25 stunning images from the iPhone Photography Awards

‘Man and the Eagle’, by IPP’s Grand Prize Photographer of the Year Siyuan Niu, based in China – “The brave and wise Khalkhas live along the mountains in the south of Xinjiang and are companions with the eagles. They regard eagles as their children and train them for many years to hunt.”

Patryk Kuleta won first place in the Photographer of the Year with ‘Modern Cathedrals’ – “Most of my shots come from Warsaw and one from Strasbourg. The idea was to make it more impressionistic, to show architecture in a completely different way that combines my background in graphic design and painting.”

‘She Bends with the Wind’ by Robin Robertis – “I tend to bring a few things when I travel, one being this wonderful red umbrella. When others shoot the sunsets and beautiful scenery, I like to photograph some human aspects in these scenes.”

‘Wonderland’ by Carolyn Mara Borlenghi – “This image was taken as part of a series I did for Instagram’s #WHPwonderland. Each weekend when the hashtag project comes out I try to come up with an idea and this particular weekend, the weekend before Christmas, was wonderland.”

‘China’ by Jian Wang – “The photo ‘China Red’ was taken in Beijing Olympic Park, in front of this traditional Chinese red wall. I was fascinated by the great visual effect which was created by the lights and shades.”

Erica Wu’s picture of foxes – “My photo was taken in the Miyagi Zao Fox Village while I was feeding the foxes, it was a very a dramatic scene when they all stared at me at the same time so I took out my iPhone to capture the moment immediately.”

Mette Lampcov’s image of Milly – “Milly is happiness on four very short little legs, wagging her tail all day long, but as the day is long Milly thinks she is a ferocious hunter, regardless of her miniature size.”

Junbiao Cai’s gaggle of geese – “Yangjiang, Guangdong is famous for the Yellow Bristle Goose […] At dusk, swarms of yellow bristle geese are marching, quite a spectacular scene, especially with the dust and backlight.”

Bruno Dreux’s snap of his son Felipe – “This shot was taken in a rural area of Rio called Vargem Grande, where Felipe, three years old and my oldest son, loves to explore the motocross track with his wooden bike. On this particular day, he was so excited about the mud and the rain that he couldn’t resist jumping in it.”

Lone Bjørn’s poppy picture – “On my way home from work I saw this field full of red back-lighted poppies, catching the last daylight. A perfect end to a good day.”

Vasco Galhardo Simoes en route to London – “What you see in the picture is a bridge called Ponte 25 de Abril (a very important day for Portugal). I was really lucky to get this photo because 30 seconds after I took the picture the Pilot changed direction and I stopped seeing the bridge.”

Yuki Cheung won the Lifestyle category with this shot – “I and a group of friends went to Iceland last year, the dream destination for every photographer. It was amazing and we enjoyed every moment.”

Yang Zhang en route to Yellow Mountain – “As I was climbing some slippery rocks the clouds suddenly parted and sunshine came onto the cliff in front of me. It was a magical moment that unfolded like a scene from a traditional Chinese painting.”

Liang Huang’s scene of devastation – “On August 12, 2015, a series of explosions happened in the toxic goods depot of Ruihai company located in Tianjin port […]. After 1 hour, when ashes of burned goods were still falling like black snow, I was in position at ground zero.”

Kevin Casey won first place in the Others category – “This was taken at Botany Bay, Sydney, Australia and is one of my favourite spots during summer. I have taken literally hundreds of shots of the local kids lining up and jumping, diving and doing backflips off this wall.”

Xia Zhenkai took top spot in the People category – “I was filming some empty lens reflex for my documentary on the riverbank of the Indian Ganges River, then happened to see this man who was bathing in the river.”

Yi Lin Hu took this shot in Paris – “This photo was taken on the street in the Latin Quarter in Paris around evening time. I saw a man who seems taking a break outside of the restaurant’s kitchen, staring at the people on the street.”

Geri Centonze’s take on Abraham Lincoln – “Inspired by the film, Lincoln, The Ronald Reagan Library in California had a special Lincoln exhibit which I attended. One of the items featured was a bust of Abraham Lincoln by special effects artist Kazuhiro Tsuji.”

Valencia Tom won the Seasons category – “I was on my way home after a few hours of shooting outside during Winter Storm Jonas. As I turned back once more to take in my surroundings, I saw the beautiful, but faint image of the Manhattan Bridge in the distance.”

Cocu Liu took second spot – “This photo was taken in Chicago on an extreme cold day. I was looking down to the frozen river with ice floes from the bridge above, what I like about the scene was the geometric shapes and compositional contrast from the high perspective.”

Matthew Sullivan finished third – “Walking across the Harvard Bridge from Boston to Cambridge on my way to work, I noticed that the Hancock Tower was casting a long, sharp shadow on the frozen Charles River. I could tell that the shadow just made it to the Cambridge side and thought that a shot looking back towards Boston might be interesting.”

Yongmei Wang took second spot in the Sunset category – “When I arrived in the village Xingping, I was deeply attracted by the natural scenery, the river, the mountain, the bamboo and the tranquility. I rented a bicycle and idled along the Li River the whole afternoon, talking with the local people and taking pictures.”

Fugen Xiao won the Travel category – “This picture shows harmonious scenery of an old couple who started working early in the morning when the sun shined a light in Xiapu, Fujian Province. I focused on the moment and story in front of me.”

Shiyang Han took third place in Travel – “This photo was taken at Seda Larong Wuming Buddhist Institute, Sichuan, China. It’s the largest buddhist institute in the world.”

Victor Kintanar won first spot in the Trees section – “This photo is an image of the roots of a wax apple tree, located in a vacant lot just behind my rented apartment in the village of Suba in Argao, Cebu, Philippines.”