Here are the powerful winning photos of the 2021 Budapest International Photo Awards. Budapest International Foto Awards is an inspirational community that recognizes the power and influence of photography in shaping how we see the world. We are here to nurture creative expression and support photographers who have important stories to share through their images.
BIFA connects professional, amateur and student photographers from around the world with the creative community in Budapest, Hungary, putting them in the spotlight and providing them with a great platform to showcase their work. Winners are selected by our esteemed jury of photographers and leaders in the photography world and are awarded the BIFA trophy, cash prizes, extensive publicity showcasing their work to a worldwide audience, and much more.
Here you can check 30 of the best winning photos, you can check their website for view full gallery.
You can find more info about Budapest International Photo Awards:
#1 The Ocean Color Canvas. Silver, Nature By Hirotaka Shindo
“This is the submerged forest in Lake Shusenko. Lake Shusenko is so beautiful.”
#2 Migrant Girls Mourn. 1st Place, Editorial By Ivan Romano
“Two migrant girls mourn during clashes between refugees and riot police on the Greek Island of Lesbos on February 3, 2020 in Mytilene, Greece. Refugees protested against the terrible conditions in which they lived inside the Moria refugee camp. Moria was the largest refugee camp in Europe, providing temporary shelter to around 20,000 asylum seekers before the fires and its final abandonment in September 2020.”
#3 Change The Conversation. 2nd Place, People, Professional By Sujata Setia
“I grew up being called a midget by friends and family, who believed it was endearing to call me so. But as a result, I have battled with the concept of beauty, self-love and appreciation of myself beyond my physical appearance for all of my life. When my eight-year-old daughter came back home to ask if she is beautiful, it hit me the most. Changing the Conversation is a personal series that speaks of beauty as not a bondage but a concept that frees you. Beauty is not this or that; pretty or ugly. Beauty exists beyond binaries.”
#4 Drying Dried Persimmons. 2nd Place, Advertising By Yu Ling Ho
“Every autumn is the harvest season of persimmons. Rural women are busy harvesting and making the remainders into dry cakes. The series of photos show the women’s spirit of enduring hardships and hard works.”
#5 Born Of Fire. 1st Place, Nature, Professional By Filip Hrebenda
“During my expedition to the volcanic area of Fagradalsfjall in southwestern Iceland, it was the first photo just after the first contact with lava and the ubiquitous poisonous gas. Volcanoes are a rare opportunity to observe the complete transformation of the landscape. Places that were only recently valleys and meadows became hills, craters and lava fields. Being there was a great experience.”
#6 Our Past. Photographer Of The Year, Book, Professional By Svetlana Melik-Nubarova
“The history of the Soviet Union is a clear example of how propaganda shapes the worldview, values and way of life of a person. We, who were born in the Soviet Union, sincerely believed in the values that we were inspired in early childhood. And only during perestroika [the reformation movement] we discovered the Other World.”
#7 Universe During Pandemic. 2nd Place, Science, Professional By Zixiong Jin
“I have spent a year capturing all these mysterious and beautiful images of the universe, including galaxies and nebulas. Every image was shot for at least 25 hours, which means multiple nights per final image. Most of the images were taken at a dark site located in west Texas. Every night I watched the stars while my equipment is working, it makes me think of how tiny we are as human beings, and how little colour and luminosity we can perceive with our eyes.”
#8 Tears For George Floyd. Gold In Editorial, Political By Brian Cassey
“At a Black Lives Matter protest in Cairns, Australia, US citizen Hermela Bealfan cries as she lies on the ground for eight minutes and 46 seconds – the time it took police officer Derek Chauvin to kill George Floyd by kneeling on his neck in Minneapolis. Cairns residents came out in their hundreds not only to protest against Floyd’s murder but also the Australian indigenous death toll ‘in custody’ – at the time 432 since 1991.”
#9 People Of Tundra. 1st Place, People, Professional By Yulia
“In the far north of Russia, on the Taymyr peninsula, indigenous peoples continue to live according to the traditional way of life. They wander from place to place with their herds of deer. They spend all year in the tundra from birth to ripe old age, except for the time when children leave to study in boarding schools. It was surprising for me to learn that they are not hostages of the situation, they have a choice. Many families have apartments in settlements, but they do not want to live in them – choosing to roam the endless expanses.”
#10 Unyielding Floods. Gold, Editorial/Environmental, Professional By Peter Caton
“Floods in South Sudan have triggered food insecurity across the country. About 1.3 million children suffer from acute malnutrition, exacerbated by the spread of malaria and drinking water made unsafe by the floods, which have affected a million people since July 2020. Jonglei state is at the heart of the devastation. This project documents the devastation on three levels: natural disaster, food insecurity and loss of dignified living.”
#11 Resonance. 1st Place, Science By Simone Arrigoni
“What if we could see sound? We would be immersed in amazing shapes drawn by acoustic waves in space. Thanks to Cymatics, we can go beyond the limits of our senses, and visualize the patterns created by a sound frequency on a fluid’s surface. The Resonance photographic project is a tribute to the secret beauty of Nature by showing the fascinating shapes generated on water by natural objects’ sounds (both Earthly and astronomic), which draw in front of the camera’s lens the invisible symphony of reality. Photos here presented: Magma, Stalagmite, Geyser, Fire, Snowstorm, Beluga, Blu whale.
Simone Arrigoni (Rome, 1973) is a classical pianist, freediving world champion (21 world records) and an award-winning photographer (FIOF Italian Photography Ambassador in China 2017 & Underwater Photography Festival Ambassador) with more than 100 awards in the most prestigious international photo contests, publications and worldwide exhibitions (China, Crimea, France, Greece, Italy, Japan, Singapore, UK, USA).”
#12 Forest Fire. Gold, Editorial/General News By Nuno André
“A child inside a car near a forest fire in Oliveira de Frades, northern Portugal, 7 September 2020. This forest fire mobilised 327 firemen, 103 land vehicles and eight airplanes.”
#13 The Persistence Of Family. 2nd Place, Fine Art By Diana Cheren Nygren
“By compositing together old and new family photographs, this series enables generations to reach each other across time. Driven by personal longing, the images make real those things I hold dear. But in doing that, they address universal experience, interrogating the way in which family relationships and history play a role in shaping our sense of ourselves and our place in the world. They suggest that the present, in each of us, contains both the past and the future. This series portrays the layered process of becoming, and the complex interweaving of time, place, and identity.”
#14 Hope… Leprosy. 2nd Place, Editorial By Emese Balázs-Fülöp
“In March 2020, I was on a volunteering trip in Congo, Kimpese. Here is a leprosy colony… Leprosy can be cured if discovered in time, but unfortunately many do not notice in time. Gabriel is already 75 years old, he has lived here 20 years. Still hoping, many were healed and gone. But unfortunately society excludes them, they think evil spirits have invaded them. Who is denied. There is hope for recovery, but there is no hope of being welcomed back into their family.
I am 32 years old, Hungarian woman. I was born and raised in Romania. I am a passion traveller, during my travels I look for people’s real face, life, past, future… I connect all my travels with volunteering… so my main goal is helping.”
#15 I Was My Husband. 1st Place, Book & Best New Talent, Non-Professional By Valter Darbe
“Modern Indian society seems to be not able to modify some aspects belonging to the most orthodox Hindu culture, according to which a widow no longer has any right or social utility, and loses her identity when the husband dies. Kicked out of houses, they are banned from all social moments of life. A phenomenon that crosses all social classes, doubly enclosed within the walls of the ashrams and the cultural prisons of a society that prefers to make them invisible rather than questioning themselves.”
#16 Fire Escapism. 2nd Place, Advertising, Professional By Paul Brouns
“My ongoing series of New York fire escapes is an uplifting tribute to the rhythm of this fascinating city. To me the fire escapes and the facades behind them are very characteristic for New York. On one side they are abstract compositions, but at the same time the stairs and windows behind provide a tangible reference to the human scale.”
#17 Creatures From Another Dimension. 1st Place, Science, Professional By Irina Petrova
“People are often afraid of insects. The insects are akin to creatures from other parallel dimensions or sci-fi movies. The insects’ physiology, superpowers, and the way of life are different from that of humans. I tried to show the true essence of beings from other dimensions using negative images of the original photos.”
#18 Pasola – A Sumbanese Sporting Tradition. 1st Place, Events By Wolfgang Weinhardt
“Heralded by the arrival of the nyale, mythically revered sea worms, the Sumbanese celebrate a spectacular spear fight on horseback at the end of each rainy season. Pasola, a war ritual played to celebrate the rice planting season. Captured in 2020 @ Sumba Barat, Indonesia.”
#19 Requiem Pour Pianos. 2nd Place, Architecture, Professional By Romain Thiery
“What remains of their finery? Blown away marble, disembowelled fireplaces, torn hangings. These great houses have lost their glory. However, lurking in the shadows, astonishing wood and cast iron monsters with lacquered skin display their toothless smiles with ivory reflections. These pianos are the soul of the place, too heavy to be moved.”
#20 Black Dress. Gold, Advertising, Professional By George Maye
“The conception for the photo project was the creation of a perfect female image, romantic and mysterious, and at the same time daring and exciting.”
#21 You Are My Mother. 1st Place, Portfolio, Professional By Angelika Kollin
“As the Covid pandemic rolled over the world, many of us found ourself going back to basics and spending more times with our families. Angelika started photographing her project in April 2020, while in complete lockdown in South Africa, because she wanted to document beautiful emotional healing she witnessed between a mother and her adult daughter. She started exploring the same ‘story’ in other mother/child connections, examining the impact it had on her own family life and on her audience.”
#22 As Time Stood Still. 1st Place, Fine Art By Margarita Mavromichalis
“Diary of a photographer during the London lockdowns in 2020. Not being able to walk the streets to produce my usual work, I decided to turn the camera on to myself and explore my feelings, my insecurities, my hopes and my fears. The camera gave me a purpose during this very uncertain time and the creation of this project became a very psychotherapeutic process.
Margarita Mavromichalis has spent her life living and traveling around the world. She speaks five languages and likes to think that photography is her second language, as it is universal, one that is understood by all and conveys messages in a most powerful way. Margarita is attracted to street photography and the elements that evoke emotions and surprise in our everyday life. Furthermore, she is passionate about documenting current events that she feels strongly about, highlighting their social impact. Award-winning photographer, her work has been displayed in exhibitions worldwide.”
#23 Black Eye. Growing Up Travelling. 2nd Place, Book By Jamie Johnson
“Growing up Traveling is a collection of images of the truths and lives of the Irish Traveller children growing up in the caravans on the sides of the road throughout Ireland, with words from the children themselves, who long to be understood, and just treated as humans. I aim to have this book show these beautiful children how they are and who they are and to open up their world for better understanding that a child is a child and should be loved and respected for who they are.
Jamie’s passion for faces of the next generation has been a lifelong focus. She has traveled the world capturing images of children and childhood around the globe. From Laos to Cuba, from the Amazon to Mongolia and around the world and back, she has found a universality in the world of children and her passion grows stronger with each new adventure. The lifestyles, cultures and traditions of growing up around the world are closely examined in her photos and each connection she makes with her young new subjects creates lifelong friendships.”
#24 2021 Dajia Zhen Lan Temple Mazu Pilgrimage. 1st Place, Events, Professional By Chen Che Wang
“This annual event lasts for nine days and eight nights. Pilgrims set off from Dajia, head to Taichung, go south, arrive at Jiayi Mazu Temple and then return.”
#25 The Space Between. 2nd Place, Fine Art By Daniel Holfeld
“For this series Holfeld has focused on the the Calpe housing estate La Muralla Roja by iconic architect Ricardo Bofill. Built in 1973, La Muralla Roja is a postmodern apartment complex in Manzanera, Calpe, Spain and is ranked as one of Ricardo’s ten most iconic works. The Space Between employs Holfeld’s distinctive visual language to assemble the architectural surfaces he encounters as painterly abstractions. Through his lens and borrowing from the clean, vivid clarity of modernist painting, Holfeld transforms his studies into striking compositions of colour and geometric form.
Born in Dublin (1984), Daniel Holfeld grew up in Ireland and graduated with a BA [Hons] degree in photography from Dublin’s Institute of Technology in 2008. Holfeld has always gravitated towards large open spaces, developing a passion and admiration of the complex language of architecture. Earlier in 2020, Holfeld debuted his new series The Space Between in the Royal Institute of Architecture of Ireland and later returned to London to show the series in the Royal Institute of British Architects. RIBA acquired editions in to their permanent and prestigious Robert Elwall collection.”
#26 Twins. 2nd Place, Architecture By Hirotaka Shindo
This is a Japanese bridge called Meiko Triton in Nagoya-shi. I expressed by a monochrome.
#27 Who Left The Bloody Lights On? 1st Place, Nature By Rico X
“Shooting the world’s lit cities, towns and villages at night from the cockpit of my Boeing B777 and B787. Guess the next best thing if Rico was not smart enough to be an astronaut, but mama and papa still proud, so win win. Oh, and guess Rico should also mention something about climate change/energy consumption blah blah, but sure you got that as well. Enjoy. The End!
Just like the other 7.8 billion people on this planet, Rico believes he is also idiosyncratic or original or special or one-off or unique, oh as well as woke. -ironic “adjective” 1. using words to convey a meaning that is the opposite of its literal meaning; containing or exemplifying irony: (an ironic novel; an ironic remark.) 2. of, relating to, or tending to use irony or mockery; ironical. 3. coincidental; unexpected: (it was ironic that i was seated next to my ex-husband at the dinner.)”
#28 Hair. 1st Place, Advertising By Štefan Csontos
“A small but strong dryer for hair.”
#29 Cocoons. Concrete And Steel. 1st Place In Architecture By Gino Ricardo
“A series of buildings in Europe in different shapes, form and textures.”
#30 Tartan Army Descend On London For Euro 2020, Silver In Editorial/General News, Professional By Jeff Gilbert
“Drunken Scottish football fans in the west end of London to celebrate Euro 2020. Thousands of Scottish fans headed to Leicester Square, where they wore their country’s shirts, kilts, waved flags and set off smoke bombs ahead of watching the match against England which ended in a 0-0 draw, enough to keep Scotland in the tournament. Supporters had been urged not to travel to London unless they had a ticket or had organised somewhere to watch the game.”
