In its inaugural year, the Aerial Photography Awards has delivered an exciting assortment of shots celebrating all kinds of high-flying imagery, from surreal helicopter landscapes to sublime drone-captured cityscapes.
"For a first edition, the quality and diversity of the awarded photos demonstrates the evolution of aerial photography and the standards it has reached today,” says Christophe Martin, founder of the new contest. “Aerial photographers prove their ability to amaze us. New visual writings are being built.”
The contest features a massive 22 categories, spread across six general themes: Man-Made, Nature, People, Fine Art, Editorial, and Real Estate. As well as awarding a top five in each individual category, the contest celebrates an overall individual Aerial Photographer of the Year.
The top prize went to Belgium photographer Sebastien Nagy for a stunning series of mostly city-based shots exploring strange architectural structures from unusual perspectives. A highlight of Nagy’s submissions is a mind-bending photo of a hotel in Greece shot from an angle making the space seem almost like an illustration from M.C. Escher.
Other highlights in the strong competition show a fishing net in Vietnam suddenly drift into a shape resembling a woman’s face, a beautiful snap of the famous Dubai Frame peeking out from low clouds, and a trio of humpback whales popping out of the water in Greenland.
The submissions spanned 65 countries. Belgium snatched the most awards with 10, certainly helped by overall winner Sebastien Nagy. The Russian Federation was the second most awarded country with nine prizes, and the UK came in third with eight.
Unlike other stricter aerial photography contests, this competition broadly accepts all kinds of images taken from a “high point of view.” The resulting spread of shots span everything from popular drone images, to helicopter and aircraft photography, or even just a snap from the top of a tall building looking down.
Take a look through our gallery at a selection of the best shots from this new photography competition.
Source: Aerial Photography Awards