Winners of $60,000 Epson Pano Awards announced

The winners of the world's largest photographic competition for panoramic photography, the Epson International Pano Awards, have just been announced. They will share in a prize pool worth over $60,000.

This year the competition received more than 4,000 entries. The overall winner of the Open Competition was Jinyi He from China with three entries: The Vein, Purple World, and Rainbow Canyon.

© Jinyi He. The Vein. Overall winner (OPen) - 13th Epson International Pano Awards. "I travelled to Xinjiang last year and took this photo in Dushanzi Grand Canyon, a geological wonder. For tens of millions of years, the melting snow water of Tianshan Glacier has torn open the chest of the vast Gobi like a Hummer and formed this natural landscape under the movement of the earth's crust and the erosion of wind and rain. 'The Vein' is stitched by 40 photos. I operated my drone to capture these 90 degrees aerial view photos at 40 appropriate points (5 rows and 8 columns) of the canyon in order to get whole canyon aerial view."

Speaking about the award, Jinyi said, “As a landscape photographer, I’m always passionate about exploring majestic Chinese landscapes rarely known to western photographers.

"I dedicate myself to capturing their precious but hidden beauty. I believe the most powerful photos come from one’s heart instead of one’s brain. Heartfelt feelings on the road always bring me different inspirations, perspectives and appreciations of our planet.” 

© Jinyi He. Purple worlds. Overall winner (Open) - 13th Epson International Pano Awards

Epson Australia MD, Craig Heckenberg said, "Every year we are amazed by the amazing standard, quality and level of excellence in every one of the Pano Awards entries and this year is no different. The awards connect photographers of all levels and from all walks of life through their creative passion."

The overall winner of the 2022 Amateur Competition was Florian Kriechbaumer of the United Arab Emirates with his entries, In Formation, The Confrontation, and Sunrise in the Clouds. 

© Florian Kriechbaumer. In formation. Overall winner (Amateur) - The 13th Epson International Pano Awards. 

The Epson Digital Art Prize was won by Juan Lopez Ruiz from Spain.

© Juan Lopez Ruiz. Poison River. Epson Digital Art Prize - The 13th Epson International Pano Awards. "This is an aerial view of the surroundings of the Riotinto mine, Huelva, Spain. This is a reservoir close to the mine where all the mine waste accumulates, it is an area of polymetallic massive sulphide concentration where copper, lead and zinc are extracted, as well as gold and silver, which contributes to a great variety of textures and colours in constant change, this makes it a unique place perfect for aerial photography."

The Curator’s Award was won by Judith Kuhn from Germany for her entry, Bernese Oberland.

© Judith Kuhn. Bernese OberlandCurator’s Award - The 13th Epson International Pano Awards. "For weight reasons, I set out early in the morning for my photo tour armed only with a camera, telephoto lens and a few spare batteries. Landscape photography was not planned. At the Burgfeldstand, a neighboring summit, the view opened up to the north-east, hills and valleys staggered in the light haze in the backlight of the rising sun. A perspective that creates spatial depth and, fortunately for me, could only be effectively photographed with a telephoto lens. So I unexpectedly came across a wonderful landscape photo on my wildlife tour."

Category winners

A selection of the category winners appears below. For the full list of winners head to the The Pano Awards website. 

© William Lekki. Smartphone category winner - The 13th Epson International Pano Awards.
© Rainer Roth. Film capture category winner - The 13th Epson International Pano Awards.
© Joshua Hermann. Raw planet category winner - The 13th Epson International Pano Awards.
© Ian McGucken. IAPP category winner - The 13th Epson International Pano Awards.
© Craig McGowan. Nikon category winner - The 13th Epson International Pano Awards. 
© Bin Sun. IRVPA category winner - The 13th Epson International Pano Awards.
© Peter Li. Vertical category winner - The 13th Epson International Pano Awards.
© Carlos Solinas Camelich.
Amatuer built environment category winner - The 13th Epson International Pano Awards.

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