being something that I wanted to look at repeatedly and remain impressed and even moved, there was something magical about it, something otherworldly that we don’t often see or both to see. I felt I entered a spirit world of ancestors. I also felt it was very respectful in recognising the beauty of people who are the closest to the earth and true to their traditions and their sense of themselves.” – Maggie Steber

2nd Prize: Noor Ahmed Gelal

“I went back and forth between this photographer’s two entries because both were powerful and I felt that they belonged together rather than separately, like the numbers 1 and 2. But I finally chose this image because of the movement and composition and also because I could look at each person individually. There was also a kind of desperation to it, to get onto the train, to find a place for themselves, and it created that kind of energy in looking at it. The frame is really well-used from edge to edge and top to bottom there is something to look at and of course, that man in the background leaping in midair completed the photograph. It was energetic and yet, everyone was frozen.” – Maggie Steber

3rd Prize: Jean-Michel Clajot

“The unconventional framing of this excellent portrait helps us read the image from left to right, like a book, while the scars on the subject’s face are etched into his skin like words. With an arresting gaze that rests beyond the frame, we are drawn into the deep and contemplative stare of this man. This image speaks of the the marks of experience that define us but suggests an intangible inner voice within us all.” – The Independent Photographer Editors