Immerse yourself in the powerful visual narratives selected for the International Photography Awards (IPA) 2024 Best of Show Curator Selection.
These standout photographs, chosen from thousands of submissions worldwide, capture the full spectrum of human experience—from quiet, intimate moments to sweeping, dramatic landscapes. Each image represents the extraordinary vision and skill of today’s leading photographers.
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#1 “Reconciliation In Rwanda” By Jan Banning
2nd Place / People /Portrait
On April 7, 1994, the Rwandan genocide began, costing an estimated 800,000 lives in 100 days. Many of the perpetrators went to prison. After serving their sentences, most of them returned to their villages. Survivors and perpetrators now had to live together again. How did these communities cope 30 years after the genocide? Photographic artist Jan Banning went to the Rwandan countryside to create double portraits of survivors with the men (and sometimes women) who had been involved in the slaughter of their partners, parents, children, and siblings, and with whom they had reconciled.
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#2 “Water Scarcity In Africa” By Marco Marcone
2nd Place / Editorial / Press/Environmental
Water scarcity in Africa is a dire situation, and is only getting worse. As Africa’s population continues to grow and climate change continues to rob the continent of the finite resource, it is predicted that by 2025, close to 230 million Africans will be facing water scarcity, and up to 460 million will be living in water-stressed areas. Water scarcity describes the growing lack of access to water. There are two types of water scarcity: economic and physical. Economic water scarcity refers to water being inaccessible because of institutional failings that include lack of planning.
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#3 “The Eroding Coasts Of Senegal And West Africa” By Christian Bobst
3rd Place / Editorial / Press/Environmental
Rising sea levels and coastal erosion are severe threats not only to the whole West African coast, endangering the environment and the livelihoods of millions. Senegal’s 700-kilometer coastline, including key cities like Dakar, Saint-Louis, and the region of Joal are already suffering significant damage, with entire neighborhoods being lost to the sea. The gradual rise in sea levels and the increasing intensity of storms due to global warming have accelerated the erosion process, forcing many to migrate and seek a better future by risking the crossing of the Ocean to Europe in a fishing canoe.
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#4 “Sea Of Mourning” By Anna Surinyach
3rd Place / Editorial / Press/Photo Essay / Feature Story
An average of 9 people have died every day since 2014 trying to reach Europe by sea. The numbers are higher than in most active wars, but the social alarm is not the same despite the fact that these deaths occur at the gates of Europe. Sea of Mourning is the result of years of work documenting the different migratory routes to Europe through the sea. On these routes, deaths do not stop and shipwrecks are often invisible. The project combines journalistic investigation of these shipwrecks with submerged images of the portraits that the families use to try to obtain some type of information.
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#5 “True Disability Is In The Eye Of The Beholder” By Gabriele Rossi
3rd Place / Editorial / Press/Photo Essay / Feature Story
STXBP1 is a rare disease, which however is not recognized as such in Italy, because the list has not been updated by the Ministry, so some aid for families is not accessible. Less than 1000 people are affected in the world and in Italy there are just over 50. The affected person is often not self-sufficient and must rely on his or her family and this determines a substantial change in the management of parents’ lives.Disability is not the consequence of illness but is the product of a society unprepared to welcome it. A truly inclusive society is one of the challenges of today’s society.
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#6 “North Korea: The People’s Paradise” By Tariq Zaidi
1st Place / Book/Documentary
In January 2020, North Korea closed its borders. Even before this, documenting the country was difficult due to strict photography controls. Despite these challenges, a collection of over 100 images offers a distinctive view of North Korean society. This book, born from three years of research and photography, encourages readers to look deeper, questioning assumptions and glimpsing the fusion of tradition and modernity within the nation. It challenges stereotypes, highlighting the complex dynamics of a nation navigating its course amidst global scrutiny.
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#7 “Livin’ In The Hood. New York Street Life 1990 & 2013/14” By Jürgen Bürgin And Jörg Rubbert
3rd Place / Book/Documentary
Livin’ in the Hood chronicles the personal New York adventures of the two photographers Jürgen Bürgin and Jörg Rubbert. It leads the reader on a visual journey back in time to the years 1990 and 2013/14. This book of photographs documents defining events and reports on inspiring encounters from a city that transformed itself during that era. The volume not only showcases pictures taken by the two street photographers but also shares personal anecdotes and stories as well as additional texts and information. Published by Kettler Verlag.
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#8 “Heartbreakers” By Pablo Vergara
1st Place / Editorial / Press/Environmental
Heartbreakers is a multimedia project highlighting the socio-environmental impacts of Brazil’s largest private port, Port of Açu, North of Rio de Janeiro. It facilitates offshore oil and LNG operations, receiving 26 million tons of iron ore annually from a 328km mining pipeline. Its construction and expansion displace communities, fragmenting families and impacting regional flora and fauna. Over 7,036 hectares were expropriated, affecting nearly 400 families. It is a long-term project started in 2017 to date.
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#9 “Petra-Olum (Stone-Oil)” By Nicola “Ókin” Frioli
1st Place / Editorial / Press/Environmental
A decade ago, a group of Amazonian villagers won a historic legal victory against one of the world’s most powerful companies: Chevron. In 1964, the company arrived in Ecuador with a 1.5 million hectare concession in two Amazonian provinces. The oil giant admitted in court to dumping 17 million gallons of crude oil and harmful chemicals directly into rivers and lagoons in a particularly biodiverse region of the Ecuadorian rainforest. To this day, the inhabitants continue to live in the vicinity of the concession area, in a polluted environment and with precarious and neglected health.
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#10 “The Iron Quest” By João Coelho
1st Place / Editorial / Press/Photo Essay / Feature Story
This series tells the story of a group of young people working in a ship graveyard in Angola. They have to dive hundreds of times when the tide is low. They grope the bottom with their hands as the dark waters with sediments and oil don’t allow them to see anything underwater. After removing pieces weighing hundreds of pounds using only their hands and the strength of their arms, they have to carry them to the beach, struggling with the waves and the currents. Every day they risk their lives to earn a measly 120 dollars for a ton of iron. They and their families depend on it to survive
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#11 “White-Clad Angels.” By Maho*
1st Place / People /Traditions / Culture
Varzaneh is a historical city located in the center of Iran and near Gavkhoni International Wetland. And it is the only Iranian city where women traditionally wear white tents. Therefore, this city is called the city of white-clad angels. One of the reasons for wearing white tents is desert and hot and dry weather in this city because white tents pass heat and cause the body to cool down. Varzaneh is a religious city and the women of this desert land have inherited the tradition of wearing white tents from their previous generations and have also accustomed their children to this tradition.
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#12 “Metropolitan Fragments” By Giuseppe Cardoni
2nd Place / Book/People
The environment is delimited, with a complete absence of the external landscape. The protagonists are absorbed in their thoughts with their heads bowed or intent on looking with the absent gaze of those who look but do not see, as if they were imprisoned in their inner world. We are almost facing an aquarium in which motionless and / or unconscious fish swim. Loneliness is almost palpable and silence seems to saturate every space of the environment in a metaphysical suspension. The scene is still, extracted from the present and frozen out of time. (Metropolitan Fragments is an ongoing project.
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#13 “Between Joy And Survival” By Svet Jacqueline
1st Place / Editorial / Press/Other
Ukraine has made headlines these past two years because of the ongoing war with Russia. The country’s strongest resistance is its ability to adapt in the face of tragedy. They are resilient as a people with a rich culture highlighted by the joy of everyday life. This work focuses on the moments that are often overlooked by the media and the layered stories of survival.
Image credits: photoawards
#14 “Wee Muckers – Youth Of Belfast” By Toby Binder
1st Place / People /Children
»If I had been born at the top of my street, behind the corrugated-iron border, I would have been British. Incredible to think. My whole idea of myself, the attachments made to a culture, heritage, religion, nationalism and politics are all an accident of birth. I was one street away from being born my ‘enemy’«. Paul McVeigh, Belfast-born novelist I have been documenting the daily life of teenagers in British working-class communities for almost two decades. After the Brexit referendum I focused this work on Belfast in Northern Ireland.
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#15 “The Raw Society Magazine: Issue Two” By Jorge Delgado-Ureña + Others
1st Place / Book/Self Published
The Raw Society Magazine is a non-profit project dedicated to sharing compelling and important work by our pro members and the greater storytelling community. Touching on themes as varied as social issues, politics, culture, travel, and history, what unifies this magazine is its strong focus on the photographic medium and the often personal tone the stories take on. Issue Two includes photos and writing from Jorge Delgado-Ureña, Christelle Enquist, Ed Kashi, Nick Brandt, Ibarionex Perello, Tamer Tamar, Micah Green, Thomas Machowicz, and more.
Image credits: photoawards
#16 “The Protests Where Heartbreak Meets Hope” By Maya Hed
3rd Place / Editorial / Press/Political
This is the most crucial protest to attend. It is a daily struggle for life and peace, between helplessness and hope. While their loved ones are in captivity, Ifat Kalderon and Einav Zangauker fiercely lead, along with a group of hostages’ families, daily protests in front of the IDF HQ. They block the street, read the hostages’ names, and demand their return, an end to the war, and Netanyahu’s resignation. These women have transformed from living normal lives to being at the heart of our nation’s most painful struggle, showing graceful leadership in a time when it is especially needed.
Image credits: photoawards
#17 “To Water” By Rollo Hollins
1st Place / Event/Traditions and Cultures
A selection of images from A series exploring the Appleby Horse Fair as a modern-day initiation ceremony for the children of traveller families from across Europe. Running since 1685, the Appleby Horse Fair is the largest gathering of Traveller families in Europe. Both a celebration of a community and a business opportunity for the thousands involved each year. My interest came from exploring the rites of passage the children undertake following in their parents’ footsteps.
Image credits: photoawards
#18 “The Second” By Tom Franks
Advertising Photographer Of the Year
The Second Amendment was partially written to ensure that civilian America was sufficiently armed that they could deal with the British invasion should it ever happen, and yet here I was, door-knocking with a British accent asking to enter people’s homes to see their guns, have a chat – and take their photo. Over two weeks in January 2024, I headed to Prescott, Arizona with one goal – to talk my way into the living rooms of seemingly ordinary citizens & learn about the normalization of gun ownership in the USA.
Image credits: photoawards
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