Winners Announced for 14th Annual iPhone Photography Awards

[MacRumors]

The winners of the 14th annual iPhone Photography Awards were announced today following submissions from thousands of photographers from all over the world.

"Transylvanian Shepherds" photo shot by Istvan Kerekes​

The recipient of the "Photographer of the Year Award" went to photojournalist Istvan Kerekes from Hungary for his photo "Transylvanian Shepherds." In the photo, shot on an iPhone 7, two rugged shepherds are traversing a snowy industrial area in the Romanian city of Târgu Mureș, each while carrying a lamb.

Other top winners included Sharan Shetty from India for his photo "Bonding," where a man and his horse commune in an empty landscape, and Dan Liu from China for his "A Walk on Mars" photo of an astronaut traversing a desolate Martian-esque landscape. "Bonding" was shot with an iPhone X and "A Walk on Mars" was shot with an iPhone 11 Pro Max.

"Bonding" (top) and "A Walk on Mars" (bottom) shot by Sharan Shetty and Dan Liu respectively​

Top-three winners in an additional 17 categories were awarded to photographers from almost every corner of the world, including Australia, Austria, Bangladesh, China, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Israel, the Netherlands, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

We've highlighted a few of the winning photos here and the full gallery can be viewed on the iPhone Photography Awards website.

Article Link: Winners Announced for 14th Annual iPhone Photography Awards

 

[DeepIn2U]

Transylvanian Shepherds ... like this one.

 

[maxolson]

Proving yet again that your years old phone is more than capable of producing evocative images. We're inundated with media telling us we need the latest and greatest: sharper lenses, higher megapixel count etc. When it all just comes down to composition, light, subject and editing– just like it always has. What a great collection of images.

 

[w5jck]

To be honest, those are three boring photos. I’m at a loss to understand how they won anything. Maybe the people who voted for them have no clue about photography are what makes a good award winning photograph. They are all boring and dull.

 

[citysnaps]

Proving yet again that your years old phone is more than capable of producing evocative images. We're inundated with media telling us we need the latest and greatest: sharper lenses, higher megapixel count etc. When it all just comes down to composition, light, subject and editing– just like it always has. What a great collection of images.

Amen to that! I have images from an iPhone 5s and 6+ that still stand up.

Images that are powerful and release evocative narratives have little to do with the camera/device that recorded them. The first two photos up above are outstanding examples of that.

 

[maxolson]

With such hard-hitting criticism as 'they are boring and dull', I doubt you'd make much of a judge.

To be honest, those are three boring photos. I’m at a loss to understand how they won anything. Maybe the people who voted for them have no clue about photography are what makes a good award winning photograph. They are all boring and dull.

 

[JWiLL1988]

To be honest, those are three boring photos. I’m at a loss to understand how they won anything. Maybe the people who voted for them have no clue about photography are what makes a good award winning photograph. They are all boring and dull.

You could’ve been explained your photography ignorance in less words.

 

[tedwill]

As much as I try to capture great images on my Leica, I get more "keepers" from the camera that's with me and that tends to be my iPhone. These are all great photos by the way. But yes, iPhones are limited by the tiny sensors compared to full frame and medium format cameras, but it's hard to fit a Hasselblad in my back pocket! 😉

 

[citysnaps]

To be honest, those are three boring photos. I’m at a loss to understand how they won anything. Maybe the people who voted for them have no clue about photography are what makes a good award winning photograph. They are all boring and dull.

Genuinely curious... Could you post a few photos, preferably yours (or anyone else's), that rise to you what you'd consider excellent or outstanding photographs? And perhaps say a few words why you think they rise to that level. Thanks.

 

[SigEp265]

Tatooine!

 

[tedwill]

Tatooine!

Now that you mention it, the domes in the backgrounds look like Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru's home.

 

[R10k]

Some excellent photos…

 

[Spacetime Anomaly]

Transylvanian Shepherds are my favourite death metal band.

 

[svish]

Good photos 👍

 

[criticasm]

You could’ve been explained your photography ignorance in less words.

hmm lets see
Ethnic folks struggling to eek out an existence in a harsh world ✅
Faux black & white to evoke a false sense of time & perspective ✅
Expansive desert landscape with a solitary person to convey the desolation of the human condition ✅
1,2,3 its a photography cliche hat-trick. People are not "ignorant" for not being moved by banality.

 

[Unregistered 4U]

Now that you mention it, the domes in the backgrounds look like Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru's home.

Hmmmm, do I see some faint smoke rising in the distance?

 

[Feyl]

I'm sorry but I see thousands of much better photographs on Instagram everyday.

 

[Unregistered 4U]

hmm lets see
Ethnic folks struggling to eek out an existence in a harsh world ✅
Faux black & white to evoke a false sense of time & perspective ✅
Expansive desert landscape with a solitary person to convey the desolation of the human condition ✅
1,2,3 its a photography cliche hat-trick. People are not "ignorant" for not being moved by banality.

All photography is cliché, though! These are cliché and, technically, well done. I don’t know how much post-processing is allowed before submission, but something tells me those have seen the editors hand

 

[farmboy]

By now pretty much all photography has antecedents. So, yes, we may have seen similar images before. But so what? If it holds your interest even for a brief while, it's done its job.

 

[Shasterball]

This is not a pic of someone walking on Mars. It is not possible to walk on Mars because of the Martian bears. I'm surprised this passed by Apple's screeners.

 

[vegetassj4]

They finally found the Eastern European vampires: https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/7087577/vampire-like-creature-kills-flock-sheep-ukraine/

 

[CarlJ]

Transylvanian Shepherds are my favourite death metal band.

Especially with the new instrumental, "Unwilling bagpipes".

 

[Wildkraut]

Cold day, two lonely mens with two sheep, no good.

 

[Baritone_Guy]

Proving yet again that your years old phone is more than capable of producing evocative images. We're inundated with media telling us we need the latest and greatest: sharper lenses, higher megapixel count etc. When it all just comes down to composition, light, subject and editing– just like it always has. What a great collection of images.

Don’t forget what is likely a non trivial amount of post processing in Adobe software. Shoot in RAW, get it sharp to start and then the software does it’s magic.

 

[Moonlight]

To be honest, those are three boring photos. I’m at a loss to understand how they won anything. Maybe the people who voted for them have no clue about photography are what makes a good award winning photograph. They are all boring and dull.

My dad told me about anyone that starts a sentence with "to be honest"