The Minimalist Photography Awards has announced the winners of the sixth edition of their competition. As stated on the organizers' website: “With more than 3,400 submissions from talented photographers worldwide, this year’s awards have showcased an extraordinary level of creativity and skill in minimalist photography.”
The jury selected the best images of 2024 across 12 categories: Abstract, Landscape, Portrait, Street, Open Theme, Photomanipulation, Conceptual, Night, Aerial, Fine Art, Architecture, and Long Exposure. Eva Chupikova has been named Minimalist Photographer of the Year for her photo series titled “Anna.”
Scroll down to see the best pictures from this year’s Minimalist Photography Awards by both amateur and professional photographers from around the world.
More info: Instagram | minimalistphotographyawards.com
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Open, Honorable Mention: Arrival By Fenqiang “Frank” Liu
Every spring, I become excited as the great egrets begin their breeding season in Florida, marking the start of my spring photography season. The joy captured in my images reflects my enthusiasm.
Bored Panda reached out to Kateryna Polishchuk, who won 2nd place in the Aerial category for her image ‘Shadow Basketball III.’ We wanted to gain more insights from Ukrainian photographers about their awarded work. Polishchuk began by sharing what initially inspired her to photograph this unique basketball court, featuring a tree growing at its center: “I have always been looking for unusual photo spots since I started to fly drones a few years ago. This basketball court is part of a so-called urban park, the first one of the three urban parks built in my city of Kharkiv, Ukraine in 2020-21 and I've never found any information about other courts like this one elsewhere in the world. (Are there any?)”
Landscape Photographer Of The Year: Arctic Silence 5 By Patrick Ems
A lone musher with his dogs drives through the vast expanses of Spitsbergen.
Fine-Art, 3rd Place Winner: Dancing Trees By Marleen Van Hove
The dancing mangrove trees on the Sumba island in Indonesia.
We were curious about Kateryna's approach to minimalism in photography, and she explained: “It has been my experience that the typical urban environment offers rather limited opportunities for minimalistic aerial photography. But outdoor sports facilities and basketball courts in particular always make for interesting photo spots. They have certain conciseness and also dynamics, of course. I consider it best to visit them not in the golden hour but during the sunny day when the shadows can be used as additional elements of composition or optimally positioned like the shadow of this oak tree in the middle.
Aerial, 2nd Place Winner: Shadow Basketball III By Kateryna Polishchuk
While constructing basketball grounds in an urban park in Kharkiv, Ukraine, the designer team made this creative decision to show their respect for nature and save this big tree from being removed.
Aerial, 3rd Place Winner: Pink On Pink By Magali Chesnel
Greater flamingos are taking off from a wild lagoon of St. Martin island, based in Southern France. Being normally a migratory bird, it happens that a certain population of greater flamingos decides to stay, as it has been the case for those living in Camargue, one of Europe’s largest wetlands, hosting a vegetation variety, but also a natural wildlife paradise, listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site.They have been breeding there naturally for centuries (back to the Roman times) and according to experts, the greater flamingos might be one of the few survivors that will continue to live or to come to this natural reserve, despite the heavy erosion and rising sea levels, due to climate change.
The color of the greater flamingos varies according to seasons. Almost white in summer, their plumage becomes flamboyant, with a very pink color, during winter time. This is indeed during this season that they engage in courtship displays to attract their future partner.
Their bright pink color comes from beta-carotene, a red-orange pigment that’s found in high amounts within the algae, brine fly larvae, and brine shrimp that they eat in this wetland environment. As this diet is nearly exclusively carotenoid, the birds have no problem coloring themselves.
This pink color of the water is due to dunaliella salina, an algae rich in beta-carotene which takes all its intensity from above, especially during the summer time.
Thanks to the natural beauty of this French colorful area, which never ceases to amaze my pupils, and together with my aerial shot, I like creating a confusion between reality and illusion, photography and painting, based on Rothko’s principles: insisting on the primacy of raw emotion, to push the boundaries of form and color, to make photos appear as “painting-like” as possible.
We were curious about Kateryna's approach to minimalism in photography, and she explained: “It has been my experience that the typical urban environment offers rather limited opportunities for minimalistic aerial photography. But outdoor sports facilities and basketball courts in particular always make for interesting photo spots. They have certain conciseness and also dynamics, of course. I consider it best to visit them not in the golden hour but during the sunny day when the shadows can be used as additional elements of composition or optimally positioned like the shadow of this oak tree in the middle.
Landscape, Honorable Mention: That Lonely Tree By Helen Trust
The famous lonely tree at sunrise in Valensole, Provence.
Abstract, Honorable Mention: ROJA By Benjamin Quadflieg
ROJA is a photo series about La Muralla Roja, a famous apartment building by architect Ricardo Bofills. It is known for the interaction of various colors and shapes. The photo series captures this unique ensemble in a minimalistic, abstract way.
Lastly, the photographer explained how this award-winning image fits into the broader context of her work: “Before aerial photography I specialized in landscapes, both urban and natural, while nature has always inspired me most. Until now, nature has been present in most of my works, one way or the other. I cannot say I purposefully explore the themes of nature coexisting with man-made environments but this sure interests me a lot and I would be happy to do it more often in the future, I have new ideas.”
Landscape, 2nd Place Winner: Winter Cottonwoods By Andrew Mielzynski
During the pandemic, I went out for a walk at a local park during a fierce winter storm. I ran across this scene. It seemed very chaotic with many layers of trees. I loved how the snow, driven by high winds, got embedded into the bark of the trunks. The snow on the bark created a textural contrast that adds detail and interest to the trees. I took a few frames, trying to simplify the scene in front of me and settled on this one, loving the tones, the depth, the order and the minimalism. Even in a chaotic scene, there seems to be a sense of balance that feels orderly and pleasing.
Photo Manipulation, 2nd Place Winner: Going Home By June Yunjung John
On the way home from the day’s work. The time everyone wants.
Abstract Photographer Of The Year: Color Conversation By Gleici Rufatto
A series of geometric images that explore the interplay of color, form, and material, capturing an essence reminiscent of architectural elements. Each piece is centered on abstract forms within the built environment, presenting a visual journey that challenges perceptions and creates a color dialog that invites viewers to consider how colors interact and influence one another within a structured composition.
Conceptual, Honorable Mention: The Heart By Christian Hopfensitz
I wanted to create a special couple photo showing their love with the geometric shape of a heart.
Abstract, 2nd Place Winner: Magic Angles By Matthias Yamakasino Brandt
I took these pictures in Switzerland, the Canary Islands, Austria and Spain. My goal as a photo artist is to find angles that reveal unexpected beauty in the mix of geometrical shapes and colors. The simplicity invites you to eventually almost forget that you are looking at actual buildings. This is when the magic happens and you sink into the picture and forget about everything around.
Architecture, composition are great. However, color is a bit too many and strong in contrast for minimalist.
Architecture, 2nd Place Winner: White On White By Janet Capling
I drove past this house the day after a Canadian winter snowstorm. The virgin snow in front of the house and on the roof made a perfect minimal shot. The uniqueness of this architecture is the missing steps and balcony at of the two doors!
Surreal! And also, really high step up to the door? Especially the second floor that doesn't seem to have a balcony? 🙀
Night, Honorable Mention: Eyes On The Prize By Wai Hoe Mok
This photograph shows a pair of grey reef sharks chasing after their prey, a fusilier fish, during a night hunt. The photograph was shot in South Fakarava, French Polynesia, a very remote location where sharks are abundant. Sharks are aggressive when they are hunting at night and Fakarava is one of the rare locations where night diving is not banned due to the risks involved. However, it was a challenge just putting a crew together that would enter the water for this photoshoot.
To hide from the sharks, prey hid amongst the cracks and crevasses in the corals. In this photo, a fusilier was detected, which attracted a shiver of sharks to break through the corals to flush the fusilier out. What followed was a high speed chase in the pitch darkness of the night. I kicked my fins as hard as I could and followed the chase with my camera furiously firing and was fortunate enough to capture this image.
Long Exposure, Honorable Menion: About Decision Making By Jan Pudil
It is a picture from Rodos. With long exposure, I wanted to underline the very long time that he was thinking about jumping.
Abstract, 3rd Place Winner: Waterworld (Oil & Water Studies) By Beth Buelow
Part of the search for balance and harmony with elements purported not to mix. Created using in-camera double exposure.
Aerial Photographer Of The Year: Winter Drawings By Yevhen Samuchenko
Winter drawings by Yevhen Samuchenko
I created this aerial series in the Carpathian Mountains in the Ivano-Frankivsk region of Ukraine. In these parts of Ukraine, the houses are sparsely placed on low mountains, sometimes close to the forest. This allows me to see more minimalist scenes of rural life. The snow-covered mountains resemble a blank sheet of paper, and a combination of elements of rural life and nature creates simple but no less amazing sketches resembling pencil drawings. This is especially noticeable from above, which is why I chose to work with a drone for this project. I spent many days hiking in the winter Carpathian Mountains looking for interesting subjects for this series.
Fine-Art Photographer Of The Year: Delicate By Hilda Champion
Delicate, graceful, elegant, tender, fine, vulnerable.
Architecture, Honorable Mention: Windows By Manfred Gruber
Austria / Vienna / Inner courtyard
Aerial, Honorable Mention: Beach Bliss By Simon Heather
Local sun lovers bring their brightest towels, swimsuits and umbrellas to the shores of Cascais, Portugal, creating a wonderful vibrant wallpaper, sprawling with life, when viewed from above. Life is better at the beach!
Street, Honorable Mention: The Escape By Marco Wilm
This photo was taken in Berlin, May 2024. It shows a boy running and jumping from white circle to white circle.
Love the likeness to my fave photo ever by Henri Cartier-Bresson! https://images.app.goo.gl/gZWXcFX4opiEr2Jw9
Night, 2nd Place Winner: Heavenly By Cliff Spooner
A local yet remote church at night beneath a starry sky with distant light pollution, partially lit by a full moon from behind my position.
Fine-Art, Honorable Mention: Parking Spot By Rob Chambliss
Danville, California
Photo Manipulation, 3rd Place Winner: The Tunnel By Selina Bressan
I transformed the main entrance of a building into a tunnel leading to a new world. This picture is part of a series called “The suns”.
Architecture Photographer Of The Year: Another Brick In The Wall By Les Forrester
It’s not often today you see a modern building constructed with bricks, so it’s a welcome change from the steel, glass and concrete we normally see.
Landscape, 3rd Place Winner: Transcendence – Sand Dunes Of Morocco By Rosa Frei
I have photographed the sand dunes of Morocco for 17 years. But only since I discovered the ICM technique (Intentional Camera Movement) do I feel like I capture the spirit of the dunes and the essence of time.
Photo Manipulation Photographer Of The Year: Innervisions By George Byrne
For the Innervisions series, I wanted to explore ideas around the subconscious mind by tapping into dreams and symbols. This process led me to further embrace the less literal aspects of my photographic practice.
The resulting images, while rooted in the urban environments of LA and Miami, are largely dreamscapes. I also tried approaching certain images like abstract paintings, these are impressions, heavily edited and assembled in ways as to promote the composition, rather than the context.
The term Innervisions was inspired by Stevie Wonder’s 1973 masterpiece of the same name – a record about the sensory joys/struggles of the inner self.
Architecture, 3rd Place Winner: Guggenheim Ceiling By Margaret Renaud
Long Exposure, 3rd Place Winner: Time Less By Martin Annand
A collection of images from around the UK’s coastline.