From glowing seaside portraits to vibrant, sunlit scenes, this curated selection from the 2024 Tokyo International Foto Awards celebrates summer in all its brilliance. Each winning image offers a unique vision of joy, light, and color.
The 2025 edition is open until September 1—don’t miss your opportunity to share your own work with a global audience and compete for cash awards and worldwide exhibitions.
#1 “A Kind Of Blue Series 2” By Roland Blum
Silver in Fine Art/Abstract
Due to the water streams, the coral reefs and the sandbanks that crisscross the ocean like a huge underwater dunescape, the variety of different shades of blue is unique in the remote archipelagos of the Indian Ocean. From ultramarine to cyan, from turquoise to azure, from indigo to sapphire blue – the subtle nuances and gradations shape the character of this underwater landscape. Unfortunately, these fragile systems are in real danger due to rising water temperatures caused by global warming.All images were taken from a helicopter flying about 2500 meters above the ground.
Roland Blum is a Liechtenstein-based photographer. He’s specialized in abstract photography since the early ’80s. He studied music at the jazz school Lucerne, Switzerland, and Spanish and art at the University of Havana (Cuba). Since 1994, Roland Blum is working as a journalist, photographer, producer and head of music at the national broadcast company radio Liechtenstein. Some of Roland Blum’s essential works are presented in his online gallery. His latest series Poetry of Silence was created in the Sperrgebiet, a diamond mining area in the Namib Desert.
Image source: tokyofotoawards
#2 “”Threads Of Tradition” – Vietnamese Fishing Net, Aerial View” By Chris Ha
Silver in Special/Aerial / Drone
Amid a sea of emerald hues, a lone Vietnamese worker meticulously mends a fishing net, her iconic conical hat a striking contrast against the billowing waves of fabric. This aerial perspective captures an unplanned yet serendipitous moment, discovered by chance while passing a bustling fishing dock. The image tells a story of tradition, craftsmanship, and the quiet rhythm of daily life, as the interplay of texture and color transforms a routine task into an extraordinary visual symphony.
I am a travel and portrait photographer driven by a deep love for capturing the world’s beauty and humanity. Every image I create is a window into a story—of breathtaking landscapes, vibrant cultures, and the emotions that connect us all. Photography is not just my craft but my way of preserving fleeting moments and sharing the wonder of our world with others. Through my lens, I strive to inspire awe, spark curiosity, and celebrate the extraordinary in the everyday. Based out of Miami, Florida, USA.
Image source: tokyofotoawards
#3 “Ocean Companions” By Fiona Basile
Silver in Nature/Pets
Even in the ocean’s depths, there is nothing separating man from his best friend. They swim alongside each other, and then take a moment to pause. They look back toward the rising sun and Man wonders what his best friend is thinking. Can he appreciate the beauty around him? He thinks so.
Image source: tokyofotoawards
#4 “In The Stillness Of Waiting” By Renzo Cicillini
Gold in Analog / Film/Fine Art
There’s a unique beauty, a moment where time stands still, and the pause becomes more meaningful than the destination. Sometimes, the act of waiting allows us to appreciate the quiet in-between moments. Photographed in Switzerland at Lake Geneva.
Image source: tokyofotoawards
#5 “Cat At The Door” By Glenn Goldman
Bronze in Advertising/Travel/Tourism
Chefchaouen, Morocco
Glenn Goldman is an architect, planner, and educator. He is a Professor of Architecture and the Founding Director of the School of Art + Design at the New Jersey Institute of Technology in Newark, NJ. He has received awards for teaching, research, and creative works and is a Fellow in the American Institute of Architects and the Chair of the ACM SIGGRAPH Education Committee.
Image source: tokyofotoawards
#6 “Venetian Dawn” By Giovanna Arnaud Fleming
Bronze in Architecture/Historic From the Accademia Bridge, Venice’s beauty stands over the calm waters of the Grand Canal. As the city wakes, the soft colours of morning paint the scene, with the sun rising behind the distant Basilica di Santa Maria della Salute. Light, colour and architecture reveal the rich history of this fascinating city.
A consequence of growing up in mountainous areas is a sensitivity to the subtle cycles and seasonal changes of the landscape. The trees, the rivers, the fields, the snow cover, and the mountains, which show different aspects of themselves from one hour, one day, one season, to the next. The world’s wild places – mountains, glaciers, polar ice – are under increasing pressure, both from climate change and the relentless intrusion of human activities. One way to inspire people to value and make an effort to preserve these areas is by sharing images of them.
Image source: tokyofotoawards
#7 “Kayak Patterns” By Ngar Shun Victor Wong
Gold in Special/Aerial/Drone
Sai Kung is renowned for its exceptional kayaking opportunities. Before the bustling training sessions commence, colourful kayaks are neatly stacked near the beach, creating a stunning mosaic when seen from above. This arrangement evokes a sense of intricate beauty and tranquility.
Image source: tokyofotoawards
#8 “Beach Life” By Simon Heather
Gold in Special/Aerial/Drone, 1st Place winner in Special
Welcome to an aerial series that captures the fun and fulfillment of beach life – from relaxing days in Italian beach clubs, and the surprising turquoise of British waters, to surf escapades in Hawaii, and the bustling scenes of Portugal – each photo captures the essence of people reveling in local beach experiences in different parts of the world. Feel a variety of vibes, painted through warm tones and colours, zoom in, to see a myriad of interactions and conversations happening at once, or zoom out to appreciate the vibrant tapestries of beach life. Life is better at the beach!
Simon is a British-Japanese photographer and illustrator, specializing in aerial drone capture. Always on the hunt for rare shots, Simon loves to snap slices of life and the world around us, bringing his images to life through storytelling, and illustration techniques – playing with composites, scale, colour and lighting – to create vibrant and colourful scenes that capture our escapist fantasies for travel. Simon grew up between London and Tokyo, but is now based in Brooklyn, New York.
Image source: tokyofotoawards
#9 “Water Frenzy” By Oded Perry
Bronze in People/Children
“In the photo, shadows of lively children dance on the wet ground as water bursts around them. Sunlight sharpens their silhouettes, capturing a moment of joyous play. Sparkling droplets reflect the light, highlighting the cool relief of a hot summer day.”
Image source: tokyofotoawards
#10 “Titans” By Brigitte Bourger
Gold in Events/Sport, 1st Place winner in Events
French Polynesia will host the Olympic Surfing Games in July 2024. Teahupoo, the chosen site is not just a playground for surfers, it’s a sacred place where they push the limits of the possible, in search of the biggest wave.
Image source: tokyofotoawards
#11 “Grockles” By Paul Carruthers
Gold in Special/Street Photography
Grockles. In the seaside towns of England’s south coast, few words define both the social and political reality as the word Grockle. In local parlance it means a tourist, and it is often used as both a joke and a slur. With second homes driving locals away, water shortages, and tourist economies overly reliant on seasonal work, Grockles has come to define a political moment of displacement. Paul Carruthers’ long term street photography project explores tourism from the inside.
My approach to street photography is one of immersion. I become an observer, watching the crowd while keenly aware of the stories unfolding around me. I seek to capture the candid gestures, fleeting expressions, and decisive moments that reveal the nuances of human interaction and emotion. In doing so, I aim to shed light on the often-overlooked aspects of our urban existence, exposing the beauty and complexity that lies beneath the surface. That all sounds well and good but all I really do is wander for miles with a camera with the images of Winogrand, Leiter and Eisenstaedt on my shoulder.
Image source: tokyofotoawards
#12 “Presence/Absence” By Francesco Pace Rizzi
Bronze in Fine Art/Other
The ephemeral geometries of shadows have always exerted a unique charm, capable of freeing the imagination and creating surreal and impalpable images, made of “darkness”, of absence. I tried to create with shadows a suggestive effect of visual ambiguity: the subject is out of the frame and yet inside the scene! The aim of the work was to immortalise with images the “presence of an absence” by making the observer participate in this incredible visual suggestion. “In truth, there are no secrets or mysteries: everything is shadow magic” (Junichiro Tanizaki, taken from: Book of Shadows)
Image source: tokyofotoawards
#13 “Searching For Light” By Andre Magarao
Gold in Editorial/Sports
This is an effort to capture action sports in its purest form. Shooting action sports is like a team sport. As a photographer I always need to make sure the athlete’s performance is at its peak. Lucky for me action sports is usually performed at amazing settings. Together with the athlete, we strive to showcase how beautiful the sport and the location is. Whenever the light is not amazing I bring in my flashes to make sure everything looks right.
Since I’ve always been into sports it was a natural step to start shooting my friends doing sports. I quickly noticed that shooting during “the golden hour” led to shots I liked more. But then I started shooting sports like skateboarding and it’s very hard to talk skateboarders into waking up at 5am to get that good light. That was when I started studying artificial light. Nowadays I travel with a pretty big amount of gear and place flashes where I probably shouldn’t be placing to get the shots you see here.
Image source: tokyofotoawards
#14 “Temple Fairs” By Yu Ling Ho
Gold in People/Culture
Taiwan is a country with religious freedom. During festivals, different temple fairs are held in various places. Temple fairs not only enhance local characteristics and become cultural symbols of various regions but also promote community cohesion and provide an opportunity for faith groups to interact. In addition, temple fairs can also help promote local economic development, attract tourists for sightseeing, and drive consumption.
Image source: tokyofotoawards
#15 “Children’s Happiness” By Olessya Mikhailova
Silver in People/Children
The photograph is not staged. My youngest son swam in the pool and was so happy, happy as only a child can be happy. Warm pool, sun, mom nearby.
Image source: tokyofotoawards
#16 “Flying Through Childhood” By Lena Sokolova
Silver in People/Children
This is a metaphorical photograph. It reflects how quickly a child’s childhood passes by and the fleeting nature of life in general.
Image source: tokyofotoawards
#17 “Curved Line” By Jose Antoine Costa
Silver in Fine Art/Minimalism
I strive to give my photographs a carnal dimension; it is therefore a question of thinking about the aesthetic specificity of architecture and the atmosphere which manifests itself in it. In this research I fragment each of the subjects entering into the composition to enhance their harmony, and present them from a unique angle.
Through his singular photographic style, the artist José Antoine Costa attracts our attention to urban landscapes, the influence of pictorial art on our modern societies, and uncovers an abstract aesthetic that is usually invisible.
Image source: tokyofotoawards
#18 “Surf Life Saving” By Andrea Francolini
Bronze in Events/Sport
Surf Life Saving in Australia, a source of national pride, annually sees surf clubs competing in beach rescue showcases. These demanding contests, requiring specialized skills and courage, test lifeguards’ physical strength and decision-making. The collective effort reinforces Surf Life Saving’s crucial role in fostering responsibility and excellence, safeguarding coastal communities and Australia’s iconic shores.
Image source: tokyofotoawards
#19 “Woman Is Like The Sea” By Monika Maroziene
Gold in Fine Art/Portrait, 1st Place winner in Fine Art
Woman is like the Sea – powerful, endless, giving, mysterious, dramatic, dangerous, calm, fragile, ironic, poetic… It has so many faces and is never understood…
Image source: tokyofotoawards
#20 “Cup Island” By Devin Depamphilis
Gold in Special/Macro Photography
“A picture is worth a thousand words.” This photo showcases a minimalist approach to a unique perspective using macro photography, food, and miniature figures. Summer wouldn’t be complete without a trip to the beach and playing in the sand. In this instance, the children get a treat with chocolate and peanut butter. The challenge of this project was to see beyond a piece of candy and tap into your inner child. My aim is to demonstrate how familiar food can be thrilling and let your imagination soar.
Devin’s work as a photographer has evolved over time. He now focuses on a minimalist approach to photography, combining macro photography and miniature figures with everyday objects, foods, and beverages. Through this medium, Devin expresses his sense of humor and aims to bring a smile to people’s faces. He actively participates in national and international photography competitions and has been honored with numerous awards. Devin’s photographs are displayed at juried art exhibits and featured in various publications.
Image source: tokyofotoawards
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