Vanguard visions: The winners of the 6th Fine Art Photography Awards

By Rich Haridy

April 25, 2020

Nominee, Cityscapes, Professional. Life in Prague silhouettes

Michal Cizek

View 37 Images

1/37

1st Place, Abstract, Professional. Microscopic image of Teepee Canyon Agate

Randy Fullbright

2/37

1st Place, Architecture, Professional. From a series titled Building Constructs

Tom Leighton

3/37

1st Place, Cityscapes, Professional. A public pool in Rybnik, Poland

Marcin Giba

4/37

1st Place, Landscape, Professional. The highlands of Iceland

Deryk Baumgärtner

5/37

1st Place, Seascapes, Professional. From a series titled Man and the Sea

Philippe Marchand

6/37

1st Place, Night Photography, Amateur. Fireflies

Grzegorz Tatar

7/37

1st Place, Travel, Amateur. The Salt Mine

Majid Mohammadi

8/37

1st Place, Wildlife/Animals, Amateur. A short-eared owl hunting

Gillian Overholser

9/37

3rd Place, Abstract, Professional. Burnout

Tom Putt

10/37

Nominee, Abstract, Professional. A car junkyard in Poland

Marcin Giba

11/37

Nominee, Architecture, Professional. An abandoned and collapsing church in Dooley, Montana

Matthew James Smith

12/37

Nominee, Architecture, Professional. An abandoned sanatorium complex

Roman Robroek

13/37

Nominee, Cityscapes, Professional. Life in Prague silhouettes

Michal Cizek

14/37

Nominee, Fine Art, Professional. From a series titled Nocturnal Fortress

Chiel de Nooyer

15/37

Nominee, Landscape, Professional. A sandstorm in the desert of Merzouga, southern Morocco

Miguel Monasterio

16/37

Nominee, Landscape, Professional. Electric storm during dusk in Salar de Uyuni, Bolivia, the largest salty desert in the world

Marcio Cabral

17/37

Nominee, Landscape, Professional. Citrus plantations in Andalusia, Spain

Stas Bartnikas

18/37

Nominee, Night Photography, Professional. The world drawn by night

Kei Makise

19/37

2nd Place, Night Photography, Professional. A Buddhist school in Tibet

Miller Yao

20/37

Nominee, People, Professional. Once upon a time in Mexico

Alexandra Berger

21/37

2nd Place, Travel, Professional. From a series titled Fish in the Sky

萧绎太阳

22/37

Nominee, Travel, Professional. Women at work to sun-dry the rice paddy on the courtyard in Dhamrai

Danny Yen Sin Wong

23/37

3rd Place, Wildlife/Animals. Ghosts of the desert

Hannah Assil

24/37

2nd Place, Wildlife/Animals, Professional. A circus in Italy

francesca ciri capra

25/37

2nd Place, Architecture, Amateur. From a series titled Serenity - Alien Cities

Peter Schroyens

26/37

Nominee, Fine Art, Amateur. From a series titled Alone

Tapio Hyvönen

27/37

Nominee, Landscape, Amateur. Sinai sand

Efim Chernov

28/37

Nominee, Landscape, Amateur. Horseshoe Lightning

Philip Cho

29/37

Nominee, Nature, Amateur. In the Rub al-chali desert

Judith Kuhn

30/37

Nominee, Nature, Amateur. Ice Tree

Mariko Klug

31/37

3rd Place, Nature, Amateur. Silence Winter

Renate Wasinger

32/37

Nominee, Night Photography, Amateur. The St. Lucie River, under the massive Roosevelt Bridge near Stuart FL, USA

Burt Smiley

33/37

3rd Place, Night Photography, Amateur. From a series titled Rushing

Dominique Weiss

34/37

Nominee, Wildlife/Animals, Amateur. From a series titled Power Play

Angelika Elendt

35/37

Nominee, Travel, Amateur. Praying in Saudi Arabia

Andrey Markelov

36/37

Professional Fine Art Photographer of the Year. Titled Candy Smoke

Ewa Cwikla

37/37

Amateur Fine Art Photographer of the Year. From a series titled Interlude in Blue

Ioanna Natsikou

View gallery - 37 images

In its sixth year, the Fine Art Photography Awards continues to deliver an incredible spread of imaginative images spanning every photographic style you can imagine. From sublime drone shots to psychedelic microscopic imagery, we have rounded up the highlights from the massive trove of winning and nominated photographs.

The organizers describe the contest as, “one of the most ambitious and comprehensive competitions on photography,” and it certainly lives up to that promise. The awards are spread across 20 categories, each with separate Amateur and Professional sections.

The categories cover all bases – Nature, Wildlife/Animals, Architecture, Fashion, Travel, Portrait, Cityscape, Street Photography, Night Photography, Landscape, and more. The top professional winner takes home US$3,000, while the top amateur winner snags $2,000.

As with previous years, the two top prizes are some of the least interesting awarded images in our view, with a deep dive into the category nominees revealing a spectacular array of surreal, strange, and scintillating shots.

Highlights include a gorgeously wobbly shot of a collapsing church, a sublime look at a car outrunning a giant sandstorm, and several perspectives on the majesty of lightning.