The winners of the All About Photo Awards 2022, for the best single images of the year, have been announced with Marcus Yam (USA) named Photographer of the Year 2022.
Yam won with his image Afghanistan’s air force is a rare US-backed success story. It may soon fail.
The news comes under two weeks after Yam received a Pulitzer Prize for Breaking News Photography for, ‘raw and urgent images of the U.S. departure from Afghanistan that capture the human cost of the historic change in the country.’
Now in its seventh year, ‘All About Photo Awards – The Mind’s Eye’ was open to both amateur and professional photographers from around the world.
First place – Marcus Yam (USA)
A soldier surveys the terrain out of the window of a UH-60 Black Hawk during a resupply flight toward an outpost in the Shah Wali Kot district north of Kandahar, Afghanistan, on 6 May 2021. The Afghan Air Force, which the US and its partners have nurtured to the tune of $8.5 billion since 2010, is now the government’s safeguard in its fight against the enemy. Since May 1, the original deadline for the U.S. withdrawal, the Taliban have overpowered government troops, wrestling away control of territories and further denying Afghan security forces the use of roads. As a result, all logistical support to thousands of outposts and checkpoints, including re-supplies of ammunition and food, medical evacuations or personnel rotation, must be done by air.. © Marcus Yam
Marcus Yam, a Los Angeles Times foreign correspondent and photographer, took first place with his image (shown above) Afghanistan’s air force is a rare US-backed success story. It may soon fail.
Second place – Debdatta Chakraborty (India)
Kebabiyana – second place in the All About Photo Awards 2022. © Debdatta Chakraborty
The second-place winner was Debdatta Chakraborty (India) with the image Kebabiyana, of an Indian kebab chef, which had previously won the Pink Lady Food Photographer of the Year 2022 award.
The image was shot at Khayyam Chowk, a street in Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir, India, which transforms into a buzzing food hub at night, as street chefs grill popular Kashmiri street food, such as wazwan kebabs.
Third place – Konstantinos Tsakalidis (Greece)
Woman from Evia – third place in the All About Photo Awards 2022. © Konstantinos Tsakalidis
In third place was Konstantinos Tsakalidis (Greece) for his image (shown below) of an elderly resident reacting as a wildfire approached her house in the village of Gouves, on the island of Evia, Greece, in August 2021.
The image was previously chosen as one of AP’s best photographs of 2021 by Helen Healy (head of pictures, Financial Times).
Tsakalidis explained, ‘I was in the village of Gouves in northern Evia, along with other colleagues, where the fire was heading on the morning of Sunday, August 8. When the fire started to threaten the village, I thought that taking pictures from a distance would not tell the whole story. So, I left the observation point, inside the village, where we could see (along with other media colleagues) how the fire was spreading panoramically and headed to the houses, in order to capture the reactions and preparations of the residents, who had not evacuated the village (as requested by the authorities) so they could protect their village. I thought that if the fire really approached the houses, these would be the images that would most vividly describe the disaster and the consequences of the climate crisis we live in.
I had intended to leave the place where I was to move my car to a safer place as the fire moved down the hill in the direction of the houses and that was when I saw from a distance a woman dressed in black moving awkwardly outside a house. I approached to see what was happening because it was one of the first houses in front of the forest. I heard her shouting towards the house, looking for her husband. Then she called me into the yard of the house and told me emotionally about all the hard work they had put into their home (which was now in danger of being lost to the fire) and the lack of government intervention to put out the fire, as she was telling me this, the flames swallowed up the pine forest behind the house. That’s the moment I took the picture. That moment was very intense and moving.
After that, I talked to her neighbours so they would take care of her because she seemed to be losing consciousness and informed them that her husband was still in the back of the house, on the side where the fire was coming.’
Fourth place – Landry Major (USA)
Racing the Storm – fourth place in the All About Photo Awards 2022. © Landry Major
The fourth place winner Landry Major (USA) for his image Racing the Storm from his series Keepers of the West.
Major revealed, ‘This image was created in northern Colorado as part of my series Keepers of the West showing the remaining family run ranches in the American west. Over the past four years I have witnessed the strength, determination, and commitment of these families to continue this way of life and pass it on to their children.’
Fifth place – Rebecca Moseman (USA)
Alesha – fifth place in the All About Photo Awards 2022. © Rebecca Moseman
Rebecca Moseman won fifth place for her image Alesha from the series The Irish Travellers, A Forgotten People.
The image shows Alesha, a pre-teen Irish Traveller, arriving back from school at Labre Park, her family’s halting site outside of Dublin, Ireland.
Labre Park is the oldest traveller halting site in Ireland. Alesha has lived in this halting site her entire life alongside around 20 other Traveler families.
Expert jury
The competition was judged by a jury, which included photographer Ian Berry (Magnum Photos), Paula Tognarelli (executive director and curator, Griffin Museum of Photography), Ann Jastrab (executive director, Center for Photographic Art, Carmel, CA), Manfred Baumann (Leica photographer), Tom Price (winner of the All About Photo Awards 2021), Giuseppe Oliverio (founder and director, PHmuseum) and Sandrine Hermand-Grisel (photographer, founder & editor of All About Photo).
The jurors evaluated thousands of entries from all over the world and selected 41 winners from 21 different countries and across four continents.
An All About Photos spokesperson told AP, ‘The final selection reflects images documenting events and highlighting current issues; however, unlike 2021, this year’s submissions overall seem less emotional and more focused on aesthetics. Both winning images by Marcus Yam and Konstantinos Tsakalidis are of conflict and unrest, but many of the other scenes seem almost idyllic, though oftentimes when you look closer, there was something else happening in the frame that was anything but perfect.’
Find out more…
All About Photo was launched in February 2013 by editor/photographer Sandrine Hermand-Grisel, and entrepreneur Fabien Hermand, as an online magazine dedicated to showcasing the incredible work of photographers from around the world.
To see more of the winning entries go to All About Photo Awards 2022.
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