Winners 2018
Top NewsSportMy PlanetPortrait. A Hero of Our Time
Single
© Justin Sullivan
Stand Off
1st place
A police officer points his gun at 3 occupants under a table moments after shooting a 14 year-old boy in the mouth at close range. The 14 year old boy was the middle occupant. After this incident, The protest over fishing quotas turned violent and led to 3 days of unrest in the community.
Justin Sullivan
Justin Sullivan
South Africa
Justin Sullivan was born in the small town of Eshowe, South Africa. After completing secondary schooling at Michaelhouse in Kwa-Zulu Natal, he studied Development & Environmental Studies at the University of Stellenbosch - completing majors in Geography & Environmental Studies, Public & Development Management, and a half-major in Sociology.
Stand Off
Stand Off
1st place
© Omid Vahabzadeh
Tehran attack
2nd place. Special prize "For humanitarian photography" by International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC)
Two-year-old Emad is being transferred into a room of Iran's parliament building, after a terrorist attack by ISIS in Tehran, Iran, Wednesday, June 7, 2017. That day Emad and his mother were hopeful they would get help to treat his advanced illness-mucopolysaccharidosis.
Omid Vahabzadeh
Omid Vahabzadeh
Canada
Born 1989, Omid Vahabzadeh has been a professional photographer since 2006, when he started as a staff photographer for Farsnews agency in Iran. He holds an associate degree in photography and has covered social, political and sporting events inside and outside of Iran.
Tehran attack
Tehran attack
2nd place. Special prize "For humanitarian photography" by International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC)
© Ajay Kumar
I could hear leopard crying in pain after it was shot
3rd place
A stray leopard was shot with bullet by a police man in Lucknow and later it was declare dead by forest team and i clicked this photo right from the back of police man it was about 5 meters away from me.
Ajay Kumar
Ajay Kumar
India
A photojournalist from a small village in Gonda District Uttar Pradeshand, Ajai Kumar lives in Lucknow. Since May 2014, Kumar has been working as a stringer photojournalist with the Lucknow edition of The Times of India -- the world's largest circulated English language national daily -- where he covers a wide range of assignments in many areas. In addition to daily coverage, he has photographed many important events in India from natural disasters to special events in India’s largest cities. Ajai Kumar is a founding member of the state's first photojournalism organization, The Youth Photojournalist Association (TYPA). He has received awards at the college and university levels for his work in photojournalism. To Kumar, photography is an unexplained magic, where a frozen moment becomes captivating, provocative and compelling to the viewer, who can feel the moment through the lens.
I could hear leopard crying in pain after it was shot
I could hear leopard crying in pain after it was shot
3rd place
© Sergei Gapon
Police pigtail
Jury Honorable Mention
Anti-riot police officers stand in cordon during the Immortal Regiment march in Kiev on May 9, 2017 when several thousands people carry photographs of relatives who fought in WWII.
Sergei Gapon
Sergei Gapon
Belarus
Sergei was born in 1989 in the historical town of Kreva, some 100 km from Minsk, Belarus. He graduated from Belarusian State University of Culture and Arts in 2011 with a degree in cultural studies. Sergei has been working as a photojournalist at Agence France-Presse (AFP) since 2012.
Police pigtail
Police pigtail
Jury Honorable Mention
© Kevin Midigo
Defiant in democracy
Jury Honorable Mention
A police officer fires live rounds at protesters concealed behind road advertisement boards.The anti-riot police were forced to use live bullets after they were cornered by the marauding NASA supporters.
Midigo Kevin
Kevin Midigo
Kenya
Kevin Midigo is a news and sports photographer based in Nairobi. His style incorporates colorful and energetic imagery. His love for current affairs was the catalyst for him to join the world of journalism. He studied radio production and worked in two TV stations before finding his footing in photojournalism. His works have been featured in, among others, The Daily Mail, The Guardian, Forbes Magazine, Financial Times, New Zealand Biker, and Mountain Biker (SA). He currently provides images for various news agencies in Nairobi.
Defiant in democracy
Defiant in democracy
Jury Honorable Mention
Series
© Luis Tato
Kenya's Post-Election Turmoil
1st place
Kenyan elections were marred by deadly riots, violent protests, and beatings in key opposition strongholds. Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International found that just during the post-electoral process, police and inter-ethnics conflicts killed at least 100 people, and injured hundreds more.
Kenyan elections were marred by deadly riots, violent protests, and beatings in key opposition strongholds. Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International found that just during the post-electoral process, police and inter-ethnics conflicts killed at least 100 people, and injured hundreds more.
Luis Tato
Spain
Luis Tato is a Spanish-born photojournalist based in Nairobi, Kenya. He currently combines his work as a stringer photographer covering East Africa with his own photojournalism projects, given his passion for sociology and traveling.
Kenya's Post-Election Turmoil
Kenya's Post-Election Turmoil
1st place
© Younes Khani Someeh Soflaei
...And Life Rises
2nd place. Special prize "For humanitarian photography" by International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC)
Iran is one of the most earthquake-prone countries in the world, and earthquakes threaten most regions across Iran. More than 80% of cities in Iran are under the threat of earthquake. Iran also stands high on the list of countries with the most number of earthquake victims. On the Sunday night of Oct. 12, 2017, a powerful 7.3 magnitude earthquake hit Ezgeleh City in Kermanshah Province near the Iranian-Iraqi border. 569 were killed, nearly 10 thousand were injured, and more than 30 thousand houses were destroyed in Ezgeleh, Sarpol-e Zahab, Salas-e Babajani, and Ghasreshirin cities, and the nearby villages. The earthquake spawned nearly 1557 aftershocks. It occurred at a depth of 11 km from Ezgeleh, and was felt throughout Northwest Iran due to its shallow depth and long duration. This earthquake was the most destructive earthquake of 2017 worldwide, and was felt in southeast of Turkey, Lebanon, Qatar, Israel, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, and north of Saudi Arabia. When the earth begins to shake, the walls crack, they can be heard collapsing, and things are heard falling. In a matter of seconds, hundreds of homes are ruthlessly destroyed, and a huge cloud of dust covers everything. In those quick yet horrific moments, an inexplicable fear grips the people, many are injured, and many dead. Families lose their loved-ones and face the biggest challenge of their lives: homelessness. Losing one's home and shelter can cause serious mental health problems, filling the victims with rage and fear. Hopelessness becomes an inseparable part of the daily life, and it is difficult for people to accept this shock, to move on from the earthquake's destructive effects, in order to fight the unexpected problems. Gradually and strangely, however, the survivors get on with their lives and begin to rebuild their surroundings, creating a shelter for themselves and the rest of their families using the debris. The goal I pursue through this project is to depict the lives of people in the city of Ezgeleh in Kermanshah Province, who have experienced a 7.3 magnitude earthquake. I lived with the survivors for 20 days in order to better understand their dire living conditions after the earthquake. Those who have lost one or all of their family members in a matter of seconds, and, on top of that, no longer have a place to live. I wanted to capture the people's feelings, their sadness, happiness, hopes and fears in the face of this unpredictable disaster, to illustrate the flow of life that continued uninterrupted after the earthquake despite all odds. The people that began to rebuild their new life at such hard times and with little means; people that despite all the injuries and damages move toward their aspirations hoping to build a new life.
Iran is one of the most earthquake-prone countries in the world, and earthquakes threaten most regions across Iran. More than 80% of cities in Iran are under the threat of earthquake. Iran also stands high on the list of countries with the most number of earthquake victims. On the Sunday night of October.
YOUNES KHANI SOMEEH SOFLAEI
Younes Khani Someeh Soflaei
Iran
Younes Khani was born in Tehran, Iran in 1987. Since 2004, he started photographing for various agencies and newspapers in Iran and in 2006 he was employed by the semi-official Mehr News Agency till 2015 and since 2016 as freelancer. He has been active in the coverage of social events in Iran, espec.
...And Life Rises
...And Life Rises
2nd place. Special prize "For humanitarian photography" by International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC)
© Mashruk Ahmed
A Dire Desperation For Safety
3rd place
The mass migration of Rohingya Refugees began on August 25, 2017 as the Myanmar military started a task against the Myanmar military.The state military assaulted many police posts in Rakhine state. The striking back from Myanmar's specialists was speedy and heartless. Myanmar has been represented killing over 6,700 Rohingya and pushing more than 600,000 to Bangladesh. Almost all of them have sought refuge in Bangladesh while mostly have been injured by gunshots, shrapnel, fire, and landmines. Majority of these people seeking refuge are women and children. Rohingyas are an ethnic minority gathering and they have not been thought to be one of the nation's 135 authority ethnic gatherings and have been denied citizenship in Myanmar since 1982 Under the law, which has viably rendered them stateless. Because of the law, their rights to contemplate, work, travel, wed, rehearse their religion and access wellbeing administrations have been and keep on being limited. The Rohingya have confronted military crackdowns in 1978 to 2017. UN authorities and HRW have depicted Myanmar's abuse of the Rohingya as ethnic cleansing. The crisis is yet to be over since the first world leading countries and the United Nations has not yet been able to have come to a proper re-settlement agreement with Myanmar regarding this issue Thousands of people have been killed in this horrible event in history as people witnessed their beloved ones and their homes being burnt to ashes as they fled with the only thing they were left with, their lives. Presently in excess of 800000 Rohingya Refugees living in both enrolled and unregistered displaced person camps of Cox's Bazar area of Bangladesh, Bangladesh Government, Local and International Aid organizations are attempting to give nourishment, water, and safe house for the inundation immense evacuees Camps. The event of this aggression over Rohingya people goes beyond the depth of human vocabulary as even perish would be an understatement, therefore, it would definitely go down as one of the most violent acts of aggression in human history. However, the reason behind it would either vanquish or stay a mystery. Rohingya crisis by definition is an ethnic one. In order to sustain, Rohingya crisis requires being solved as a humanitarian crisis.
A Dire Desperation For Safety
Mashruk Ahmed
Mashruk Ahmed
Bangladesh
Mashruk Ahmed (born 1992) is a Dhaka-based photographer. He studied photography at Counter Foto, Bangladesh and has been working as a Freelance photographer since 2014. His work published in various national and international newspapers and exhibited in a photo festival of Bangladesh and abroad. In 2017 Mashrukh Shortlisted for the Felix Schoeller Photo Award.
A Dire Desperation For Safety
A Dire Desperation For Safety
3rd place
© Omid Vahabzadeh
Tehran attack
Jury Honorable Mention
On June 7, 2017 in Tehran 17 civilians were and 43 wounded when terrorists attacked the Iranian Parliament building and the Mausoleum of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. This was the first terrorist attack in more than a decade. The Islamic state, ISIS claimed the responsibility for these attacks.
Tehran attack
Omid Vahabzadeh
Omid Vahabzadeh
Canada
Born 1989, Omid Vahabzadeh has been a professional photographer since 2006, when he started as a staff photographer for Farsnews agency in Iran. He holds an associate degree in photography and has covered social, political and sporting events inside and outside of Iran.
Tehran attack
Tehran attack
Jury Honorable Mention
© Maria Plotnikova
Immortal Regiment
Jury Honorable Mention
People take part in the Immortal Regiment rally carrying portraits of their relatives who died or took part in the Great Patriotic War (1941–1945). Over 500,000 took part in the rally in 2017.
Immortal Regiment
Maria Plotnikova
Russia
Immortal Regiment
Immortal Regiment
Jury Honorable Mention
Single
© Tayseer Mahdi Khudair Kazem
The desire for life
1st place. Special prize by Shanghai United Media Group (SUMG). Special prize by Al Mayadeen TV
A child plays football and is cut off as a result of terrorism and defies his handicap in order to sustain life.
Taisir Mahdi
Taisir Mahdi
Iraq
Taisir Mahdi Khudair Kazem was born in Iraq in 1985. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Spanish and English from the University of Baghdad Language College. Taisir is a professional photographer interested in portrait photography and portraying people's lives and street life. He has worked for several news agencies. He has won several awards from the FIAP and the American Society for Photography (PSA).
The desire for life
The desire for life
1st place. Special prize by Shanghai United Media Group (SUMG). Special prize by Al Mayadeen TV
© Maria Plotnikova
Street football
2nd place
Boys plays street football in Trinidad, Cuba.
Maria Plotnikova
Russia
Street football
Street football
2nd place
© Amit Moulick
Street Wrestling
3rd place
I took this photo at Burrabazar. Burrabaza is the commercial nucleus of Kolkata and one of the largest wholesale markets in Asia. Street side wrestling competition organised by the merchants of Burrabazar on the day of Diwali festival in Kolkata More then 120 men and women participate in the event.
Amit Moulick
Amit Moulick
India
Amit is a graduate in science from Jaipur National University, India. He works as a freelance photojournalist in the editorial/news department of The Times of India, the highest selling daily newspaper in the country. Amit covered several national assignments including elections, strife, conflicts, important public figures and heads of state as well as stories of everyday life.
Street Wrestling
Street Wrestling
3rd place
© Artem Onoprienko
No doping
Jury Honorable Mention
A member of the Samara Region team, many-time winner of city, regional and national competitions, bronze medalist at the Russian Students’ Championships. A series of documentary photos and stories about young Samara and Samara Region athletes who remain loyal to their hobbies and calling against the backdrop of persisting scandals. They are moving ahead without any doping.
Artyom Onopriyenko
Artem Onoprienko
Russia
Artem Onoprienko was born in 1988 in Uralsk, Kazakhstan. He works as a business analyst in the IT sector and manages a photography club at the National Research University in Samara. He has won a number of professional national and regional photo contests, including the Young Russian Photographers international festival.
No doping
No doping
Jury Honorable Mention
Series
© Andrea Alai
Ultras
1st place
According to an Italian Police census, there are about 41,000 Ultras fans in Italy. The AlbengaCalcio plays in the Ligurian “Eccellenza” championship – its Ultras group is respected throughout the whole of Italy and for many, belonging to it, is a source of great honor and pride.
Ultras
Andrea Alai
Andrea Alai
Italy
Ultras
Ultras
1st place
© Alexei Filippov
Red-hot court
2nd place
Roland Garros French Tennis Open 2017.
Red-hot court
Alexei Filippov
Alexei Filippov
Russia
Alexei was born in 1985 in Baku. He graduated from Moscow State Technical University of Civil Aviation with a degree in engineering. Simultaneously, he studied photojournalism at Moscow State University. Alexei completed an internship at Kommersant Publishing House, collaborated with the Tribuna newspaper and worked for ITAR-TASS agency for several years. Since 2011, he has been a staff photojournalist at RIA Novosti.
Red-hot court
Red-hot court
2nd place
© Luis Tato
Boxgirls Kenya
3rd place
Boxgirl Kenya is a boxing academy fighting to empower women and girls from Nairobi's toughest slums while using self-defence training to help them become self-sufficient and emotionally and physically resilient.
BoxgirlsKenya
Luis Tato
Spain
Luis Tato is a Spanish-born photojournalist based in Nairobi, Kenya. He currently combines his work as a stringer photographer covering East Africa with his own photojournalism projects, given his passion for sociology and traveling.
Boxgirls Kenya
Boxgirls Kenya
3rd place
© Alexei Vasilyev
Republican checkers tournament
Jury Honorable Mention
This series was taken in Yakutsk during the annual Savvinov Prize tournament that brought together over 300 children from various districts of the republic. Since 1995, Master of Sports N. Savvinov has held an annual checkers tournament. He purchases the prizes himself.
Republican checkers tournament
Alexei Vasilyev
Alexei Vasilyev
Russia
Alexei was born in Yakutsk. In 2008, he graduated from Yakutsk State University with a degree in philology. Since 2010, he has been working at Keskil’s Yunost Severa children’s newspaper. In 2017, Alexei became a member of the Russian Union of Art Photographers.
Republican checkers tournament
Republican checkers tournament
Jury Honorable Mention
Single
© Sergei Gapon
Cranberry heart
1st place
Harvesting cranberries in Pinsk District. It is one of the regions with the highest unemployment rate in Belarus. The cranberry harvest season is the only way to earn money for locals. Employees should spend about 10 hours in ice water every day. Cranberry heart symbolizes the engine of the region.
Sergei Gapon
Sergei Gapon
Belarus
Sergei was born in 1989 in the historical town of Kreva, some 100 km from Minsk, Belarus. He graduated from Belarusian State University of Culture and Arts in 2011 with a degree in cultural studies. Sergei has been working as a photojournalist at Agence France-Presse (AFP) since 2012.
Cranberry heart
Cranberry heart
1st place
© Maria Plotnikova
Red cow
2nd place
A cow drinks from a puddle near the special astrophysical observatory of the Russian Academy of Sciences. The special astrophysical observatory is the largest Russian Academy of Sciences’ research institute in Russia.
Maria Plotnikova
Russia
Red cow
Red cow
2nd place
© Vitaly Nevar
Eclipse
3rd place
Lunar eclipse over Kaliningrad Stadium under construction.
Vitaly Nevar
Vitaly Nevar
Russia
Vitaly was born in 1989 and graduated from the civilian division of Kaliningrad Border Institute of the Russian Security Service. He has worked as a professional photographer for about five years and mainly focuses on news and documentary photography. Vitaly is a photojournalist for the Novy Kaliningrad (New Kaliningrad) internet portal and TASS news agency.
Eclipse
Eclipse
3rd place
© Vitaly Nevar
Catchers
Jury Honorable Mention
Collecting amber on the Baltic Sea shore.
Vitaly Nevar
Vitaly Nevar
Russia
Vitaly was born in 1989 and graduated from the civilian division of Kaliningrad Border Institute of the Russian Security Service. He has worked as a professional photographer for about five years and mainly focuses on news and documentary photography. Vitaly is a photojournalist for the Novy Kaliningrad (New Kaliningrad) internet portal and TASS news agency.
Catchers
Catchers
Jury Honorable Mention
© Sebnem Coskun
History on the Road Breakfast
Jury Honorable Mention
Harun Reşit Göktaş and Fahri Akdag (right), who own the "Kubbe Istanbul" in Eminonu 'Sagir Han', are having their breakfast in the presence of their Istanbul view, which is visible from the terrace of their workplace. From time to time, the tourists who visit 'Sagir Han' and 'Kubbe Istanbul', İf they want They can have breakfast in this unique view of Istanbul.
Sebnem Coskun_
Sebnem Coskun
Turkey
Born in 1987 in Istanbul, Turkey. Works in the fields of social documentary photography and underwater photography. Projects in recent years deal with the problem of medical waste and plastic pollution in water. Currently on staff at the Anadolu Agency.
History on the Road Breakfast
History on the Road Breakfast
Jury Honorable Mention
Series
© Alyona Kochetkova
How I fell ill
GRAND PRIX, 1st place
Everyone knows the word “cancer,” and people are afraid of it, although they hardly know anything about this disease. When I was diagnosed with cancer, I, too, knew nothing about it, and I did not have the slightest idea of the road that I would have to travel: from fear for my life to hopes for a recovery.
How I fell ill
Alyona Kochetkova
Russia
Alyona was born in 1988 in Kaluga. She is a photographer and teaches photography at the Ulybka studio of a children’s art school. She is a member of the Russian Union of Art Photographers and a recipient of grants from the Russian Government and the Ministry of Culture to support young cultural and art workers. She has won various national and world photo contests and participated in numerous photo exhibitions in Russia and abroad.
How I fell ill
How I fell ill
GRAND PRIX, 1st place
© Justin Sullivan
Walking with Fire: Going Beyond
2nd place. The online vote winner
A series depicting the brave men and woman who risk their lives combatting rampant wildfires in South Africa. Going beyond the public eye, these men and woman face disaster head on in the mountains, on the urban wildland interface and from the sky.
Walking with Fire: Going Beyond
Justin Sullivan
Justin Sullivan
South Africa
Justin Sullivan was born in the small town of Eshowe, South Africa. After completing secondary schooling at Michaelhouse in Kwa-Zulu Natal, he studied Development & Environmental Studies at the University of Stellenbosch - completing majors in Geography & Environmental Studies, Public & Development Management, and a half-major in Sociology.
Walking with Fire: Going Beyond
Walking with Fire: Going Beyond
2nd place. The online vote winner
© Anas Kamal
The White Mountain
3rd place
In a remote location in Upper Egypt and under a cloud of white lime, dozens work in white brick quarries to extract white bricks from the mountain, most of the workers are young men who have not completed their education. The work begins after the sunrise to sunset in dangerous conditions.
The White Mountain
Anas Kamal
Anas Kamal
Egypt
Anas Kamal, 25, is an Egyptian freelance photographer specializing in documentary and daily life photography. Graduated university with a degree in engineering. Currently enrolled at DMJX studying documentary photography.
The way to work
The White Mountain
3rd place
© Oded Wagenstein
The Void we Leave - An aging community in Cuba
Jury Honorable Mention
An aging community, living in Cuba is disappearing. All they leave is the void between the walls. Those walls witnessed so much joy and sadness. Now, they stand in their solitude. Soon, the government will lodge a new tenant in the apartment, the walls will be painted, tiil they too become a layer.
The Void we Leave - An aging community in Cuba
Oded Wagenstein
Oded Wagenstein
Israel
Oded Wagenstein (1986) is a photographer and writer. His long-term projects explore the themes of aging, longing, and memory. Wagenstein graduated in both sociology and anthropology and in film, from Tel Aviv University. His work has been published at numerous platforms, including the BBC, National Geographic and National Geographic Traveler.
The Void we Leave - An aging community in Cuba
The Void we Leave - An aging community in Cuba
Jury Honorable Mention
Single
© Oded Wagenstein
Rosebud
1st place
A child from the Serotetto family, part of the nomadic Nenets tribe, standing on the family's wooden sleigh, during their migration over the river of Ob. Yamal Peninsula, Siberia, Russia. March 2017.
Oded Wagenstein
Oded Wagenstein
Israel
Oded Wagenstein (1986) is a photographer and writer. His long-term projects explore the themes of aging, longing, and memory. Wagenstein graduated in both sociology and anthropology and in film, from Tel Aviv University. His work has been published at numerous platforms, including the BBC, National Geographic and National Geographic Traveler.
Rosebud
Rosebud
1st place
© Aleksey Filippov
Goal keeper
3rd place
Goal keeper Guillermo Ochoa (Mexico) warms up before semifinals match of the 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup between Germany and Mexico.
Alexei Filippov
Alexei Filippov
Russia
Alexei was born in 1985 in Baku. He graduated from Moscow State Technical University of Civil Aviation with a degree in engineering. Simultaneously, he studied photojournalism at Moscow State University. Alexei completed an internship at Kommersant Publishing House, collaborated with the Tribuna newspaper and worked for ITAR-TASS agency for several years. Since 2011, he has been a staff photojournalist at RIA Novosti.
Goal keeper
Goal keeper
3rd place
© Stepan Zmachinsky
Training sessions of the Emergencies Ministry Leader Center
Jury Honorable Mention
The airborne service of the Leader Center, headed by Igor Kuzayev, organizes training sessions for rescuers four times a year. For almost a month rescuers from the Leader Center, the Tsentrospas Unit, the Noginsk Rescue Center and the Zhukovsky Air Rescue Center of the Emergencies Ministry practice sky jumping.
Stepan Zmachinsky
Stepan Zmachinsky
Russia
Stepan was born in 1987 in the village of Kromy, Oryol Region. He graduated from Oryol State University with a degree in Public Relations. He fell in love with photography at the age of 19. Starting as an amateur photographer, Stepan then took photos for internet portals. He worked for the OryolGrad online outlet for a few years and as a correspondent at the Istoki TV and radio company.
Training sessions of the Emergencies Ministry Leader Center
Training sessions of the Emergencies Ministry Leader Center
Jury Honorable Mention
© Christian Werner
Lord of War
Jury Honorable Mention
Syria, January 2017. Portrait of the warlord Mohammad Jaber, "general" and founder of the controversial pro Assad regime Desert Hawks militia based in Latakia. Picture from his private house.
Кристиан Вернер
Christian Werner
Germany
Christian Werner is a freelance multimedia/photojournalist based in Boitzum, Germany. As a teenager he developed an interest in photography while traveling to foreign countries. In 2014 he completed the photojournalism & documentary photography course at the University of Applied Sciences in Hannover. His main interests are social diversity and global political issues, as well as the Arab world and culture.
Lord of War
Lord of War
Jury Honorable Mention
Series
© Shiva Khademi
Gemini
1st place
According to global statistics, one percent of the world’s population consists of twins and multiples. Based on the statistics from Iran National Organization for Civil Registration, the multiple births in Iran have been up to three percent of births since 2011. In spite of their low percentage, multiples have had a profound impact throughout history. Sometimes they have been worshiped as gods, sometimes as charmers. Twins have marked their footsteps in myths, and accordingly, there are a lot of resemblances in various cultures; such as Castor and Pollux who were known as “the heavenly twins” and are often associated with Gemini; Romulus and Remus, Jacob and Esau, Horus and Seth, etc. When I faced identical twins, I was mesmerized by their matching outfits, similar make-up and hairstyles and body language; I was astonished by the fact that they finished each other’s sentences or uttered words with the same tone together; they even smiled or had a think at the same time, sometimes had similar dreams, similar exam results, and they had identical tastes… and these similar behaviors were strange and astounding, yet so ordinary and innate according to themselves. The question that led to the idea of this photo collection in my mind was that, is their identity “one” that has been repeated twice, or do they have their own independent existence, despite being double? Are they a manifestation of beauty which has been duplicated? Is their nature a line between reality and fantasy? It’s all as if they touch the flowing forgotten feelings and waken something deep within us, which originates in the depth of obscure ancient rituals and cultures.
Gemini
 Shiva Khademi
Shiva Khademi
Iran
Shiva Khademi was born in 1990 in Razavi Khorasan province of Iran. She holds a Bachelor`s degree in Art and Cultural Management in Jahad Daneshgahi University of Applied Science. Shiva works at the Ferdowsi Mashhad University, Iran. She has won awards in a number of national and international photography contests, including National Iranian Young Photographers Festival, honored Independent Award for Social Documentary Photography.
Gemini
Gemini
1st place
© Tatyana Tkachyova
Vera’s seasons
2nd place
On January 1, Vera who has spent her whole life in Volozhin celebrated her 91st birthday. She married, raised three children, worked and brought up her grandchildren. She is not afraid of old age, she believes these are her final seasons and that her life is coming to a close. She likes wearing fancy dresses. This wardrobe contains her entire life.
Vera’s seasons
Tatyana Tkachyova
Tatyana Tkachyova
Belarus
Tatyana is a freelance photographer and culture expert. She lives and works in Minsk. Tatyana graduated from Belarusian State University of Culture and Arts with a degree in fundamental cultural studies (2014) and studied at Fotografika Academy of Documentary Photography and Photojournalism in St. Petersburg (2015-2016). She has worked as a photographer since 2015. Tatyana is a member of the Belarusian Association of Journalists.
Vera’s seasons
Vera’s seasons
2nd place
© Fyodor Telkov
Mari people in the Ural region wearing traditional costumnes
3rd place
Unique folk costumes are among the main elements of Mari self-identity and their pride in the Ural region. Their garments are passed from generation to generation, and some suits are several hundred years old. The secrets of their unique embroidery have been lost.
Mari people in the Ural region wearing traditional costumnes
Федор Телков
Fyodor Telkov
Russia
Born in Nizhny Tagil, Russia in 1986, Fyodor Telkov is a photographer, a project supervisor and since 2008, a member of the Russian Union of Photo Artists. He graduated from the Artistic Graphics Department of the Nizhny Tagil State Social and Pedagogical Academy. He is currently based in Yekaterinburg.
Mari people in the Ural region wearing traditional costumnes
Mari people in the Ural region wearing traditional costumnes
3rd place