With half a million submissions from people across the globe, this photography competition celebrates the beauty of our planet
A woman slams down the winning card in a smoky Indonesian teahouse game of dominoes. This everyday moment in a south-east Asian village has won the top prize in this year’s photo award from photo printing firm Cewe. It beat more than half a million other entries to the world’s largest photography competition, on the theme of ‘our world is beautiful’.
Judges chose photographer Ariani Dikye’s image over shots of exploding volcanoes and New York City skyscrapers, because it captured “how joy comes to life when people come together in their community to share the beauty of their world in a moment”.
As well as championing photographers from around the world, the competition raises money – 10 cents for every photo submitted. This year’s competition has raised €50,962 (£44,317). The money will be given to the EduCare Baidoa project in Somalia – a project run by the non-profit SOS Children’s Villages. It is renovating schools, training teachers and ‘guaranteeing 2,000 children a good education’, following 30 years of civil war that have left more than three million children without a school to go to.
The jury was chaired by Swiss artist, filmmaker and Vogue photographer Michel Comte.
The winning images
Main image: Overall winner and ‘people’ category winner. ‘Warung kopi’ – ‘a place where people meet and hang out in a village’, taken by Ariani Dikye in Bogor, Indonesia
For the full winner’s gallery, click here.
