Since its inception in 2007, the iPhone Photography Awards has never ceased to attract photography enthusiasts and iPhone users from across the globe. Thousands of photos are submitted to the contest every year, but only a handful win. The contest was launched shortly after the release of the first iPhone and has been running ever since. Every year, three overall winners are selected as well as three additional winners for each of the annually changing 18 categories.
This year, the 22-year-old Israeli photographer, Avishai Futerman, won second place in the Nature category.Taken in the stunningly beautiful mountainous area of Fiordland National Park, located in the southwest part of New Zealand's South Island, the image depicts a kea bird spreading its wings against the snow-covered mountain peaks of Mount Luxmore. Displaying somewhat darker shades of green, with clear orange streaks on its wings, this majestic bird, captured in mid-flight, is staring directly at the camera. This year's grand prize went to Dimpy Bhalotia, an Indian-born street photographer from the United Kingdom, for her image "Flying Boys." Shot in mid-air, with the sky as their background, the photograph depicts three Indian boys jumping off a wall straight into the Ganges River.The first of trio, the closest to the camera, whose shape somewhat resembles a triskelion, could easily remind the observer of the halcyon days of youth filled with an immense sense of freedom.
First, second and third place Photographer of the Year awards, went to Artyom Baryshau, Geli Zhao and Saif Hussain from Belarus, China and Iraq respectively.Baryashu's winning photograph, titled "No Walls," exhibits a man painting blue stripes on what seems to be a white wall on a beach, as an even bluer sky hangs above. The wall perhaps takes the role of a transitional object, mediating between the earth and the sky.The second, nameless, winning photograph by Zhao, depicts flapping linen on a sunny day what may well be a rooftop of an apartment building. One the sheets is captured exactly in the moment when the wind blows it upward for a brief instant, revealing its checkered pattern. The last photograph, by Hussein from Iraq, called "Sheikh Of Youth," shows an elderly man on a boat, with water birds fluttering behind him against the setting sun. His gaze is turned away from the camera, as the quick movement of the birds suddenly catches his attention. Holding to the oars of his boat, he is captured in the stillness of the moment against the background.
The other top-three winners by category came from as many as twenty-two countries, from Australia to Italy, to Japan, Russia and even Peru.