The Siena International Photo Awards is a prestigious photography contest that receives entries from over 100 countries around the world. Results for the 2016 competition have just been announced and below you can find a collection of our favorite award winners and honorary mentions.
The pictures span countless countries including India, China, Bangladesh, Turkey, Cuba, Myanmar and Bahrain. Leyla Emektar won first place for the travel category for her beautiful image of a strawberry-picker walking between colorful greenhouses in Turkey, while first place for the Open Color category went to Danny Yen Sin Wong for his shot of a Vietnamese woman making a traditional fishing net. The winning photographs are currently on display at the Siena Art Photo Travel Festival, a month-long exhibition called “Beyond the Lens” held in the city of Siena, Italy. The exhibition runs from October 29 to November 30.
More info: Siena International Photo Awards | Siena Art Photo Travel
#1 Phan Rang Fishing Net Making, Vietnam (1st Place In Open Color Category)
In a small village in southern Vietnam near Phan Rang, a woman wearing a typical cone hat is creating a fishing net in their traditional manner. The manufacturing of handmade nets is still a typical Vietnamese activity for women which they carry on while their husbands are out fishing.
Image source: Danny Yen Sin Wong
#2 Smile (Honorable Mention In People And Portrait Category)
During a Dharma assembly in the monastery of Labrang Lamasery, due to the heavy snow, all the monks’ robes were covered with a thick layer of snow. When a young Lama was looking back with a smile, the photographer captured his smiling face.
Image source: Jianjun Huang
#3 Strawberry Greenhouses, Turkey (1st Place In Travel Category)
A strawberry-picker walks between colourful greenhouses near Nazilli, in the Aydın province of Turkey.
Image source: Leyla Emektar
#4 Sprinkle Net (Remarkable Award In Open Color Category)
Image source: Fuyang Zhou
#5 The Power Of Nature, Sicily (1st Place In Nature Category)
Magma, ash and gas erupt from Mount Etna in December 2015, rising to a height of several kilometres.
Image source: Giuseppe Mario Famiani
#6 Mangrove, Cuba (Honorable Mention In Nature Category)
The mangroves are a unique and very important ecosystem on Earth. As in all the ecosystems, you can find an apex predator at the top of the food chain to regulate the good health of the ocean. In Cuba, I explored the mangrove and was able to photograph the American crocodile.
Image source: Greg Lecoeur
#7 Floating Market, Malaysia (3rd Place In Travel Category)
Water transportation plays an important role in everyday life in South Borneo.
Image source: Antonius Andre Tjiu
#8 Outlines And Shadows, South Vietnam, (Honorable Mention In Open Color Category)
On the sand dunes of Mui Ne, situated close to its homonym city in South Vietnam, three girls are walking along the slope wearing their typical cone hats and carrying their scales, creating beautiful lines and shade effects on the sand.
Image source: Danny Yen Sin Wong
#9 Women Reflection, UAE (2nd Place In Architecture Category)
Two women walking reflect their images on the water and give birth to the exaltation of the geometry and architecture of Sheikh Zayed’s Grand Mosque.
Image source: Ali Al Hajri
#10 Central Black, Bahrain (3rd Place In Open Color Category)
A Bahraini Muslim woman carrying her son while taking part in the funeral of Isa Radhi, the Bahraini protester who was allegedly killed during Martial Law in Sitra Village, South Manama on March 22, 2011.
Image source: Isa Ebrahim
#11 The Way Back, Iraq (Honorable Mention In Open Color Category)
The most beautiful area in the South of Iraq is called “Al-Chibayish Marshes” in Al-Nasiriyah province. It has hundreds of miles of water coming from the Euphrates river. In this area life is so simple and sometimes very hard.
Image source: Mohammed Sattar
#12 The Storyteller, China (Honorable Mention In Travel Category)
In Sichuan province, China, the tea house still plays a vital role in the daily life: here people relax during a storytelling session.
Image source: Aimin Wang
#13 Living Place, Tibet (Honorable Mention In Architecture Category)
I left Chengdu and arrived at Seda Tibetan Buddhist Institute, located at Larong Ditch, Seda County, Ganzi State, Sichuan Province. On that night it snowed a lot and the following morning the red houses of the Lamas and nuns were all covered with heavy snow. This was the first time that I saw such a scene and almost in shock, I took the picture.
Image source: Qingjun Rong
#14 I’m Nothing (Honorable Mention In Open Monochrome Category)
The image was taken in one of Bagan’s temples in Myanmar. It captures a very special moment when a sunbeam enters through a small window and hits the statue’s heart while a monk is cleaning the statue at the same time.
Image source: Gunarto Gunawan
#15 Tuscan Golden Sunrise (Remarkable Award In Open Color Category)
Image source: Michele Macinai
#16 Ripples In Tea, China (Honorable Mention In Travel Category)
Harvest time ay a high-quality, ecological tea plantation in Jinlu village in China’s Zhejiang province.
Image source: Hong Ding
#17 The Calm Of Art (Remarkable Award In Architecture Category)
Image source: Sulaiman Al Hammadi
#18 Jodhpur Family, Rajasthan (Honorable Mention In Travel Category)
A studied composition of the Bhenwa family in the city of Jodhpur.
Image source: Isa Ebrahim
#19 Tree Of Life (Remarkable Award In Open Color Category)
Image source: Yongmei Liu
#20 Night Phantoms (Remarkable Award In Open Color Category)
Image source: Yury Pustovoy
#21 Gaming During Recess (Remarkable Award In Open Monochrome Category)
Image source: Yue Zhang
#22 Fun In Childhood (Remarkable Award In Open Color Category)
Image source: Chuntao Zhou
#23 Makkah, Mecca, Saudi Arabia (2nd Place In Open Color Category)
A multitude of observant Muslims hold the traditional circumambulation ritual around the Kaaba, an ancient building located in the center of Mecca, which is the holiest place for the Islam community.
Image source: Majid Alamri
#24 Kashmir (Honorable Mention In People And Portrait Category)
This is a nomadic mountain inhabitant of the Sonamarg region in Kashmir whose harsh facial features and sharp look made him blend in with the rugged mountaintops in the background. In the end, it looked like he was part of his own landscape.
Image source: Mahmoud Yakut
#25 Red Mist In Alba (Second Place In Wine Category)
An autumnal glimpse of vineyards near Alba in the Langhe hills of Piedmont.
Image source: Valentina Galvagno
#26 Typhoon (Honorable Mention In Open Color Category)
The waves look like a volcanic eruption, like a giant tree eradicated and covering all the fragile buildings on the bank. The contrast between the waves and the building is representative of force and weakness, brightness and darkness, movement and stillness and conveys the idea of human weakness in the face of nature.
Image source: Changming Liu
#27 Prayers On The Road, Bangladesh (Honorable Mention In Travel Category)
Devotees praying on the Dhaka-Mymensingh highway, Bangladesh, on first day of Bishwa Ijtema, the second largest Islamic congregation after theHajj, organised on the banks of the Turag river.
Image source: Muhammad Mostafigur Rahman
#28 Gondoliere (Third Place In Open Monochrome Category)
This photo is taken on Malvasia Vecchia Bridge, in Venice, in one of the most photographed places in the world, where you can still find unique moments at a glance. The author has photographed this gondolier, towards the end of a hard day’s work, while he was returning home with his dog.
Image source: Giuseppe Antonio Valletta
#29 Rural Portuguese People – Beginning Of The Day (Remarkable Award, People And Portrait Category)
Image source: Jorge Bacelar
#30 Walking High In The Dolomites (Honorable Mention In Travel Category)
The international high line festival at Monte Piana (2,324m) in the Italian Dolomites, above the small town of Misurina. The mountain is popular with slackliners who take advantage of its numerous buttresses, suspending thin lines between the spectacular cliffs and then walking over the gaps.
Image source: James Rushforth
#31 Taj Mahal Side Mosque (Remarkable Award In Architecture Category)
Image source: Jay Dickman
#32 Red Zone, China (Honorable Mention In Open Color Category)
This photo was taken in Lijiang – China, during Impression Lijiang, a magnificent outdoor singing and dancing performance demonstrating the traditions and lifestyle of the local ethnic group.
Image source: Herman Morrison
#33 Harvest Season (Honorable Mention In Open Color Category)
October, the chilly harvest season, when the red chillies are mature, farmers pick them and leave them to dry in the hot sun. Once dry the chillies can easily be stored, transported and sold. This picture was taken from a unique aerial perspective, when the farmers were busy with the harvest.
Image source: Hanbin Wang
#34 Let Happiness Fly (Honorable Mention In Sport Category)
The world of children is always happy, the happiness in their hearts has no limits as they live a pure life. However we live a busy and restless city life, which is exactly the opposite. When I took this picture in November 2012, I had suddenly understood this feeling. The power of images is infinite and I hope that this image will touch many people.
Image source: Yan Yang
#35 Morning Catch (Remarkable Award In Open Color Category)
Image source: Xiaolong Guo
#36 Echelon (Remarkable Award In Open Monochrome Category)
Image source: Buket Ozatay
#37 Motion (Remarkable Award In Open Color Category)
Image source: Fatih Balkan
#38 Childhood (Honorable Mention In People And Portrait Category)
Slum children play football in a muddy field in the Gazipur district in Dhaka. Although Bangladesh’s football team is positioned 162 in the FIFA rankings, the country has millions of football fans, most of them supporting their national team.
Image source: Probal Rashid
#39 Crazy For Mud (Honorable Mention In People And Portrait Category)
Mud park, located in Xiushan island of Zhoushan City, is the first mud theme park in China. My work represents two visitors completely covered with mud, with a group of “muddy people” in the background. I used the contrast between light and shadow to show childish enjoyment.
Image source: Changming Liu
#40 Cock Fighting, Indonesia (2nd Place In Open Monochrome Category)
This photo was taken in Jakarta and shows two men who proudly watch their roosters fighting. Cockfighting is one of the most common traditions among several Indonesian cultures.
Image source: Pimpin Nagawan
#41 Sisters In Desert (Honorable Mention In Open Color Category)
While the sunrise shines on the sand, in the desert of Naima, some Mongolian girls carry buckets on their way to get water. Their shadows are of rare beauty.
Image source: Yushan Li
#42 Happiness (Honorable Mention In People And Portrait Category)
Happy children playing with tires outside our NGO medical consultation point full of ill people. These are the smiling sons, nephews and grandchildren of our patients. Sometimes, the line between suffering and happiness is so small and fuzzy that it can be very frightening.
Image source: Antonio Aragon Renuncio
#43 Transition (Remarkable Award In Open Monochrome Category)
Image source: Lanfeng Chen
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