Winners of the 6th annual Siena International Photo Awards

2 November 2020

French Photographer Greg Lecoeur has been named overall winner, Photographer of the Year 2020, of the 6th annual Siena International Photo Awards (SIPA) for his image, Frozen Mobile Home of a giant iceberg surrounded by crabeater seals. The image was selected by the jury from the thousands of entries received by photographers from 156 countries. An award-winning professional ocean and wildlife photographer, Lecouer shot the image in Antarctica where he is often involved in scientific projects that highlight the fragility of our oceans and the importance of preserving our planet.

© Greg Lecoeur. Frozen Mobile Home. Icebergs are massive and mysterious habitats, which are dynamic kingdoms that support marine life. As they swing and rotate slowly through polar currents, icebergs fertilize the oceans by carrying nutrients from the earth. They are also responsible for the development of the phytoplankton and influence the carbon cycle by sequestering carbon dioxide from the air. They also shelter big animals such as Crabeater seals, that spend the entire year on the ice pack.
© Greg Lecoeur. Frozen Mobile Home. Icebergs are massive and mysterious habitats, which are dynamic kingdoms that support marine life. As they swing and rotate slowly through polar currents, icebergs fertilize the oceans by carrying nutrients from the earth. They are also responsible for the development of the phytoplankton and influence the carbon cycle by sequestering carbon dioxide from the air. They also shelter big animals such as Crabeater seals, that spend the entire year on the ice pack.

South African photojournalist Brent Stirton won this year's Best Author Award for his powerful visual storytelling and his commitment to covering issues related to wildlife and conservation, as well as global health, diminishing cultures, sustainability, and the environment.

Mohammad Sazid Hossain of Bangladesh earned the top prize in Documentary and Photojournalism for his photo, Death of a Fire Victim, that captures a tragic moment during a terrible fire in Dhaka.

© Mohammad Sazid Hossain. Death of a Fire Victim. A man desperately tries to save himself during a fire that destroyed a 22-storey building in Dhaka. The blaze resulted in 25 deaths and 70 injuries. The man was lowering himself by holding onto a cable, but the heat forced him to suddenly let go and he crashed to the ground.
© Mohammad Sazid Hossain. Death of a Fire Victim. A man desperately tries to save himself during a fire that destroyed a 22-storey building in Dhaka. The blaze resulted in 25 deaths and 70 injuries. The man was lowering himself by holding onto a cable, but the heat forced him to suddenly let go and he crashed to the ground.

Iranian Amirmahdi Najafloo Shahpar won Journeys and Adventures with his photo, Benediction, an image of Muslim women at prayer during Eid-al-Frit, celebrating the end of Ramadan.

© Amirmahdi Najafloo Shahpar. Benediction. Muslim women praying in Hamedan, Iran for Eid al-Fitr. The last day of Ramadan is celebrated by Muslims all over the word with special prayers and gatherings.
© Amirmahdi Najafloo Shahpar. Benediction. Muslim women praying in Hamedan, Iran for Eid al-Fitr. The last day of Ramadan is celebrated by Muslims all over the word with special prayers and gatherings.

With Koichi Omae, the portrait of an amputee Japanese dancer, Italian photographer Silvia Alessi won the category Fascinating Faces and Characters.

© Silvia Alessi. Koichi Omae. I met by chance the dancer Koichi Omae, an amputee originally from Osaka. At 23, at the beginning of his career, a car accident took away all his dreams. He had his left leg amputated below the knee. With great willpower he decided to continue his career as a dancer, aware that without the limb, he would have to spend much more energy not only in performing his art, but also in the simple act of walking.
© Silvia Alessi. Koichi Omae. I met by chance the dancer Koichi Omae, an amputee originally from Osaka. At 23, at the beginning of his career, a car accident took away all his dreams. He had his left leg amputated below the knee. With great willpower he decided to continue his career as a dancer, aware that without the limb, he would have to spend much more energy not only in performing his art, but also in the simple act of walking.

Sub Zero by German photographer Tobias Friedrich, winner of this year's The Beauty of Nature category, takes viewers into a fantastic night diving experience among icebergs.

© Tobias Friedrich. Sub Zero. Night diving at a temperature of minus two degrees Celsius in Eastern Greenland, swimming among icebergs under the ice of a fjord.
© Tobias Friedrich. Sub Zero. Night diving at a temperature of minus two degrees Celsius in Eastern Greenland, swimming among icebergs under the ice of a fjord.

Jonas Classon from Sweden won Animals in their Environment with Night Hunter, a fantastic shot of a Grey Great Owl ready to attack its prey under a full moon.

© Jonas Classon. Night Hunter. The Great Grey Owl is well known for its extreme hunting skills. After working on a story about this owl for many weeks in a row, I finally got the shot conveying all I wanted to show in one single frame. I captured the owl seconds before it attacked a vole under a full moon night. It truly is a hunter of the night.
© Jonas Classon. Night Hunter. The Great Grey Owl is well known for its extreme hunting skills. After working on a story about this owl for many weeks in a row, I finally got the shot conveying all I wanted to show in one single frame. I captured the owl seconds before it attacked a vole under a full moon night. It truly is a hunter of the night.

Home Alone by Hungarian photographer Attila Balogh earned the top spot in Architecture and Urban Spaces. Balogh's shot expertly captures the only lit windows of multi-story buildings in Hong Kong right before sunset.

© Attila Balogh. Home Alone. Only a single apartment's windows are lit in Tsing Yi district, a densely populated area of Hong Kong, right before sunset.
© Attila Balogh. Home Alone. Only a single apartment's windows are lit in Tsing Yi district, a densely populated area of Hong Kong, right before sunset.

British photographer Jan Macnicol won Sports in Action with Diogo Cancela, a stunning underwater image of the Portuguese athlete at an international Para-Swimming competition.

Londoners, shot in Notting Hill, London during its colorful carnival, won the Street Photography category, shot by photographer Olesia Kim from Russia.

© Olesia Kim. Londoners. This image was taken on the steps of a Notting Hill house in London. The neighborhood comes alive every year for a colorful and joyful carnival.
© Olesia Kim. Londoners. This image was taken on the steps of a Notting Hill house in London. The neighborhood comes alive every year for a colorful and joyful carnival.

Brent Stirton from South Africa won this year's Storyboard category with his series, Pangolins in Crisis, a great reportage about the world's most illegally trafficked mammals.

© Brent Stirton, South Africa, Getty Images, for National Geographic. Pangolins in Crisis. A man reaches for a pangolin that is about to be slaughtered and prepared for a meal in a restaurant on the outskirts of Guangzhou, China, on 4 January 2019. Pangolin meat at the restaurant sells for around US $376 per kilogram.
© Brent Stirton, South Africa, Getty Images, for National Geographic. Pangolins in Crisis. A man reaches for a pangolin that is about to be slaughtered and prepared for a meal in a restaurant on the outskirts of Guangzhou, China, on 4 January 2019. Pangolin meat at the restaurant sells for around US $376 per kilogram.

Riccardo Marchegiani from Italy won the Under 20 category with Utopia, a shot of a Baboon in the wild taken in Ethiopia, in unspoiled nature.

Category winners

The winning photographers by categories are:

Documentary & Photojournalism

Winner: Mohammad Sazid Hossain, Bangladesh
2nd - Paula Bronstein, USA 
3rd - Francis Perez, Spain / 3rd - Shawn Yuan, China

© Paula Bronstein. Stolen Childhood. At the Panzi hospital in Bukavu, a young rape victim named Bilati, age 3, waits for an operation to repair her vaginal area. The situation in the DRC has gotten worse with an alarming escalation of human rights violations and abuse against women and children, who suffer fearing reprisals and social exclusion.
© Paula Bronstein. Stolen Childhood. At the Panzi hospital in Bukavu, a young rape victim named Bilati, age 3, waits for an operation to repair her vaginal area. The situation in the DRC has gotten worse with an alarming escalation of human rights violations and abuse against women and children, who suffer fearing reprisals and social exclusion.
Journeys & Adventures

Winner: Amirmahdi Najafloo Shahpar, Iran
2nd - Thien Nguyen, Vietnam
3rd - Christian Vizl, Mexico

© Thien Nguyen. Blooming. A fishing net moving underneath the water's surface. Many local fishing families along the coastline of the province of Phú Yên follow the near-shore currents to catch the anchovy during peak season. Only a small proportion of the entire catch is sold fresh, with most of it being dried or salted. Salted anchovy is the most important raw material needed to create traditional fish sauce, and thus the humble anchovy becomes the spirit of Vietnamese cuisine.
© Thien Nguyen. Blooming. A fishing net moving underneath the water's surface. Many local fishing families along the coastline of the province of Phú Yên follow the near-shore currents to catch the anchovy during peak season. Only a small proportion of the entire catch is sold fresh, with most of it being dried or salted. Salted anchovy is the most important raw material needed to create traditional fish sauce, and thus the humble anchovy becomes the spirit of Vietnamese cuisine.
Fascinating Faces

Winner: Silvia Alessi, Italia
2nd - Fattah Zinouri, Iran
3rd - Alexander Vinogradov, Russia

© Fattah Zinouri. Taboo. I took this photo inside my home studio in Iran while I was working on a movie project about Afghan immigrants living in Iran. It was the first time that I witnessed in person someone wearing a burka. What struck me immediately upon seeing this woman was that I couldn’t see any part of her body except the soles of her feet as she walked. Since I captioned this photo as “Taboo,” the message I am expressing is one of rebellion.
© Fattah Zinouri. Taboo. I took this photo inside my home studio in Iran while I was working on a movie project about Afghan immigrants living in Iran. It was the first time that I witnessed in person someone wearing a burka. What struck me immediately upon seeing this woman was that I couldn’t see any part of her body except the soles of her feet as she walked. Since I captioned this photo as “Taboo,” the message I am expressing is one of rebellion.
The Beauty of Nature

Winner: Tobias Friedrich, Germany
2nd - Francisco Negroni, Chile
3rd - Mauro Battistelli, Italy

Animals in their Environment

Winner: Jonas Classon, Sweden
2nd - Thomas Vijayan, India
3rd - William Burrad-Lucas, UK

Architecture & Urban Spaces

Winner: Attila Balogh, Hungary
2nd - Barbara Schmidt, Germany
3rd - Martin Seraphin, Germany

Sports in Action

Winner: Ian Macnicol, UK
2nd - Christian Pondella, USA
3rd - Stefan Wermuth, Switzerland

Street Photography

Winner: Olesia Kim, Russia
2nd - Michael Kowalczyk, Germany
3rd - Giancarlo Staubmann, Italy

Storyboard

Winner: Brent Stirton, South Africa
2nd - Alain Schroeder, Belgium
3rd - Carolina Rapezzi, Italy / 3rd - Kiran Ridley, UK

Under 20

Winner: Riccardo Marchegiani, Italy
2nd - Shridarshan Shukla, India
3rd - Ankit Kumar, India

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