The Siena photography festival & awards have become one of the main recognized photography contests. With the Siena photo festival taking place after each competition, this has been going on for 6 years, starting out as a photo collection for a limited number of photo enthusiasts. But now, it has grown into a very prominent photography competition in the whole world, with 17 types of categories.
In this competition, they look for the perfect pictures among the submissions they get. That is not really an easy task because this year, photographers from 165 different countries have submitted photos which counts over ten thousand per category. The winners of this contest will be awarded and also will receive the honor of being featured at the photography festival in Siena, Italy later this year. The judges look for the most creative perspective to select a winner. They look for many elements in it such as imagination, perspective, refraction, reflections, technical attributes, and especially for the stories that are being told by a single photo.
This competition is held to shed light on the stories among different communities, cultures, nature, animals, and also the emotions, color play, and everything that makes this world worthy of living in. When we glance at the Siena photography awards, it is a utopia for photographers and photos lovers. There are a lot of international figures, some awesome exhibitions, interactive seminars, photo tours around the city, and many more to dive into the world of modern-photography.
This series of events of this festival is combined with a few more competitions. It is done to test the photographers around the world to showcase their talent by taking part in these competitions.
So, here are some winners of the creative photos for 2021 at the Siena awards. Scroll down to check them out. Please do not forget to share your thoughts about this competition with us in the comments section as well!
More info & Photo courtesy creative.sienawards.com | festival.sienawards.com
#1 The Lake – Photo Of The Year.
#2 The Sound Of Solitude – 1st Place In Music.
#3 Mahi – Commended In Fashion.
#4 Gypsophila – Commended In Beauty.
#5 Plenty Of Starlings – Commended In Nature And Landscape.
#6 Chameleon In The Bedroom – Runner Up In Animals/Pets.
#7 Deep Forest Fairies – Commended In Nature And Landscape.
"'Himebotaru' living in the summer night forest, females cannot fly, only males, firefly which is an indigenous species of Japan, fly around the summer forest while repeating a blink of a short time, reminiscent of Christmas illumination. Sight is fantastic enough to forget the awe of the night forest. It is the shining brightness of life of only 10 days in the summer. And forests are living things, and they are precious things that people cannot threaten."
#8 Composed – 1st Place In Beauty.
Australian photographer Robert Piccoli is the winner of Beauty with “Composed,” an intimate exploration of the concept of beauty, envisioned as a condition of peace and serenity of the body, mind, and soul.
"In this image, I wanted to explore the concept of beauty from within. Beauty is a state of being calm, peaceful, and untroubled. It is essentially, part of your body, mind, and soul. She emanates a sense of equilibrium."
#9 Eternit – 1st Place In Architecture.
Norwegian photographer Ingun Alette Maehlum won in Architecture with "Eternit”. The photo testifies to the existence of buildings still built with cement mixed with asbestos, despite the material being banned in Norway since 1978.
"Eternit boards were the perfect building material. The cement mixed with asbestos was supposed to be maintenance-free and became very popular, particularly along the coast where the weather can be rough. In the seventies, it was discovered that asbestos was highly dangerous when handled. In Norway, it was forbidden in 1978. Still, there are eternit board houses spread around the country."
#10 Innocence – 1st Place In Conceptual.
In the Conceptual category, photographer Jairo Alvarez from Argentina won with "Innocence," shot in Puan (Argentina). The image intends to make us reflect on the path to take when no road seems marked or when trapped in our own thoughts, we are unable to see the surrounding world.
"Where to walk when no path seems clear? Or is it that trapped in our thoughts we are not able to see the infinite possibilities of the landscape?"
#11 Palm Grove – 1st Place In Nature And Landscape.
#12 Priceless – 1st Place In Animals/Pets.
In Pets, “Priceless”, a portrait of a rhino shot in Germany by photographer Pedro Jarque Krebs from Peru earned the top prize. The photographer intends to turn the spotlight on the often improper use of rhino horns and launch an appeal in favor of a species increasingly endangered by poaching.
"$60,000 USD a kilo, that's what a rhino horn costs on the black market. More expensive than gold. But life is priceless. Unlike elephant tusks, which are made of ivory, rhino horns are made of keratin, the same material as nails. But the ignorance and superstition of some humans give it non-existent medicinal properties. As in everything, as long as there are buyers, there will be sellers. This will only end in education."
#13 Rembrandt Still Life – 1st Place In Still Life.
#14 Robbie -1st Place In Portraiture.
With his image "Robbie," Steve Wise from Perth (Australia) is the winner of the People category. The shot pays homage to the tenacity of Robbie, a young man who was burned all over his body following an accident when he was 4 years old, during which he also lost his fingers.
"Robbie was burned in an accident in his bedroom when he was 4 years old. It resulted in burns to 95% of his body and the loss of his fingers. He has had a tough life but continues to work hard and live as normal an adult life as possible."
#15 The Flying Bride – 1st Place In Wedding.
#16 Dark And Decadent – Highly Commended In Food And Beverage.
#17 In Waves – Highly Commended In Nature And Landscape.
#18 Two Seasons – Highly Commended In Nature And Landscape.
#19 Lucciole Sotto Le Stelle – Commended In Nature And Landscape.
#20 Unbreakable Bond – Highly Commended In Animals/Pets.
#21 Legacy – Commended In Experimental.
#22 Poems For Sisters – Commended In Portraiture.
"I really love Surreal world! I use photography as a medium to express my imagination in pictures. Inspired by a Historical movie about Royal Princess in the Joseon era 1392 - 1897 ( Korea now ) at that time Princesses in the Palace wear Traditional outfits named Hanbok. I try to mix Traditional elements with Surreal touch into the Photograph."
#23 Girl With Feather – Commended In Portraiture.
#24 Torii – Highly Commended In Nature And Landscape.
#25 African Flower – Runner Up In Portraiture.
#26 The Fork 28 – 1st Place In Abstract.
Filippo Drudi from Italy won the Abstract category with "The Fork" shot in Savignano sul Rubicone (Italy). The work offers a symbolic homage to the fork, an everyday object that he defines as "sinuous, elegant, feminine and symmetrical, but also threatening and seductive and with almost abstract geometric characteristics".
"I like forks, I'm fascinated by them. Sinuous, elegant, feminine, and symmetric, yet menacing and seductive. I wanted to look deep into it and find out its many personalities. In this photograph - part of my project 'The Fork'- I wanted to bring out the geometric, almost abstract qualities of this daily object."