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"Awarding the prestigious title of Photographer of the Year to a distinguished group of artists who use the camera as their creative medium," reads the main page of the 1839 Awards, the organization behind the annual contest.

The 2024 edition of the competition attracted entries from 77 countries, making it the most diverse and expansive group of participants to date. This year's reFocus Awards celebrate creativity, technical skill, and the captivating art of visual storytelling. Each winner exemplifies the unique spirit of photography, inviting viewers to appreciate their mastery of the medium.

Scroll down to explore the curated selection of winning photographs, featuring exceptional works from both professional and non-professional categories.

More info: Instagram | 1839awards.com | refocus-awards.com

#1

Photographer Of The Year - Event: Hybrid Solar Eclipse And Maasai Warrior By Eugen Kamenew

Photographer Of The Year - Event: Hybrid Solar Eclipse And Maasai Warrior By Eugen Kamenew

Hybrid Solar Eclipse is a very rare astronomical event. I found a Maasai, Peter Ekai Nakua, who agreed to collaborate with me on 3 November 2013. We experienced 16 seconds of totality. A fleeting surreal moment. This picture was created as a tribute to our friend Geoffrey Ekai Lowa.

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    #2

    International Discovery Of The Year: Swallow By Tania Barrenetxea

    International Discovery Of The Year: Swallow By Tania Barrenetxea

    The number of people struggling with mental health conditions have been rising steadily in the last decade. This image was created in a period of my life when I was struggling with anxiety and an all-consuming feeling of emotional overwhelm.

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    #3

    Photographer Of The Year - Travel: Honey Hunters Of Nepal By Andrew Newey

    Photographer Of The Year - Travel: Honey Hunters Of Nepal By Andrew Newey

    High in the Himalayan foothills of Nepal Gurung honey hunters gather twice a year, risking their lives to harvest the honey from the world’s largest honeybee. For hundreds of years, the skills required to practise this ancient and sacred tradition have been passed down through the generations.

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    #4

    Photographer Of The Year - Sports: Underwater Multiverse By Gabriel Holguín

    Photographer Of The Year - Sports: Underwater Multiverse By Gabriel Holguín

    In this underwater photograph, Colombia’s Underwater Hockey team emerges as ethereal figures, blurred at the surface. They resemble superheroes navigating a parallel universe, their dynamic movements creating a surreal, otherworldly scene in the aquatic realm.

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    Jane No Dough
    Community Member
    1 day ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    It definitely is one of the best sports photos I've ever seen, but I prefer comic books anyway. Also love the "superhero" comparison in art form, rather than as a complaint about some astronomical contract dollars.

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    #5

    Photographer Of The Year - Domestic Animals: Echo Of Light By Fleur Scholte

    Photographer Of The Year - Domestic Animals: Echo Of Light By Fleur Scholte

    Samoyed Nanuq beneath sun rays in the forest.

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    #6

    Discovery Of The Year - Sports: Dancer In The Light By James Whittlesey

    Discovery Of The Year - Sports: Dancer In The Light By James Whittlesey

    This a pow wow dancer doing the spotlight dance at the Stillwater Pow Wow in Redding, California.

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    #8

    International Photographer Of The Year: Bath Time By Pepe Manzanilla

    International Photographer Of The Year: Bath Time By Pepe Manzanilla

    The red-eyed tree frog taking a bath.

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    #9

    Photographer Of The Year - Animals: Double Chin By Bernard Sim

    Photographer Of The Year - Animals: Double Chin By Bernard Sim

    Lift your head to hide the double chin.

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    #10

    Photographer Of The Year - Fine Art: Gathering Of Snails By Annemiek Muller-Rijnaard

    Photographer Of The Year - Fine Art: Gathering Of Snails By Annemiek Muller-Rijnaard

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    #11

    Discovery Of The Year - Landscapes: Fall In The Cypress Swamp By Ben Murphy

    Discovery Of The Year - Landscapes: Fall In The Cypress Swamp By Ben Murphy

    Images both in color and processed infrared.

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    #12

    Discovery Of The Year - Nature: The Scavenger By Ngar Shun Victor Wong

    Discovery Of The Year - Nature: The Scavenger By Ngar Shun Victor Wong

    This vulture in South Africa is hovering over the dead body of a kudu.

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    #13

    Photographer Of The Year - Wildlife: Nose To Nosehorn By George Dian Balan

    Photographer Of The Year - Wildlife: Nose To Nosehorn By George Dian Balan

    A wide angle, up close and personal eye-contact view of a black rhino bull in his prime, part of a breeding programme. Did you know that rhino horns are as hard as trigonometry and almost as light as a feather? They are stronger than elephant tusks or buffalo horns as per tests at Oxford University.

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    #14

    Discovery Of The Year - Film/Analog: Nostalgia By Eddy Verloes

    Discovery Of The Year - Film/Analog: Nostalgia By Eddy Verloes

    Old man behind the curtain watching his life passing by.

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    #15

    Discovery Of The Year - People: Potter By Serkan Dogus

    Discovery Of The Year - People: Potter By Serkan Dogus

    Transformation of soil into art.

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    #16

    Photographer Of The Year - Aerial: Barcelona's Timeless Heart By Henry Do

    Photographer Of The Year - Aerial: Barcelona's Timeless Heart By Henry Do

    Barcelona’s heartbeat unfolds in this aerial view of the Sagrada Família, surrounded by a grid of vibrant, warm-toned neighborhoods. The cathedral rises like a jewel amid the city’s orderly blocks, capturing a timeless blend of modern structure. An architectural marvel in a city of contrasts.

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    Jane No Dough
    Community Member
    1 day ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Need to see them irl to really appreciate. I bet this is far more impressive than it feels here.

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    #17

    Photographer Of The Year - Landscapes: Creation Of The World By Jatenipat Ketpradit

    Photographer Of The Year - Landscapes: Creation Of The World By Jatenipat Ketpradit

    A global journey through nature’s grandeur: majestic mountains in the mist, powerful waterfalls in midnight sun, winds sweeping across vast landscapes, rainbows arching over lush valleys, and rivers winding through untouched terrain. Each image reveals the powerful beauty of Earth’s elements.

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    Jane No Dough
    Community Member
    1 day ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Love the deep thoughts artist is trying to convey but I don't think they achieved it. Closer than any others I suppose.

    #18

    Photographer Of The Year - People: Reign Of The Eagle Hunters By Jatenipat Ketpradit

    Photographer Of The Year - People: Reign Of The Eagle Hunters By Jatenipat Ketpradit

    In the harsh Altai Mountains, Kazakh ‘Burgedchins’ ride with their golden eagles, bonded by 250 years of tradition. Through -40°C winters, they hunt as one, preserving a legacy threatened by time but rooted deeply in the soul of the mountains.

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    #19

    Photographer Of The Year - Architecture: Peaceful Mind By Anh Nguyen

    Photographer Of The Year - Architecture: Peaceful Mind By Anh Nguyen

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    #20

    Photographer Of The Year - Still Life: Delicate By Hilda Champion

    Photographer Of The Year - Still Life: Delicate By Hilda Champion

    Texture, form, and intricate details play together in this subtle image.

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    Jane No Dough
    Community Member
    1 day ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Can't believe this won something, looks like a front bottom.

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    #21

    Photographer Of The Year - Conceptual: What's Love Got To Do With It? By Elisa Miller

    Photographer Of The Year - Conceptual: What's Love Got To Do With It? By Elisa Miller

    Leaving is never simple. The cycle of returning, hoping, and breaking down feels impossible to escape. This series reflects on the cycle of domestic abuse: the hidden patterns that pull us back, even when we know they hurt. Sometimes, the hardest part isn’t leaving—it’s to stay gone.

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    Lee Gilliland
    Community Member
    1 day ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    And she's wearing red, traditionally the color of courage and power.

    #22

    Photographer Of The Year - Photojournalism: The Right To Know By Roberta Vagliani

    Photographer Of The Year - Photojournalism: The Right To Know By Roberta Vagliani

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    #23

    Photographer Of The Year - Advertising & Commercial: Financier Tree By Masahiro Okumura

    Photographer Of The Year - Advertising & Commercial: Financier Tree By Masahiro Okumura

    The financiers fell down to form a tree shape. Christmas with financiers in light and shadow.

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    #24

    Photographer Of The Year - Underwater: Husnah Kukundakwe By Marijn Fidder

    Photographer Of The Year - Underwater: Husnah Kukundakwe By Marijn Fidder

    Husnah Kukundakwe (15) during an early swim training in Kampala, Uganda. Husnah currently is the country's only classified paralympic swimmer. Her first appearance at the World Championships in London was mentioned among the International Paralympic Committee’s (IPC’s) Top 10 Moments of 2019.

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    #25

    Discovery Of The Year - Aerial: P-Opular & I-Gnored By Yevhen Kostiuk

    Discovery Of The Year - Aerial: P-Opular & I-Gnored By Yevhen Kostiuk

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    #26

    Discovery Of The Year - Architecture: Touch Me If You Can By Dorota Yamadag

    Discovery Of The Year - Architecture: Touch Me If You Can By Dorota Yamadag

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    Amity
    Community Member
    19 hours ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Me trying to annoy my brother without actually touching him

    #27

    Discovery Of The Year - Domestic Animals: East Los Angeles By Kristine Vann Discovery Of The Year - Architecture

    Discovery Of The Year - Domestic Animals: East Los Angeles By Kristine Vann Discovery Of The Year - Architecture

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    #28

    Discovery Of The Year - Underwater: Blending In By Gillian Shark

    Discovery Of The Year - Underwater: Blending In By Gillian Shark

    A beautiful female Caribbean reef shark passed by a big school of fish which resulted in this interesting photo composition. Although the shark was swimming on a different level than the school of fish, the colours and its movement somehow gave the illusion of it blending in.

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    #29

    Photographer Of The Year - Minimalism: Deliverance By Thomas De Franzoni

    Photographer Of The Year - Minimalism: Deliverance By Thomas De Franzoni

    Classic Tuscany Landscape. I took this shot in mid-June during the harvest. I tried to take a minimalistic scene, a lonely tree on the rolling hills and a cloud more or less over the tree.

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    #30

    Discovery Of The Year - Event: Life Coach Enlightens People By Josip Miskovic

    Discovery Of The Year - Event: Life Coach Enlightens People By Josip Miskovic

    I participated in many of the "motivational and awakening" meetings where crafty instructors, so-called "coaches," make a lot of money for sharing hours and hours of motivational sentences. It looks more like a purgatory exit than a conference hall.

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    #31

    Discovery Of The Year - Minimalism: Infinity Steps By Rick Bogacz

    Discovery Of The Year - Minimalism: Infinity Steps By Rick Bogacz

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    #32

    Discovery Of The Year - Photojournalism: The Wrong Side Of Freedom By João Coelho

    Discovery Of The Year - Photojournalism: The Wrong Side Of Freedom By João Coelho

    They are considered outcasts, having fled their parents' homes and the institutions where they have always been abused. They help each other escape the onslaught of police and malaria in the ruins of the city. They have all chosen to live on the wrong side of freedom.

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    #33

    Photographer Of The Year - Travel: One Morning In Varanasi By Ngar Shun Victor Wong

    Photographer Of The Year - Travel: One Morning In Varanasi By Ngar Shun Victor Wong

    Two men were doing their workouts at the bank of the Ganges River early in the morning at Varanasi.

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    Jay Scales
    Community Member
    1 day ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    One looks as if he's about to assault the other by hitting him over the head...

    #34

    Photographer Of The Year - Fashion & Beauty: Three Color By Piotr Werner

    Photographer Of The Year - Fashion & Beauty: Three Color By Piotr Werner

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    #35

    Photographer Of The Year - Street: Children Of The Wall By Alonso Oliveros

    Photographer Of The Year - Street: Children Of The Wall By Alonso Oliveros

    Before releasing the bulls into the streets, on the last days of the ceremony, the children climb the walls of the church to protect themselves.

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    #36

    Discovery Of The Year - Fashion & Beauty: Exp. By Anjie Zhong

    Discovery Of The Year - Fashion & Beauty: Exp. By Anjie Zhong

    My work draws inspiration from the "best before" date of food, exploring whether people and their relationships also have an expiration. Using fruits as symbols, I illustrate the evolution of two female characters from strangers to intimacy, then to separation.

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    Lee Gilliland
    Community Member
    1 day ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    If she's using fruit for symbols, why is there no fruit in the picture?

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    #37

    Discovery Of The Year - Potrait: Untitled, 2024. By Ben Hubert

    Discovery Of The Year - Potrait: Untitled, 2024. By Ben Hubert

    A collective experience of both traditional masculine values and progressive
    views form the foundation of this project’s exploration. The male form exists in the photograph alongside abstracted sculptures of space, allusive to the changing landscape of masculinity.

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    #38

    Discovery Of The Year - Still Life: Weaknesses Of The Oceans By Antonio Coelho By

    Discovery Of The Year - Still Life: Weaknesses Of The Oceans By Antonio Coelho By

    This series refers to the current problem experienced in the oceans and seas. They represent 50% of oxygen production in the world and today they are also affected by the increase in global temperature, pollution, among others. The series was created in a sustainable way using recycled elements.

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    #39

    Photographer Of The Year - Film/Analog: The Don Steppe By Misha Maslennikov

    Photographer Of The Year - Film/Analog: The Don Steppe By Misha Maslennikov

    Imagine yourself in the middle of the steppe, looking out at the horizon. Your gaze is fixed beyond this meeting of earth and sky, so much so that you see nothing but this inexorable boundary. But stand in silence for a little while, just a little while longer, and it all falls away.

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    #40

    Discovery Of The Year - Street: The Butcher By Robert Lie

    Discovery Of The Year - Street: The Butcher By Robert Lie

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    #41

    Discovery Of The Year - Abstract: Moment By Vinci Weng

    Discovery Of The Year - Abstract: Moment By Vinci Weng

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