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2007

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2010

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2013

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2016

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2019

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  • Brian_Bielmann.jpg
    Brian Bielmann
    Brian_Bielmann.jpg
    Photographer

    Brian Bielmann

    Biography

    I was born in New York in 1957 and started surfing in 1970 at the age of 13. in the last two years of high school, all I could think about was graduating and moving to Hawaii. In 1975 I did just that, and so at age 17 I was living in paradise. Since then I've never looked back. When I was 21 I decided that I would be a surf photographer, but it still took a near death collision with a reef to get me off my surfboard and behind the camera.

    It has now been 30 years of surfing and photography for me, and what a long, strange trip it has been. Lots of crazy people, lots of exotic places. Not much money, but a fantastic life. I have been lucky enough to see – and in a small way be a part of – the evolution of the sport of surfing. i have seen surfing champions come and go and i have visited and photographed places that were once unknown and have seen them become world famous hot spots.

    I have seen technology change the way a wave is ridden and I have watched the pictures I used to draw on my notebook of surfers riding giant waves become a reality. My goal is to try to keep taking the viewer to places they have not visited and to see things unlike anything they have seen before. I work for Transworld Surf in the USA and Volcom clothing, and contribute to most surfing publications outside of America.

    I pray that I continue to see the beauty in what God has created and be able to continue to spread that beauty with my own vision. Thank God for this fantastic world.

    • Brian Bielmann, Category finalist 2007: Spirit
    • Brian Bielmann, Category finalist 2007: Illumination
    • Brian Bielmann, Category finalist 2010: Spirit
    • Brian Bielmann, Category finalist 2007: Close Up
    • Brian Bielmann, Category finalist 2013: Sequence
  • Ricky_Adam.jpg
    Ricky Adam
    Ricky_Adam.jpg
    Photographer

    Ricky Adam

    Biography

    I was born and raised in Northern Ireland and first discovered photography at the age of 16 after I took a few photos with a camera from my friend’s dad. I never had the money to buy a camera of my own until I turned 19. As soon as that happened, I was terminally hooked.

    I was attracted to the immediacy of photography, I was always good at art and painted a bit at school, but found the painting process too slow. I've always been a collector of things: records, books, magazines – so taking photos is sort of an extension of this.

    Being from a hardcore BMX/punk background myself, I began to shoot photographs of friends in the different scenes that I was involved with and made regular contributions to DIG BMX Magazine who are based in Belfast. The mag has a passion for stylistic BMX riding alongside a D.I.Y. punk ethic, so I could really tune into the magazine’s vision. These days, I’m the staff photographer, editor and janitor at their office in Belfast.

    I'm lucky enough to be able to travel the world with fellow weirdos, documenting the many unique aspects of BMX life. What I’ve learned is that if you have a real passion for photography or anything else, follow your heart and believe in what you do. It’s 2010, let's keep the energy going. It's all about what's happening today, now.

    • Ricky Adam, Category finalist 2010: Close Up
    • Ricky Adam, Category finalist 2010: Playground
    • Ricky Adam, Category finalist 2007: Playground
    • Ricky Adam, Category finalist 2013: Lifestyle
  • roberto_alegria_012873.jpg
    Roberto Alegria
    roberto_alegria_012873.jpg
    Photographer

    Roberto Alegria

    Biography

    I'm a Spanish photographer based in Barcelona. I’ve been passionate about photography since I was a child. Photography has always been one of my main hobbies, the other being skateboarding.

    In 2005, I managed to link both of my passions and became a professional photographer, shooting advertisements for brands such as Red Bull, Volcom, Quiksilver, Carhartt, Wesc, Rusty, Braun and Nike as well as skate magazines.

    I believe that my work brings something different to skateboard photography because I focus on photography composition, techniques and lighting rather than on skate tricks.

    Today, I consider myself not only a skate photographer, but I am also developing more cinematic photography because it has infinite possibilities.

     

    • Roberto Alegria, Category finalist 2016: Mobile
    • Roberto Alegria, Category finalist 2016: Mobile
    • Roberto Alegria, Category finalist 2010: Experimental
    • Roberto Alegria, Category finalist 2013: New Creativity
  • Sebastian_Anex.jpg
    Sébastien Anex
    Sebastian_Anex.jpg
    Photographer

    Sébastien Anex

    Biography

    A snowflake addiction led me astray from the route my education should have taken me. While studying Environmental Engineering, I got my first reflex camera to share photo-moments I liked. I started capturing what I was in love with: snow, ski and nature. The first publications came out and, once I got my master's in engineering, I searched for a job in photography.

    A few months later, I accepted a part-time job as a photo editor and photographer at the most read daily newspaper in the French part of Switzerland (20 Minutes). Due to the format, we couldn’t print the most artistic pictures, but we received and compiled fresh, new photos from all over the world, which was something I could be passionate about.

    Besides that, I also work as a freelance photographer for clients, shooting commercials and editorial work. A lot of them are for the action sport industry, but my horizons are also always being broadened through this experience. From artists' portraits and journalistic reports to fashion shoots, there is always a fresh challenge. The following motto guides my style: “Less is more.” My eye is minimalistic and is constantly searching for a different point of view. Innovation, emotion and joy are what I'm looking for in any photo.

    • Sébastien Anex, Category finalist 2010: Experimental
  • Eric_Antoine.jpg
    Éric Antoine
    Eric_Antoine.jpg
    Photographer

    Éric Antoine

    Biography

    I was born in 1974. I received my first camera from my dad in 1993 and started taking a lot of portraits and concert pictures. After trying to have a ‘normal life’ working at the electronic department of a supermarket, I blew a fuse and took off one morning, deciding it was time to leave France.

    During a long stay in New York, I spent my time skating and learning the basics of skateboard photography. In 1996-97 I started contributing to a Swiss skateboard magazine, Flat Mégazine. Since then, my photos have been published in many European magazines.

    In 1999, I officially became team photographer for éS, Etnies and Emerica in Europe. I've also been working on some advertising campaigns for brands such as Sir Benny Miles, Element skateboards, Carhartt, and others.

    I now live in Strasbourg, where I focus on printing and experimenting with different techniques and processes. I'm very interested in vintage cameras and old processes such as collodion wet plates. I also collect old family photos and union cases.

    A few years ago I started a series of exhibitions featuring a retrospective of my work over the past ten years. More recently, I finished a show with the series "Through the backseat window." Soon, I’m collaborating with Jelle Keppens consisting of strictly medium format analog skateboard photography.

    • Éric Antoine, Category finalist 2010: Experimental
  • Alessio_Barbanti.jpg
    Alessio Barbanti
    Alessio_Barbanti.jpg
    Photographer

    Alessio Barbanti

    Biography

    Everything began with a letter I sent to a ‘small’ motorcycle magazine when I was 18. I wanted to show to some motocross pictures to someone, and they called me in to see my work. After that I started working freelance.

    For seven years I also worked in the world motorcycle road racing championship, traveling all around the world. I then started shooting for car and bike magazines and became a photographer for motorcycle brands.

    I'm based in Milan, but I work everywhere. I love traveling and trying to find new locations and atmospheres in different countries. My job is a combination of my two big passions: motorcycles and photography. I believe motorcycles create one of the most spectacular and dynamic sports in the world. I still find it unbelievable sometimes what you can create and capture with a camera in your hands!

    • Alessio Barbanti, Category finalist 2010: Energy
  • Eric_Berger.jpg
    Eric Berger
    Eric_Berger.jpg
    Photographer

    Eric Berger

    Biography

    Originally from Montreal, I took up skiing at the age of 13 which in time became a catalyst for a life in pursuit of adventure. I became interested in photography while in high school and studied it more seriously in college. In the early 80's I took on a job as a whitewater rafting guide and in 1986 moved west to Whistler where my life as an action sports photographer began to fall into place.

    My first job in Whistler was shooting video for the resort. During days off I would take photos of friends skiing and snowboarding. Eventually I tried submitting snowboard images to magazines and was subsequently hired as a Senior Photographer for Transworld Snowboarding. A position I held for a decade. Eventually I left the magazine in order to broaden my horizons and now contribute to publications worldwide. I also work as a marketing photographer for WhistlerBlackcomb resort.

    • Eric Berger, Category finalist 2010: New Creativity
    • Eric Berger, Category finalist 2013: Sequence
  • Erik_Boomer_2056.jpg
    Erik Boomer
    Erik_Boomer_2056.jpg
    Photographer

    Erik Boomer

    Biography

    Erik Boomer is a professional kayaker, professional photographer, Polar Guide and featured athlete in numerous adventure films. With many first descents of rivers and waterfalls to his name, Boomer specializes in kayaking some of the world’s toughest rivers.
     
    More recently he has branched out into Polar Expeditions - in 2011, Boomer became the first to circumnavigate Ellesmere Island on a 100-day ski and sea kayak expedition. Since he has embarked on a 60-day sea kayaking expedition in the arctic, on a 120-day dog sledding expedition around Baffin Island, and has kite skied across Greenland towing his kayak to access the source of a remote river and paddle the first descent to the ocean.
     
    Boomer is not only an adventure photographer, but also works as a commercial and editorial photographer. His work has appeared in, among others: National Geographic Magazine, the New York Times, Outside Magazine, and as a finalist in the Red Bull Illume competition.

    • Erik Boomer, Category Semi-Finalist 2019: Masterpiece by EyeEm
    • Erik Boomer, Category finalist 2010: Wings
  • Chris_Burkard_3874.jpg
    Chris Burkard
    Chris_Burkard_3874.jpg
    Photographer

    Chris Burkard

    Biography

    Chris Burkard is an accomplished explorer, photographer, creative director, speaker, and author. Traveling throughout the year to pursue the farthest expanses of Earth, Burkard works to capture stories that inspire humans to consider their relationship with nature, while promoting the preservation of wild places everywhere. 

    Layered by outdoor, travel, adventure, surf, and lifestyle subjects, Burkard is known for  images that are punctuated by untamed, energized landscapes and peak moments of adventure. He has accumulated an audience of over one million followers to become a globally recognized social influencer. 

    Burkard is often central in synthesizing the creative projects he is involved in, across stakeholders. His holistic and visionary perspective has earned him opportunities to work on global, prominent campaigns with Fortune 500 clients, appear as a TED speaker, develop specialty product lines, teach national and international photography workshops and publish a collection of books, including a children’s book. Along with his team, Burkard is based out of his full-scale production studio and art gallery near his hometown in Central Coast California.  

    At the age of 30, Burkard has established himself as a global presence and influencer, accomplishing a prolific portfolio, connecting people from around the world and producing some of the most recognized creative work of our time. 

    • Chris Burkard, Category Semi-Finalist 2019: Playground
    • Chris Burkard, Category finalist 2010: Illumination
    • Chris Burkard, Category finalist 2013: Spirit
  • stef_cande_760.JPG
    Stef Candé
    stef_cande_760.JPG
    Photographer

    Stef Candé

    Biography

    My name is Stef Candé, I’ve been a photographer for more than 20 years now. I started working in the nineties for a French climbing magazine, and then the editor started new magazines about skiing, snowboarding, windsurfing, etc… So I worked with talented and motivated people at the perfect moment of the sports press. Then I worked for the riders’ sponsors, shooting catalogues and ads, most of the time outdoor. Now I’m a commercial photographer shooting a wide array of different stuff, from industry to corporate.

    • Stef Candé, Category Semi-Finalist 2019: Creative by Skylum
    • Stef Candé, Category finalist 2016: Masterpiece
    • Stef Candé, Category finalist 2010: Energy
    • Stef Candé, Category finalist 2013: Close Up
    • Stef Candé, Category finalist 2013: Close Up
    • Stef Candé, Category finalist 2013: Close Up
  • Toby_Caughron.jpg
    Toby Caughron
    Toby_Caughron.jpg
    Photographer

    Toby Caughron

    Biography

    Growing up in the Los Angeles area in the ‘90s, I was strongly influenced by the skateboard, music and graffiti culture that surrounded me. I wasn’t good at skateboarding, I couldn’t play an instrument, nor could I draw a stick figure if I tried. It was my passion for the culture and people I grew up with that inspired me.

    I developed an interest in videography early on, documenting skateboard sessions in old town Pomona and trips to the Embarcadero in San Francisco, but it wasn’t until the age of 18 that I discovered my passion for photography.

    During a semester abroad in Salamanca, Spain, I walked into a camera shop and bought my first camera: a 35mm film SLR. During my four-month stay I had the opportunity to photograph some of the most well known landmarks in Europe. Traveling opened my eyes to a world of possibilities and the potential that can be revealed through my lens.

    After returning to California, I attended Brooks Institute of Photography in Santa Barbara. During this time, I developed my techniques in lighting, composition, and portraiture, further enhancing my personal style. Now based in Los Angeles, I work as a freelance commercial and editorial photographer.

    • Toby Caughron, Category finalist 2010: Culture
  • Rainer_Eder_01.jpg
    Rainer Eder
    Rainer_Eder_01.jpg
    Photographer

    Rainer Eder

    Biography

    Being at the right place at the right time – and then doing the right thing in the right moment, that’s the name of the game for every photographer! A native Austrian living in Switzerland for the past two decades, I became a photo professional about six years ago.

    I am a climbing enthusiast and natural networker, knowing literally everyone in the climbing scene, which has given me the chance to shoot the world’s best rock and ice climbers. However, I apply the same kind of passion to shooting other extreme sports such as BASE jumping, freeriding, speed flying or whitewater kayaking.

    Originally, I started out as a painter, but even before my time as a professional, I regularly shot assignments for popular outdoor brands such as ODLO, Mammut, Black Diamond and Red Bull, to name a few. When doing shoots for them, I always try to put less spectacular activities such as hiking, running or golfing into perfect focus. One of my skiing shots was awarded “Best Mountain Adventure Photo” at the Banff Mountain Photography Competition and I was a finalist of the 2010 Red Bull Illume contest.

    What I like most about my job is being outside, as well as the variety, traveling and being in contact with many extraordinary people. My road to success as a professional photographer was long and difficult and in the past I didn’t even think I would ever be able to make a living from photography. But obviously I was at the right place at the right time – and did the right thing often enough!

    • Rainer Eder, Category finalist 2010: Playground
    • Rainer Eder, Category finalist 2013: Experimental
    • Rainer Eder, Category finalist 2013: Experimental
  • oskar_enander_013739.jpg
    Oskar Enander
    oskar_enander_013739.jpg
    Photographer

    Oskar Enander

    Biography

    I’m based out of Engelberg in Switzerland, but I grew up in Gothenburg on the west coast of Sweden. I started shooting professionally in 2002 when I moved to Switzerland and I’ve kept going since.

    The main part of my work is winter-based, however I still love the mountains in the summer. Shooting biking, hiking and trail running is something I really like.

    I work with numerous magazines worldwide as well as some of the main outdoor brands in the industry including Patagonia, Peak Performance, Atomic Skis, DPS Skis to name a few. Some of my career highlights have been three times Powder Magazine Photo of the Year, Red Bull Illume finalist 2010, IF3 ‘Best European Ski Photographer 2013’ and WSSF Pro Photographer Showdown finalist in 2013.

     

    • Oskar Enander, Category Semi-Finalist 2019: RAW
    • Oskar Enander, Category finalist 2016: New Creativity
    • Oskar Enander, Category finalist 2016: Spirit
    • Oskar Enander, Category finalist 2013: Spirit
    • Oskar Enander, Category finalist 2010: Illumination
    • Oskar Enander, Category finalist 2013: Lifestyle
  • Derek_Frankowski.jpg
    Derek Frankowski
    Derek_Frankowski.jpg
    Photographer

    Derek Frankowski

    Biography

    I mostly find inspiration from light. I’ve never been that attracted to flash or contrived set-up type photos. Not that I don’t find them intriguing, but I’m more interested in working with natural light and reacting to real life situations.

    When I was young, I used to look at national geographic Magazine, wonder how the photos were made and ask myself: who are these lucky people that get to go and experience these cool things? That fueled a passion that fortunately turned into a job around 1998 when I began to work with Bike Magazine. To accommodate my newfound direction, I moved to British Columbia, Canada. Finding my way to the mountains after growing up in the prairies, I found a place that fits me and my lifestyle, which now includes life with my young family.

    My photography took a turn four years ago when I began to co-create the film life Cycles. Merging my experience in photography and my business partners’ background in film, we set out to create a different kind of action sports film. The future of photography meshing with cinematography is an interesting merge of mediums and I hope to explore the balance of the two more.

    • Derek Frankowski, Category finalist 2010: Playground
    • Derek Frankowski, Category finalist 2007: New Creativity
  • ryan_fudger_015167.jpg
    Ryan Fudger
    ryan_fudger_015167.jpg
    Photographer

    Ryan Fudger

    Biography

    I’ve tried to live my life by making the best decision at a particular moment, without worrying about the future. Choosing a path without looking at the final destination may not be ideal, but it hasn’t let me down yet. The high and mighty plateau I’ve been living on has had me working for the one magazine I subscribed to as a kid – Ride BMX.

    Oddly enough, it was my writing and web knowledge that got me hired almost 14 years ago. But when I was handed a camera bag and subjected to a crash course from a couple of the best photographers in BMX, a spark of some sort went off. In a short time, my job transitioned into what it is today. I love my job, the magazine, and feel emotionally attached to it. I owe my salad days, or years, to that publication and I remind myself often to be thankful of where I am and who I have around me.

    I’d like to say I don’t take anything seriously, including photography, but the truth is I’m quite critical—in fits, at least. I go months without shooting a good photo, and other times I feel like I’m on an infallible streak. My photography is based around, and caters for BMX.

    On a photo shoot, I usually have to work with an athlete who has a trick and a very ‘I’m doing it right now’ attitude. My role at that point is to do the best with what I’m given and then attempt to capture the odd places, weird people, and wild scenarios that happen in between. I’m here for a good time, not a long time, but maybe a photo I’ve taken will be.

     

    • Ryan Fudger, Category finalist 2016: Lifestyle
    • Ryan Fudger, Category finalist 2016: Wings
    • Ryan Fudger, Category finalist 2013: Experimental
    • Ryan Fudger, Category finalist 2010: Culture
  • matt_georges_015466.jpg
    Matt Georges
    matt_georges_015466.jpg
    Photographer

    Matt Georges

    Biography

    Growing up in the countryside in the middle of the French Alps I grabbed my first camera at the age of 18 – an old and dusty Nikon FE2 from my parents. I used it with black and white films to start shooting the decline of my teenage years. It was all about girlfriends, skateboarding, partying, painting walls and sometimes snowboarding – but mostly just goofing around and having fun with it.

    I started to learn printing photos in the darkroom which quickly became an addiction. At that time, school was not offering too much in the way of creativity, especially when you chose a mathematics speciality.

    So what could be the best excuse to travel around, meet people, make new friends, do some fun things, and still call it a ‘job’? Oddly, none of my teachers had that answer, so I had to figure it out by myself!

    Here I am 12 years later, living the dream with my different hats from Art Director to Photo Editor to Senior Photographer to Book Publisher to father of twins.

     

    • Matt Georges, Category Finalist 2019: Playground
    • Matt Georges, Category finalist 2016: Wings
    • Matt Georges, Category finalist 2016: Enhance
    • Matt Georges, Category finalist 2010: Culture
  • stuart_gibson_014574.jpg
    Stuart Gibson
    stuart_gibson_014574.jpg
    Photographer

    Stuart Gibson

    Biography

    I was born in Tasmania in 1983, I got serious about photography around 2003, although I’ve always loved cameras and filming. It wasn’t until I borrowed a friends Canon EOS 5 that I fell in love with still photography, the quality amazed me! Shooting on 35mm slide film was a great and expensive test to learn the skills to become a photographer.

    I specialise in action shots from the water. Surfing and kiteboarding are my passions, aerial stills and video are also a big part of my workload since 2013.

    • Stuart Gibson, Category Semi-Finalist 2019: Masterpiece by EyeEm
    • mov-205422-2232.youtube
      Stuart Gibson, Category Finalist 2019: Moving Image
    • Stuart Gibson, Category finalist 2016: Close Up
    • Stuart Gibson, Category finalist 2010: Energy
    • Stuart Gibson, Category finalist 2013: Spirit
    • Stuart Gibson, Category finalist 2013: Sequence
    • Stuart Gibson, Category finalist 2013: Close Up
    • Stuart Gibson, Category finalist 2013: Illumination
  • Daniel_Grund_2.jpg
    Daniel Grund
    Daniel_Grund_2.jpg
    Photographer

    Daniel Grund

    Biography

    My passion for photography began when I was 19 years old. After attending photography school until 1996, I worked as an assistant with several fashion photographers in Munich and New York City. I branched out on my own in 1998, working mainly as a fashion and portrait photographer. In the years after I began shooting more and more image brochures and catalogues for sport clothing companies, as well as extreme sports.

    I worked in locations from Barbados to Bombay, from studios to submarines. In between, I enjoy living in quiet Munich with my family. Ever since I began working in photography, my aim has been the same: to create what I consider visual value by combining a concept within a picture with an authentic atmospheric moment.

    • Daniel Grund, Category finalist 2010: Experimental
  • Flo_Hagena.jpg
    Flo Hagena
    Flo_Hagena.jpg
    Photographer

    Flo Hagena

    Biography

    I was dropped onto earth in 1973 in Munich. I grew up doing a lot of outdoor sports in the mountains and lakes, including snowboarding, windsurfing, surfing and skateboarding. These sports inspired me most, so I always wanted to shoot them as I had a feeling for them. I’ve always known what the adrenaline rush is like.

    I got my first film camera when I was 14 and used my dad’s SLR until I could afford my own. I learned photography by just working in my photo lab, analyzing the good and bad results. Photography has always been my passion, but I studied medicine for three years. I got bored with that and wanted to do something creative instead. i then began shooting for advertising agencies and magazines, and decided to study Media Design and informatics so that I could get ready for digital life.

    I like to work closely with athletes, and try to find out what they see – adding creativity and energy to my photos. I’m fascinated by being able to freeze a single moment in one image because it gives me my drive. I never like to miss a good shot. Whatever it takes, wherever I can find a better angle, I just go for it. if it’s worth it, I’ll risk it – no matter if I have to run, jump, climb or swim to get the picture. Photography is my love, a drug, my spirit.

    • Flo Hagena, Category finalist 2010: New Creativity
  • Rami_Hanafi_01.jpg
    Rami Hanafi
    Rami_Hanafi_01.jpg
    Photographer

    Rami Hanafi

    Biography

    Born in Finland in 1979, I developed my passion for photography as a young boy, observing street and nature photos my mother took in addition to her painting. While I never really knew how to hold a paintbrush the right way, a camera seemed to fit in my hand just fine!

    My interest in photography led me to study photojournalism at the University of Tampere. Only a few years later, in 2006 when working at Aamulehti newspaper, I was awarded Young Photo Journalist of the Year in Finland.

    My previous life as a snowboarder allowed me to live a dream life of travelling the world for the coming years, following some of the world’s best snowboarders of that time. Today, I still continue this journey for the sheer joy of it all.

    I have a unique ‘documentary’ approach towards new challenges. Whether documenting or creating, I am always looking for true feelings and uncompromising images. My sense of moment and true devotion to the story have led to the publication of my images in numerous international magazines such as TWS, Outside, Snowboarder or Flag, and alongside the logos of such renowned clients as Nokia, Finnair, Flow and Billabong to name but a few.

    If it wasn’t for my camera, I would love to work as a curator. Or I would be found simply enjoying a summer day on a boat with my wife and two children.

    • Rami Hanafi, Category finalist 2013: Spirit
    • Rami Hanafi, Category finalist 2013: Energy
    • Rami Hanafi, Category finalist 2007: Illumination
    • Rami Hanafi, Category finalist 2010: Energy
  • lorenz_holder_013666.jpg
    Lorenz Holder
    lorenz_holder_013666.jpg
    Photographer

    Lorenz Holder

    Biography

    I grew up in Munich, close to the Bavarian mountains, and it is those mountains that have always played a major role in my life. Being outside with my friends was always the thing that motivated me most, be it as a snowboarder back in the days or nowadays as a photographer.
    I've never studied or learned photography but I was so impressed and fascinated, how one single image can describe a whole scene, a whole day or even a whole trip. This power of an image caught me straight away and passion became profession. I've finished my university for being a teacher and then went all in - All I wanted to do, is to shoot and create.
    The biggest influence on my style of shooting comes from outside the action sport scene. I love to get impressed by creative work from landscape-, architecture- and fine-art-photography. But for me, this was always a little bit too boring to shoot, so I tried to combine those genres with action sport and that's where I found my true love for what I'm doing. Walking through life with open eyes and seeing possibilities.

    • Lorenz Holder, Category Semi-Finalist 2019: Masterpiece by EyeEm
    • Lorenz Holder, Category Semi-Finalist 2019: Playground
    • Lorenz Holder, Category Finalist 2019: Creative by Skylum
    • Lorenz Holder, Category Finalist 2019: Innovation by Sony
    • Lorenz Holder, Category Winner 2019: Masterpiece by EyeEm
    • Lorenz Holder, Category Winner 2019: Playground
    • Lorenz Holder, Category Semi-Finalist 2019: Innovation by Sony
    • Lorenz Holder, Category Semi-Finalist 2019: Innovation by Sony
    • Lorenz Holder, Category finalist 2016: Playground
    • Lorenz Holder, Category finalist 2016: New Creativity
    • Lorenz Holder, Category finalist 2016: Masterpiece
    • Lorenz Holder, Category finalist 2016: Masterpiece
    • Lorenz Holder, Category finalist 2016: Playground
    • Lorenz Holder, Category finalist 2016: Playground
    • Lorenz Holder, Category finalist 2013: Sequence
    • Lorenz Holder, Category finalist 2013: New Creativity
    • Lorenz Holder, Category finalist 2010: New Creativity
    • Lorenz Holder, Category finalist 2013: Playground
    • Lorenz Holder, Category finalist 2013: Playground
    • Lorenz Holder, Category finalist 2013: Experimental
    • Lorenz Holder, Category finalist 2013: Illumination
  • tim_kemple_014572.jpg
    Tim Kemple
    tim_kemple_014572.jpg
    Photographer

    Tim Kemple

    Biography

    I’ve spent most of the last seven years of my life living out of the back of a car, surfing couches, at base camps, in dusty camp grounds in not-so-glamorous hotel rooms.

    Fifteen years ago, right after picking up my first camera, I wrote in my journal that I was "perpetually stoked, penniless and loving every minute of it". I’m 35 now, I have a few more grey hairs, but if you distill it down not much has changed. I love the mountains, I love the energy of the city, I love meeting passionate people and I love capturing a story in a single photograph.

    I’ve shot commercially on six continents in over thirty countries. Some of my clients include Ram, Mitsubishi, Land Rover, Chevy, The North Face, Columbia Sportswear, and Phase One. In addition to my photography work, I created a film production company called Camp4 Collective in 2010 to better share the stories from the far corners of the globe that we so often find ourselves in.

     

    • Tim Kemple, Category finalist 2016: New Creativity
    • Tim Kemple, Category finalist 2016: Masterpiece
    • Tim Kemple, Category finalist 2013: New Creativity
    • Tim Kemple, Category finalist 2010: Culture
  • Mike_Killion.jpg
    Mike Killion
    Mike_Killion.jpg
    Photographer

    Mike Killion

    Biography

    I don't think there ever was a time I didn't have a camera in my hand. I have always been intrigued with capturing an image and saving it to look back on. As a kid I remember walking up to wild buffalo on vacation in Wyoming with a disposable camera just to get a picture.

    Throughout high school I took photo classes and it wasn't until I finished my first year of college without taking a photo class that I realized photography was my passion and what I love to do the most. I’m currently finishing my BA in photography at Columbia College in Chicago and am pursuing another passion of mine at the same time: surfing. I love to be outdoors photographing in natural light, living in the moment and capturing it as best as I can.

    Over the past few years my work has been published with Transworld Surf Magazine, ESM, Hardcore Magazine, ESPN, Surfline, and many other media outlets. In the summer of 2008 I started an online magazine called Great Lakes surfer. I felt the Great Lakes surfing community needed a place to be recognized and appreciated – a place to bring us all together and share what we love to do. The freshwater surf scene seems to be growing and I hope to ride this wave as long as I can.

    • Mike Killion, Category finalist 2010: Spirit
  • Adam_Kokot.jpg
    Adam Kokot
    Adam_Kokot.jpg
    Photographer

    Adam Kokot

    Biography

    I’m 29 years old and since I can remember my life has been connected to mountains and traveling. I became interested in photography a couple of years ago. I bought my first good camera in 2007 and initially I wasn’t really ambitious, treating the activity just as a great hobby and a springboard from my profession.

    But things went in a different direction. Together with my friends I went climbing in the Tatra Mountains and took some photographs of their achievements. The photos turned out to be interesting for prestigious polish outdoor magazines. Since then I’ve looked at photography in a different way, I’ve learnt and experimented. Now, I’m a regular contributor to mountain magazines in Poland and Czech republic.

    I try to combine traveling with photography. I try to show everyday life as well as the uniqueness of that part of the world. My trip last year to Tian-Shan Mountains in Kyrgyzstan taught me a lot in terms of photography and in terms of life itself. At the beginning of 2010 I became a member of the photographic agency ‘Babel images’, which focuses on presenting social problems and respecting human rights. I am also now an ambassador for Clik Elite.

    • Adam Kokot, Category finalist 2010: Spirit
    • Adam Kokot, Category finalist 2013: Spirit
  • tim_korbmacher_013646.jpg
    Tim Korbmacher
    tim_korbmacher_013646.jpg
    Photographer

    Tim Korbmacher

    Biography

    I was born and raised in Mülheim an der Ruhr, Germany and now live in Düsseldorf. My story of being a photographer matches those of many other guys sharing my passion. I’ve been addicted to skate and snowboarding most of my life. Through my job I’ve had the chance to meet and contact many different photographers who have inspired me greatly.

    Growing older, I had to face the negative aspects of these sports and with my health in mind I decided to become more professional behind the camera. Pushing the trigger doesn’t hurt at all – at least most of the time.

    So I started to take photos back in 2008 with a digital SLR and I’m gaining more and more experience with the analogue medium format and 35mm cameras. It’s so much fun to go out with friends and all the other guys I meet to see new spots, nice places and then to capture my point of view with the camera. That’s what I like.

    In 2012 I became a freelance photographer mainly focused on action sports, as well as many other fields. I’m working as a senior photographer and editor in chief at the German BMX Rider Magazine and I’m a member of the staff pro team at f-stop Gear.

     

    • Tim Korbmacher, Category finalist 2016: Enhance
    • Tim Korbmacher, Category finalist 2010: Playground
  • Jeremy_Koreski.jpg
    Jeremy Koreski
    Jeremy_Koreski.jpg
    Photographer

    Jeremy Koreski

    Biography

    I am a professional photographer based on the West coast of Canada. Born and raised in the small town of Tofino, B.C., I have been shooting outdoor life, coastal culture and action sports since my teens.

    I believe I have a strongly individual style and an affinity for working in cold and challenging environments – the backcountry surf breaks of Vancouver Island and the zero-degree waters of Nova Scotia among them.

    I am currently working as the photo editor of SBC Surf and my work has appeared in most of the world's major surf magazines. My other clients include Ocean Minded, ESPN and Patagonia.

    • Jeremy Koreski, Category finalist 2010: Sequence
  • Marcel_Laemmerhirt.jpg
    Marcel Lämmerhirt
    Marcel_Laemmerhirt.jpg
    Photographer

    Marcel Lämmerhirt

    Biography

    Some years ago I moved from Germany, where I grew up, to Arlberg in the Austrian mountains. During this time I began shooting snowboarding action photography with friends. What could be more stunning than to work outside in nature with some good buddies, having a good time in the snow? I decided I liked the idea of turning my photography hobby into a serious job.

    Since 2005 I've been shooting professionally, specializing in action sports photography. With sports photography, I love to catch the right moment and put the action in a smooth frame to show the spirit and passion of the sport.

    I travel around the world for various shoots and since July 2010 I have been a member of the SanDisk Extreme Team. I have worked for numerous international magazines and clients, including Blue Tomato, Adidas and Burton snowboards.

    • Marcel Lämmerhirt, Category finalist 2010: Wings
    • Marcel Lämmerhirt, Category finalist 2013: Sequence
  • Josh_Letchworth.jpg
    Josh Letchworth
    Josh_Letchworth.jpg
    Photographer

    Josh Letchworth

    Biography

    I had no intentions of being a photographer – it just happened. I fell into it in 1992. Photography became my way to express the way I see people, our environment and the way we move through it. As a Florida native, I’ve always surrounded myself with water sports and the outdoors. My passions collided and I found myself drawn to shooting those sports and the people that make them what they are. Wakeboarding and wakeskating have played a major role in my career with its large presence throughout Florida, and I now get to shoot for various magazines worldwide and for clients such as Nike and Oakley.

    I’ve had the fortune of traveling around the world with my camera. It’s been a lesson that can’t be taught, only experienced. Today, I continue to shoot action sports and have signed on with Nike to work exclusively with their Nike 6.0 division to photograph their surf, BMX, snowboard, ski, wakeboard and motocross teams. The opportunity has opened many doors and allowed me to expand my style of shooting into many other arenas.

    Photography is a sickness; it can consume your time, wallet and even your outlook on the most simplistic things about life. Leaving the camera at home becomes impractical and answering the voice in your head, “that would make a great picture” is compulsive. it’s those times when I can answer, “it did” that make it all worth it.

    • Josh Letchworth, Category finalist 2010: Illumination
  • miguel_angel_lopez_virgen_011210.jpg
    Miguel Angel Lopez Virgen
    miguel_angel_lopez_virgen_011210.jpg
    Photographer

    Miguel Angel Lopez Virgen

    Biography

    My name is Miguel Angel Lopez Virgen and I'm from Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico. It was through another of my passions – skateboarding that I started taking pictures. I have never studied in a school of photography, but it’s thanks to skateboarding, my family and friends who supported me, and a love of learning new things that I’m here.

    I have been a photographer for 15 years and have spent most of this time dedicated to the promotion of skateboarding in my country. I have learned many things, traveled and met amazing people. I have also given some non-profit workshops in my community. Photography has changed me as a person and I now see the world from another perspective.

    Currently I continue with my personal photography projects and try to keep learning and experimenting with it. I've become so passionate about photography that I never leave the camera at home!

    I hope to continue bringing different things to people and learn from everything that photography can offer. My motto remains the same - when you take a picture, feel the picture, live the picture and do not think too much about the picture.

     

    • Miguel Angel Lopez Virgen, Category finalist 2016: Wings
    • Miguel Angel Lopez Virgen, Category finalist 2010: Sequence
  • Sterling_Lorence_2875.jpg
    Sterling Lorence
    Sterling_Lorence_2875.jpg
    Photographer

    Sterling Lorence

    Biography

    I grew up on Vancouver's North Shore and continue to live here with my wife and two daughters. Mountain biking in the moody forests of the North Shore inspired me to become a photographer and I have been lucky to call it my career for more than twenty years. I feel fortunate to have been able to shoot the evolution of freeride mountain biking alongside some of the sport's greatest athletes, for the most progressive brands, in locations all over the planet. My motivation as a photographer is similar to that of why I chose to ride. The trails that exist on our planet will take you to incredible places with breath-taking scenery and striking light. They will take a lifetime to discover, session, and photograph. I find photography at an incredible place these days, for the digital evolution has made it more accessible and successful for more people. Furthermore, action sports are blossoming across the world and as a result, we are seeing such incredibly progressive accomplishments in the photographic arts and it leaves me constantly inspired and stoked to keep trying out new techniques and ideas.

    • Sterling Lorence, Category Semi-Finalist 2019: Masterpiece by EyeEm
    • Sterling Lorence, Category Semi-Finalist 2019: RAW
    • Sterling Lorence, Category Semi-Finalist 2019: Wings
    • Sterling Lorence, Category Semi-Finalist 2019: Wings
    • Sterling Lorence, Category Semi-Finalist 2019: Wings
    • Sterling Lorence, Category finalist 2016: Energy
    • Sterling Lorence, Category finalist 2016: Energy
    • Sterling Lorence, Category finalist 2016: New Creativity
    • Sterling Lorence, Category finalist 2013: Lifestyle
    • Sterling Lorence, Category finalist 2013: Sequence
    • Sterling Lorence, Category finalist 2010: Illumination
    • Sterling Lorence, Category finalist 2013: Energy
  • Marcelo_Maragni_2768.jpg
    Marcelo Maragni
    Marcelo_Maragni_2768.jpg
    Photographer

    Marcelo Maragni

    Biography

    I began my career photographing my trips around Brazil. When I realized I could earn a living from photography, I abandoned my career as a newly graduated architect and started to go deeper into photography in 1999. I specialized in adventure and freesports, starting with surf photography, but soon broadened to other action sports such as kite surfing, adventure racing, mountain biking and rallying. Besides sports, I also shoot fashion, portraits and dance.

    I like to seek solutions and experiment with different photographic techniques. I am driven by the challenge of creating images that are new and striking in their design or execution. I'm always looking for interesting photo opportunities: an expedition, an unusual event, or a shoot with an athlete in a good location. The important thing is to have fun with photography.

    • Marcelo Maragni, Category Finalist 2019: Wings
    • Marcelo Maragni, Category finalist 2013: New Creativity
    • Marcelo Maragni, Category finalist 2010: Experimental
  • Christoph_Margot_2.jpg
    Christophe Margot
    Christoph_Margot_2.jpg
    Photographer

    Christophe Margot

    Biography

    I am 38 years old, born and raised in Switzerland and living in the beautiful Swiss Alps with my wife Anne and daughter Meryll. I started photography by printing my pictures in the darkroom (my parents' bathroom) at night then delivering the photos the next morning to a local newspaper.

    Fifteen years later and step-by-step from local to international clients, I have made my way as a professional photographer working for different media such as Bike Germany, Powder and Bike USA, 7 sky (Switzerland), The new York Times and other international brands. I have skied since I was four years old and I started mountain biking 22 years ago, so logically I shoot these two sports the most. I love to ride my bike for myself or go skiing in the backcountry with my friends.

    Now I travel around the world more and more but I still like to discover and shoot in the swiss Alps, which is my favorite studio on earth. The magic of outdoor photography is that you don’t know the word ‘routine’ and for 15 years i never felt like it is ‘work’. i think that my main task as a photographer is to try to share a moment, an emotion and information. When you achieve these three things you can say, “i have a good picture.”

    • Christophe Margot, Category finalist 2010: Wings
  • Ricky_Monti.jpg
    Riccardo Monti
    Ricky_Monti.jpg
    Photographer

    Riccardo Monti

    Biography

    I'm 23 years old and my hometown is Como, Italy. I have been a self-taught freelance sports photographer for six years. My passion for pictures began during my early teens when I used my father’s Olympus OM2 for the first time.

    At the end of my school studies I followed freestyle motocross thanks to film friends, travelling around the world to USA, Japan, South Africa and throughout Europe. I got to know the sport very well, the people in it, and I got to co-operate with many different magazines. Then I began to diversify by shooting BMX, wakeboarding, skateboarding, jet skiing and snowboarding in many different countries. Now I’m collaborating with brands such as ESPN, etnies and FIAT.

    I’m always looking to find a unique shot, configuring it in my mind to achieve exclusive, never- seen-before pictures for advertising or magazines. To me a picture is always a portrait that expresses my sensations.

    • Riccardo Monti, Category finalist 2010: Sequence
  • fred_mortagne_011128.jpg
    Fred Mortagne
    fred_mortagne_011128.jpg
    Photographer

    Fred Mortagne

    Biography

    I’m a self-taught french director and photographer, with the focus of my work being mostly around skateboarding. My graphical and geometrical photography is almost exclusively shot in black and white, and focuses more on the aesthetics and style of the sport, rather than the performance, while also playing around a lot with architecture.

    Spending so much time out in the streets, I keep a curious eye for other interesting things of life happening, and am always ready to capture those unique moments. My pictures are a feast of lines and angles, and my specific compositions – blending the skateboarders into their environment – make this skateboarding photography accessible to non-skateboarders.

    This is the third time my work has been recognized by Red Bull Illume. In total I’ve had seven finalist images in the 2007 and 2010 contests. My first retrospective book was published in the fall of 2016.

     

    • Fred Mortagne, Category finalist 2016: Playground
    • Fred Mortagne, Category finalist 2013: Playground
    • Fred Mortagne, Category finalist 2013: Playground
    • Fred Mortagne, Category finalist 2007: Wings
    • Fred Mortagne, Category finalist 2007: Experimental
    • Fred Mortagne, Category finalist 2013: Illumination
    • Fred Mortagne, Category finalist 2010: Spirit
    • Fred Mortagne, Category finalist 2007: Wings
  • Maiko_Mou_01.jpg
    Maiko Mou
    Maiko_Mou_01.jpg
    Photographer

    Maiko Mou

    Biography

    I’ve been surfing my whole life and photography has been a means to live and express my passion in a different way. I was born in Tahiti and grew up surfing with people like Manoa Drollet, Hira Teriinatoofa and WCT battler Michel Bourez.  One day, I came across a few photoblogs on the Internet, which I fell in love with. From then on, I just had to get into photography.

    I’m also an IT specialist and web developer, so I created my own photoblog and website in 2005. In less than five years, my work has been featured in many leading surf magazines and in advertising. My photos have also been exhibited and were also chosen to represent Tahiti at the World Expo in Shanghai in 2010.

    My goal is to show the world how beautiful the ocean is, which is why I mostly take shots of empty waves. I love being alone in the middle of nowhere, capturing those magical, beautiful moments with my camera that disappear in a second. I like being there, enjoying the waves’ sweetness, just feeling the 'Hau Maru' as we say in Tahitian – that ‘sweet atmosphere’. By just discovering the water world, I think it helps you to discover yourself.

    • Maiko Mou, Category finalist 2010: Close Up
  • Agustin_Munoz.jpg
    Agustin Munoz
    Agustin_Munoz.jpg
    Photographer

    Agustin Munoz

    Biography

    I started to take pictures in 1995 as a hobby with an old Nikon F1. The surfing, the ocean and the wildlife of Costa Rica made me move here some years ago from my native Argentina.

    Then I started taking pictures as a way of life. I've always been very motivated towards extreme sports and activities – being a photographer allowed me to intertwine both as a way to make a living.

    During my career as a photographer I have always been drawn to try new things, concepts, ideas and different techniques. Playing with light and motion, pushing my ideas with an open mind has always been my dream and it is now turning into reality.

    • Agustin Munoz, Category finalist 2010: Sequence
  • Rutger_Pauw.jpg
    Rutger Pauw
    Rutger_Pauw.jpg
    Photographer

    Rutger Pauw

    Biography

    I grew up around Rotterdam, a city that today is known as one of the better places to ride street BMX in. Thirteen years ago when I started riding BMX I could have never imagined that I'd be living in London now, travelling all over, working with the coolest people I've ever met. I also wouldn't have guessed that I'd be shooting photos of the people I saw in magazines back then. It's been quite an interesting journey when I think of it now.

    The difference between riding bikes and photography isn't all that big, I think. Even when shooting all the other sports, you meet the same kind of determination, and the same amount of fun.

    • Rutger Pauw, Category finalist 2013: Wings
    • Rutger Pauw, Category finalist 2013: Sequence
    • Rutger Pauw, Category finalist 2013: Lifestyle
    • Rutger Pauw, Category finalist 2013: Energy
    • Rutger Pauw, Category finalist 2013: Experimental
    • Rutger Pauw, Category finalist 2013: Experimental
    • Rutger Pauw, Category finalist 2013: Illumination
    • Rutger Pauw, Category finalist 2010: Wings
    • Rutger Pauw, Category finalist 2013: Illumination
    • Rutger Pauw, Category finalist 2013: Energy
  • Vince_Perraud.jpg
    Vincent Perraud
    Vince_Perraud.jpg
    Photographer

    Vincent Perraud

    Biography

    I taught myself photography at the age of 21 when I injured my knee and was immobilized for a year – this way I could still keep up with my passion for BMX. This was also directly related to my studies in design and widened my set of skills.

    I was soon drawn to brilliant pictures from people like Manu Sanz or Jeff Zielinski, which I saw regularly in magazines. By luck, photos from my very first films were published in core magazines too.

    Little by little, I got the chance to travel all around the world, especially to the States where BMX was born. Since then, I have mixed with the best riders and worked for companies such as Vans and Carhartt. I now also run a website called TheDiggest.

    • Vincent Perraud, Category finalist 2010: Culture
    • Vincent Perraud, Category finalist 2013: New Creativity
    • Vincent Perraud, Category finalist 2013: Lifestyle
    • Vincent Perraud, Category finalist 2013: Playground
    • Vincent Perraud, Category finalist 2013: Sequence
    • Vincent Perraud, Category finalist 2013: Playground
  • Christoph_Schoech.jpg
    Christoph Schöch
    Christoph_Schoech.jpg
    Photographer

    Christoph Schöch

    Biography

    I was born in 1985 in Vorarlberg, Austria. When I turned 18 I bought my first SLR camera and fell in love with photography from then on. I started by shooting snowboarding and freeskiing with my friends. After a while I realized that photography was more than just a hobby; I started spending all the money I earned from selling photos on buying new camera equipment, and my photography became more and more experimental.

    Nowadays, I’m working for different companies, crews and magazines all over the globe. I’ve shot for Adidas, Oakley and Atomic and many more. A photographer has to learn different styles and show variety in their work, so it was good for me to also get into commercial and industrial photography to help me develop. In 2009, I also finished a master’s degree in photography.

    Photography gave me the opportunity to travel and experience different cultures, but also the chance to show others the world through my eyes. But it was my passion for freeskiing and snowboarding that gave me the spark to begin shooting.

    • Christoph Schöch, Category finalist 2010: Close Up
  • Nathan_Smith.jpg
    Nathan Smith
    Nathan_Smith.jpg
    Photographer

    Nathan Smith

    Biography

    I’m 37 and I live on the northern braces of Sydney in a place called Newport. I was first introduced to surfing when I was around seven. I remember being at a BBQ and there was this old beat up surfboard lying under the house - I was fascinated by it. I ended being given it by one of my mother’s friends and my father cleaned it up and fixed it. I used to hassle my parents almost every day to take me to the beach so I could ride it.

    I also became interested in photography at a young age. I used to steal my uncle’s camera when he wasn't using it and play with it. I never even knew if there was film in it so I’d push all the buttons and wait for the click, wondering if it was working or not.

    I took up surfing professionally for a while. I did fairly well in a few surfing competitions, travelled a lot, beat a few names that I now shoot from time to time. But I got injured, so I bought a proper camera when I was 21 and then moved to Sydney to focus on my photography. I then assisted Adam Watson, one of Australia’s finest fashion and beauty photographers.

    I initially wanted to shoot fashion but the 'surf photo thing' slowly took over and I haven’t stopped since then. It's an exciting time to own a camera. At the moment, I just love what I’m doing and that’s all that matters.

    • Nathan Smith, Category finalist 2010: Close Up
  • Mike_Smolowe.jpg
    Mike Smolowe
    Mike_Smolowe.jpg
    Photographer

    Mike Smolowe

    Biography

    Shooting surfing was never the plan. I grew up in Pennsylvania, 70 miles from the coast of New Jersey, and went to college to become a vet. Now I'm 24, a graduate of Brooks institute, and making my living shooting freelance action sports of everything from surfing to fashion.

    It's funny where life takes you and I can't think of anywhere else I'd rather be. The ocean and the creative people around me inspire me, and I wake up every morning feeling blessed to be able to live the life I live. Current and past clients of mine include surfing, surfer, and surf Europe magazines, Surfline, and GQ.

    Innovation keeps me determined, traveling to new places keeps me excited, and creating successful images from mere ideas keeps me looking forward to what tomorrow will bring.

    • Mike Smolowe, Category finalist 2010: Spirit
  • Camilla_Stoddart.jpg
    Camilla Stoddart
    Camilla_Stoddart.jpg
    Photographer

    Camilla Stoddart

    Biography

    It is something to do with nature, light and people that inspires me to shoot photos of freesports. I grew up in Scotland and have worked as a freelance photographer for the past five years since graduating in Theatre Design at St. Martins in London. As a snow sports photographer, I chased winters for four years before having my first summer in Wanaka, New Zealand, which is where I am now based.

    There is not one sport in particular I crave to shoot, it is the act of a human using our landscape to play on that I find inspiring – be it sliding on snow, biking down exposed ridges or jumping off 1000-meter cliffs. Beautiful things happen when people and mountains meet.

    I think my theatre background occasionally shows its face in my work. Capturing the performances of athletes in their element is critical. A photo must tell a story and inspire you to look deeper wondering how this moment in time came about.

    The sports that I shoot take me to incredible parts of the world. My job allows me to travel to places I could never have dreamed of, meeting inspiring, passionate and like-minded people. I can go on adventures that can be both extremely challenging and daunting, but equally as rewarding. I never plan to stop this search.

    • Camilla Stoddart, Category finalist 2010: Wings
  • Thomas_Stoeckli.jpg
    Thomas Stöckli
    Thomas_Stoeckli.jpg
    Photographer

    Thomas Stöckli

    Biography

    I was born on august 11th, 1978, which is also Hulk Hogan’s birthday – but that’s about as far as the similarities between him and me go. In 1992 I found my big love: snowboarding. That was pretty much a life changing experience, however, somehow the worst snowboarder in the crew always gets the camera, and so my second love found me. On my birthday, one week after I bought my first real canon in 2001, I had an accident which took me off my board for nine very long months. At the time it was a nightmare, but to cut a long story short: I couldn’t be happier with how everything has turned out.

    Since 2001 I have documented snowboarding everywhere from the Alps, the Rockies and the Andes. I am senior-photographer at Pleasure Magazine, and work with clients such as Red Bull, Vans, eleven and Snowboard Mag. Nowadays, I live in Zurich, Switzerland, and I am pretty much into portrait, fashion and action photography in general. But whenever it's good outside, I go and get the goods or shred snow as if I am a 15-year-old kid again.

    I get inspired a lot during my assisting-work by city-trips; riding my bike through the city, watching magazines, movies, looking at people, thinking, nature, beautiful things, girls... everything!

    • Thomas Stöckli, Category finalist 2007: Energy
    • Thomas Stöckli, Category finalist 2010: New Creativity
    • Thomas Stöckli, Category finalist 2010: Sequence
  • dean_treml_015549.jpg
    Dean Treml
    dean_treml_015549.jpg
    Photographer

    Dean Treml

    Biography

    I was fascinated by photography at an early age, which meant my mum had to pay good money to develop films of dubious worth! I bought my first new camera at 14 and in the years that followed I got a taste of working for a newspaper, studio, shooting weddings and portraits. As a result I knew I preferred the editorial, photojournalistic style of work.

    I like carrying a small kit and not worrying about lots of gear slowing me down. When I’m working my mindset is to try and give an inside perspective of any sport or event I cover and tell a story, particularly the personal human element. I’m not a big fan of preconceived ideas. Rather I enjoy the challenge and buzz of just turning up to shoot a different sport or event, regardless of the location or conditions, and adapting.

    I’ve been working as a photographer for nearly 30 years now and in that time I’ve been really fortunate that it’s introduced me to some amazing colleagues, taught me about journalistic integrity, shown me the world, from shooting Olympic Games to international rugby amidst a crowded stadium, to a lonely skateboarder trying to nail a kick-flip or kids playing football in a slum.

    I’m thrilled to have been working for some fantastic clients, including international news agency AFP, Getty Images and Red Bull, and proud to have been recognised and awarded in such photo competitions as Picture of the Year International, Red Bull Illume and NZ Press Photographer of the Year.

     

    • Dean Treml, Category finalist 2016: Enhance
    • Dean Treml, Category finalist 2016: Spirit
    • Dean Treml, Category finalist 2016: Spirit
    • Dean Treml, Category finalist 2010: Close Up
  • Jed_Weingarten.jpg
    Jed Weingarten
    Jed_Weingarten.jpg
    Photographer

    Jed Weingarten

    Biography

    Led by my passion for whitewater, I have been paddling and photographing rivers around the world for the last 20 years. Over the past few years, I have begun to pursue my interest in wildlife and conservation photography, working near my home in Portland, Oregon, as well as in China, Bhutan, and the Arctic. A deep interest in East Asia and a proficiency in Mandarin has led me on repeated adventures in Western China and the Great Himalayan ranges.

    The late Galen Rowell and his work documenting alpine expeditions inspire me, and I strive to bring some of that vision to the kayaking world. This fall I will be back in Asia shooting kayaking in Bhutan and a float trip in Tibet. My work for the foreseeable future will largely focus on threatened areas, cultures, and wildlife in the greater Himalayan ranges. My clients have included National Geographic, Outside, Patagonia, and Kayak Session.

    • Jed Weingarten, Category finalist 2010: Energy
  • will_wissman_014827.jpg
    Will Wissman
    will_wissman_014827.jpg
    Photographer

    Will Wissman

    Biography

    I grew up in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains of northern New Mexico. Born from a tattoo artist and an artisan consignment shop owner, I never did quite fit in with the normal crowd. Let’s just say, the other kids’ parents didn’t seem to appreciate art like we did.

    I moved to Alta in 1995 to follow my childhood passion of skiing powder snow. I ended up getting on the snowmaking crew, which to this day has been my favorite job. I got to roll around in the mountains all night and watch the most amazing sunrises.

    After that first year I bought an old Minolta camera with a blazing four frames per second shutter from a buddy and started shooting my friends. My photography has grown along with the arsenal of equipment but the premise has always remained the same.

     

    • Will Wissman, Category finalist 2016: Playground
    • Will Wissman, Category finalist 2010: Playground
  • Silvano_Zeiter.jpg
    Silvano Zeiter
    Silvano_Zeiter.jpg
    Photographer

    Silvano Zeiter

    Biography

    I was born in Switzerland in 1990 and I live in a small village close to the Swiss mountains called Fieschertal. Snow powder lies right in front of my door so I'm very fortunate. Riding some waves on a surfboard or splashing powder on the mountains are my passions, as well as playing the guitar after a ride at the beach or in an alpine cottage.

    I got into photography when I was about 15. One day I had the opportunity to join a snowboard crew, who were lodging at our place, on a road gap shoot on the Simplon Pass. A pro-photographer friend of mine, Thilo Brunner, lent me his canon 1D and immediately I was so stoked that I decided I wanted to do this professionally some day. I met some pretty ambitious riders and in May 2008 I had my first shot published.

    Today, I work with some snow and skateboard mags such as whiteout, Snowboarder MBM, Method Mag and others. i freelance also for some brands like eleven, nnim and my dear friends of hä?wear. Right now, I’m getting ready for university. Photography is still a hobby but it's my dream to become a professional photographer – but it's very important never to forget about the fun involved in shooting photos, not only in the art itself but also in every single shoot we take.

    • Silvano Zeiter, Category finalist 2010: New Creativity
  • dominic_zimmermann_011079.jpg
    Dominic Zimmermann
    dominic_zimmermann_011079.jpg
    Photographer

    Dominic Zimmermann

    Biography

    I was born and raised in Switzerland and live in Zürich, the biggest city, and started taking photos about 15 years ago when my dad gave me my first SLR camera. I worked as a graphic designer but wasn't happy with the work I got and started to think about being a photographer. In 2003 I combined two of my biggest passions and took my first snowboard photo.

    Nowadays I work as a senior photographer for the biggest German snowboard magazine, Pleasure and travel all over the northern hemisphere to find good snow conditions. I also shoot for a lot of different snowboard magazines such as TransWorld, Method Mag or Snowboarder. Besides that I work for snowboard brands like Burton or Zimtstern.

    During the season I shoot a lot with film crews like Absinthe Films to get the best riders in front of my lens. I also really like to go on photo missions without a filmer to focus on stills. Besides snowboarding, I like to shoot portraits, lifestyle and advertising during the summer.

    My inspiration comes from many different sources – nature, people and places, the internet, other photographers and all the cool things I see during my travels.

     

    • Dominic Zimmermann, Category finalist 2016: New Creativity
    • Dominic Zimmermann, Category finalist 2010: Illumination
    • Dominic Zimmermann, Category finalist 2013: New Creativity
  • Close-up_JohnClark_Portrait.jpg
    John Clark
    Close-up_JohnClark_Portrait.jpg
    Photographer

    John Clark

    Biography

    I grew up in California with a passion for photography. I built a darkroom when I was about 12, and my father’s Nikon F1 remains the most treasured sentimental object that I possess. In 1983 I began film studies at UC Santa Barbara, and my career in film production began before I graduated. After this I moved to Los Angeles, where I quickly found work with a special effects company. I was fortunate enough to be involved in two Academy Award®–winning movies (for visual effects), The Abyss and Total Recall. Other opportunities and my disinterest in the L.A. lifestyle led me to Northern California. I have always been an avid sportsman and love to surf, fish, snowboard, wakeboard, and ride motocross. While involved in racing motocross, I developed some custom parts, and I started a parts and accessories business, Hammerhead Designs.

    For me, the next best thing to participating in the sports that I love is to photograph them. After injuries ended my motocross racing (and due to the need for Hammerhead advertising photos), I began shooting more national races, including Supercross, Motocross, Supermoto, and Superbike. I have had photos published in numerous publications and advertisements and am a contributing photographer for Racer X Illustrated and MXP.

    • John Clark, Category finalist 2007: Close Up
  • Brian_Nevins_1855.jpg
    Brian Nevins
    Brian_Nevins_1855.jpg
    Photographer

    Brian Nevins

    Biography

    Reaching my 20th year of shooting professionally I’ve had the privilege of telling the stories of athletes through countless adventures. What started as a freelance career in surfing has grown into endless moments of those who find the path less travelled a little more gratifying. 

    • Brian Nevins, Category Semi-Finalist 2019: Playground
    • Brian Nevins, Category Semi-Finalist 2019: Lifestyle
    • Brian Nevins, Category finalist 2007: Close Up
    • Brian Nevins, Category finalist 2013: Illumination
  • Close-up_DavidClifford_Portrait.jpg
    David Clifford
    Close-up_DavidClifford_Portrait.jpg
    Photographer

    David Clifford

    Biography

    I was first drawn to photography in the 80’s. My father had a subscription to American Photo, and I was always impressed with the photos that were in that magazine. I couldn’t imagine people actually made a living doing something so cool as taking amazing pictures. In 1989 I moved to Boston to attend Northeastern University as an architecture major. It was at NU that I decided to take Photo 101 as an elective. The photography department was put together by a talented and interesting professor, Neal Rantoul. Neal was an 8x10 master and an important mentor during my college years.

    In 1991 I moved to Aspen, Colorado, to escape the confines of the city. It wasn’t long before I was working at the local camera shop, The Walnut House. The owner made me an offer I could not refuse. I spent close to a decade shooting mountain photo, weddings, events, sports, landscapes, and tourism, and assisting other professional photographers. Aspen is an amazing place to live and shoot, but there is such a great concentration of talented photographers that you need to hold your own or be left out all together. It is Aspen where I met some of the best photographers in the world.

    In 2002 I parleyed my experience and knowledge into a position at Rock & Ice and Trail Runner Magazine as the director of photography. I spent four years giving as much as I received in return and made some great friends along the way.

    My wife Rixt and I have a home in Carbondale, Colorado, and currently reside in Boston, Massachusetts.In January 2007, I will travel to India to shoot a story for National Geographic Adventurer.

    • David Clifford, Category finalist 2007: Close Up
  • Close-up_DawnKish_Portrait.jpg
    Dawn Kish
    Close-up_DawnKish_Portrait.jpg
    Photographer

    Dawn Kish

    Biography

    I have over ten years of experience in freelance adventure and sport photography. From snowboarding to fly fishing, if it is outside I have probably photographed it. My life is full of activities such as snowboarding, climbing, mountain biking, and working as a river guide for the U.S.G.S. in the Grand Canyon.

    I’m constantly travelling all over the globe. My passion is documenting “dirtbags” – rock climbing addicts living and playing in the dirt – and I recently returned from a European climbing road trip covering over twenty crags (and five thousand miles) in three months. My plans include road trippin' across the U.S. continent for more climbing shoots. In the winter of 2006/07, I’m off to Southeast Asia to capture more beauty. My lovely clients include National Geographic Adventure, Bike Mag, Sports Illustrated, Patagonia, and Teva.

    • Dawn Kish, Category finalist 2007: Close Up
  • corey_rich_015554.jpg
    Corey Rich
    corey_rich_015554.jpg
    Photographer

    Corey Rich

    Biography

    Almost two decades ago, I planted both feet firmly in the world of falling snow, moving water and massive stone. As extreme sports entered the American mainstream, I was there to tell the stories of athletes like rock-climbing legend Chris Sharma, kayaking pioneer Eric Jackson and world-champion surfer Lisa Anderson.

    Soon, editors at National Geographic Adventure, The New York Times Magazine and Sports Illustrated regularly turned to me to bring them startling, memorable images and unforgettable stories of those who pushed the limits.

    As my career evolved, I dove into the world of filmmaking, and soon found myself combining my love of still photography with motion storytelling and small-footprint productions in some of the wildest locations on earth. Now, we continue to work with some of the biggest companies in the world, who regularly turn to us to help them craft their biggest advertising campaigns and corporate stories with that same extreme passion and authenticity that we find in adventure sports.

    For any passionate person who loves what he does, the line between work and play is hazy indeed. When not on assignment, I'm at home in Lake Tahoe because no matter when I open my front door, I step out to three-feet of freshly fallen snow, miles of pristine trails, towering granite walls and countless adventures just waiting to become tomorrow’s stories.

     

    • Corey Rich, Category finalist 2016: Lifestyle
    • Corey Rich, Category finalist 2007: Energy
  • Energy_MarkGallup_Portrait.jpg
    Mark Gallup
    Energy_MarkGallup_Portrait.jpg
    Photographer

    Mark Gallup

    Biography

    My specialization? Being in the right place at the right time. My home base is Calgary, Alberta, but I’ve covered every snowy corner of the globe in the past twenty years. It all started by shooting skiing on backcountry adventures. Seven Powder magazine covers early in my career launched a lifetime of photographing firsts: First photo crews to use cats, snowmobiles, and helis in British Columbia’s backcountry. First to document snowboarding and skiing in Valdez (Alaska), Nepal, Greenland, and Bella Coola. As senior photographer for Transworld Snowboarding magazine over sixteen years, I clocked endless global trips, countless images, and one badly abused liver!

    The words I live by? Don’t take things too seriously. (Sometimes this gets me in trouble because I’ll crack a joke, usually at the wrong time.) But don’t lose the ability to laugh at yourself and see the humor in hard times. Also, I appreciate all the opportunities I have had and all the crazy places my camera has taken me. I’ll never take these for granted.

    • Mark Gallup, Category finalist 2007: Energy
  • Energy_YorickCarroux_Portrait.jpg
    Yorick Carroux
    Energy_YorickCarroux_Portrait.jpg
    Photographer

    Yorick Carroux

    Biography

    I spent my youth in the Engadin, Switzerland, where I discovered my love for mountain sports at an early age. Therefore, it goes without saying that I started to explore the high Alpine on my snowboard, and I also participated in mountain bike races during the early nineties. Photography and expeditions have taken me to Nepal, Iran, Africa, North America, and the Caucasus in Russia. In recent years, I have climbed and snowboarded down many 4,000-meter mountains in the Alps and Morocco, as well as the 5,600-meter Damavand in Iran.

    After my photo design studies, I worked as an assistant in Frankfurt, Düsseldorf, and Hamburg. During this time, I became proficient in many fields of photography, including advertising, still-life, portraits, and fashion. In 1995 I decided to combine my love for mountaineering and extreme sports with professional photography. After seven years in Munich, I now work out of Whistler, B.C., using my photography talent for magazine spreads and advertising projects worldwide. Among my clients are high-profile, special-interest publications, as well as the renowned German magazine The Stern. My photographs have been featured in advertisements for companies such as Siemens Mobile, Jack Wolfskin, Adidas, GORE-TEX, Vaude, Die Bahn, Red Bull, Kona, US40, Norco, and Oakley.

    • Yorick Carroux, Category finalist 2007: Energy
  • Lifestyle_AlfredoEscobar_Portrait.jpg
    Alfredo Escobar
    Lifestyle_AlfredoEscobar_Portrait.jpg
    Photographer

    Alfredo Escobar

    Biography

    It was in the mid-'90s that I shut the doors of my surfboard shaping workshop to become a photographer and stay as close as possible to my lifetime passion: surfing. In the early days of my studies in Santiago, Chile, I started exploring not only my assigned homework, but different board sports to which I was connected by my longtime interest in surfing. With this in mind, I teamed up with three friends and gave birth to the only three-board (skate, snow, surf) magazine in Chile, taking care of most of the photographic work in its beginning.

    After a few years of seeing how a growing market needed a specific surfing publication, I created Marejada, which is now recognized as one of Latin America’s finest surfing magazines. I also started getting published in different magazines around the world. Parallel to this, I started working with major brands related to sports beyond the board industry, and I also began traveling to expand my horizons.

    "Naturally talented and extremely devoted, Alfredo is responsible for a great deal of what surfing is today in Chile, showing it out to the world, along with capturing the finest athletes and their lifestyles in a spectacular, innovative, and very unique way." – photographer Cristian Saavedra

    • Alfredo Escobar, Category finalist 2007: Lifestyle
  • Lifestyle_DannyZapalac_Portrait.jpg
    Danny Zapalac
    Lifestyle_DannyZapalac_Portrait.jpg
    Photographer

    Danny Zapalac

    Biography

    For the past six years, I have found myself traveling the world, compiling a unique library of lifestyle, reportage, and action photography. In the winter of 2004/05, I relocated from Long Beach, California, to a small Wyoming town of 300 called Wilson to document the making of The Community Project snowboard film. While I was there, I met ski bunny Lyndsey Wirth at a diner they call “Dirty Norieta’s.” Ever since that quaint morning, we have been hitched.

    Now back based in Long Beach with frequent business trips to New York, I bring this worldly experience and insight to all of my advertising and editorial projects. My work has appeared in a wide variety of domestic and international magazines, as well as on the covers of many slicks. In November 2006, my exhibit Body Language: A Celebration of Women was showcased at the Wooster Arts Space in SoHo, New York.

    • Danny Zapalac, Category finalist 2007: Lifestyle
  • Lifestyle_DesrePickers_Portrait.jpg
    Desré Pickers
    Lifestyle_DesrePickers_Portrait.jpg
    Photographer

    Desré Pickers

    Biography

    I was born in 1977 in Durban, South Africa, and I have spent five years shooting professionally in the outdoor industry. Specializing in whitewater and kayaking, I have worked as the photographer on many film and photo projects, including Red Bull Recon, the “Focused” series and other projects for Matchstick Productions, and various filming projects for Scott Lindgren Productions. My photos have been published in GQ, Surfing, Men’s Journal, Outside, and many kayak industry magazines and catalogs. I was a finalist in the Vail Mountain Games Photo Competition in 2005 and won the People’s Choice Award at the same competition in 2004.

    Since 2000, I have been world traveling — I now spend summer based in North America and my other summer based in Africa (mainly Uganda and South Africa). I believe that if you want to get an image that no one else can get or has thought of, you need to be willing to do what no one else is willing to do; even if it means hanging off the back of a jetski, swimming down rapids, or balancing on the top of Victoria Falls. The harder you work for an image, the more rewarding the result will be. Following this advice as best as I can has given me my favorite shots.

    • Desré Pickers, Category finalist 2007: Lifestyle
  • Lifestyle_EspenLystad_Portrait.jpg
    Espen Lystad
    Lifestyle_EspenLystad_Portrait.jpg
    Photographer

    Espen Lystad

    Biography

    As a photographer, I’m self-taught. I picked up my first SLR camera in 1993 and started shooting photos inspired by all those great photographers from Magnum. In 1998 I moved on to start shooting snowboarding, and I turned professional the same year. My photo philosophy is “less is more,” and my favorite way of making photos is with film and natural light. My areas of specialization in addition to snowboarding are documentary, lifestyle, portrait, and travel.

    I am senior photographer for Snowboarder Magazine and team photographer for Head Snowboards. I submit to snowboard magazines worldwide, and my photos have made the covers of fine publications like Snowboarder Magazine, Transworld Snowboarding, Onboard, Pleasure, Snowplanet, Document Snowboard, Playboard, Fri Flyt, Freerun, Droppi, Deska Snowboarding, Snowboard Italy, and Board Russia. My work has also appeared in magazines like Sports Illustrated, Rolling Stone, Lodown, and Reload. I’ve contributed to international ads for a number of snowboard companies, as well as Arnette, Oakley, Dragon, Volcom, Billabong, Quiksilver, DVS, Westbeach, Airwalk, Sole Technology, Sweet, and Nokia, among others.

    • Espen Lystad, Category finalist 2007: Lifestyle
  • Lifestyle_RikiGutierrez_Portrait.jpg
    Napoleon E. Gutierrez
    Lifestyle_RikiGutierrez_Portrait.jpg
    Photographer

    Napoleon E. Gutierrez

    Biography

    I live in beautiful Panama City and work as a graphic designer for a clothing company called Saks Free Zone. I also work as a photograph correspondent for a Central American skateboard publication, Blastmagazine, which is based in Costa Rica, and I’ve contributed photos to the Argentinean magazine Instinto”.

    My specialization is action photography, but I have created portraits, photographed the rock ‘n’ roll scene, and documented many cultural events. I am also an illustrator, both in digital and hand-drawn formats.

    • Napoleon E. Gutierrez, Category finalist 2007: Lifestyle
  • Illumination_GeorgeSteinmetz_Portrait.jpg
    George Steinmetz
    Illumination_GeorgeSteinmetz_Portrait.jpg
    Photographer

    George Steinmetz

    Biography

    I was born in Beverly Hills in 1957 and graduated from Stanford University with a degree in geophysics. I began my career in photography by hitchhiking through Africa for eighteen months. Since my first assignment for National Geographic Magazine in 1987, I have completed over twenty major essays for the magazine, including three covers.

    In addition to National Geographic, my work also regularly appears in GEO, Time, Architectural Digest, Condé Nast Traveler, Fortune, and Stern. My expeditions to the Sahara and Gobi deserts were featured in National Geographic Explorer television programs in 1998 and 2002. I have won numerous awards for photography during my 25-year career, including two first prizes in science and technology in 1995 and 1998 from World Press Photo. I have also won awards and citations from Pictures of the Year, Overseas Press Club, and LIFE magazine's Alfred Eisenstaedt Awards.

    My latest passion is photographing the world's deserts while piloting a motorized paraglider. This experimental aircraft provides me with a unique physical perspective over remote places that are inaccessible by conventional aircraft. When I’m not on assignment, I live in Glen Ridge, New Jersey, with my wife, Wall Street Journal editor Lisa Bannon, and our children Nell, John, and Nicholas.

    • George Steinmetz, Category finalist 2007: Illumination
  • Gian_Paul_Lozza_Portrait.jpg
    Gian Paul Lozza
    Gian_Paul_Lozza_Portrait.jpg
    Photographer

    Gian Paul Lozza

    Biography

    I’ve studied media and politics and am autodidact in photography, but I went through a lot of stages and worked a long time as an assistant for different photographers. My specializations are movement and portraits, including music artists as well as athletes. From my home base in Zürich/Zizers, I work for clients like Nike, Head, Burton, Zimtstern, Sony, and Opel. I publish contributions regularly in magazines such as Pleasure, Swiss Magazine, Lodown, Snowboard UK, Snowsurf, and Word, and one of my photos was chosen as the cover shot for Transworld Snowboarding’s 2006 Photo Annual. My work has been exhibited in galleries and museums in Munich and Zürich.

    My recent book, Nature of Snowboarding, is my magnum opus, resulting from an intensive concentration on the theme of snowboarding over the past years. Instead of being full of high-gloss pictures, it provides an unusual view of snowboarding by focusing on the characters from different cultures and countries I have met on the scene. They all have one thing in common: a love for snowboarding. The book uncovers the nature of this sport — the life. You can read much more about the nature of snowboarding in these faces than in anything else published so far about the sport.

    • Gian Paul Lozza, Category finalist 2007: Illumination
  • grant_gunderson_013963.jpg
    Grant Gunderson
    grant_gunderson_013963.jpg
    Photographer

    Grant Gunderson

    Biography

    One of the outdoor industry’s most published photographers, Grant founded The Ski Journal where he served as Photo Editor for over six years. In addition to curating his passion for the mountains, he has shot for every major snow sports, bike and outdoor publication worldwide including National Geographic Adventure, ESPN, Outside, Playboy, Skiing, Red Bulletin, Aka Skidor, and Kootenay Mountain Culture. He currently serves as a Senior Photographer for Powder Magazine and is Photo Emeritus of The Ski Journal. From Iceland to Patagonia, Grant routinely produces unique deep powder imagery and authentically documents the lifestyle and culture of mountain sports. Beyond his editorial work, Grant’s work is featured in ongoing marketing campaigns with top outdoor brands. He skis close to 200 days a year and when he is not on snow you can find him on his bike or trekking throughout North America and beyond. 

    • Grant Gunderson, Category Semi-Finalist 2019: RAW
    • Grant Gunderson, Category finalist 2016: Masterpiece
    • Grant Gunderson, Category finalist 2016: Masterpiece
    • Grant Gunderson, Category finalist 2016: Playground
    • Grant Gunderson, Category finalist 2007: Illumination
    • Grant Gunderson, Category finalist 2013: Spirit
    • Grant Gunderson, Category finalist 2013: Illumination
  • Experimental_JamesHolm_Portrait.jpg
    James Holm
    Experimental_JamesHolm_Portrait.jpg
    Photographer

    James Holm

    Biography

    I started my true photo career with skateboarding. My friend and I liked to take pictures of each other doing tricks. Before I knew it I was working with Swedish skateboard magazines. After a couple of years in art and photography schools, I established my firm, James Holm Fotograf.

    My venture into working with snowboarding was small, but big in another way. At that time, skateboarding was heavily influenced by the punk scene, and I kind of got tired of the attitude of not caring about good weather and expenses when we were out traveling. That was something snowboarders knew about; when the sun is shining, you’re out there doing it! But eventually I got back to my roots in skateboarding. Another thing that I’ve always been into is lifestyle portraits. I like to come to a place I’ve never been to, try to find the best thing about it, and put the person in an interesting situation. After getting my driver’s license, my interest in cars became strong, and this has been another one of my prime subjects. I think my job is to always work with things I enjoy. So therefore I see myself as a photographer within the segment of action photos, cars, and lifestyle portraits.

    • James Holm, Category finalist 2007: Experimental
  • Experimental_SantiagoArenas_Portrait.jpg
    Santiago Arenas Monzón
    Experimental_SantiagoArenas_Portrait.jpg
    Photographer

    Santiago Arenas Monzón

    Biography

    I’m a 29-year-old amateur photographer based in Madrid, Spain. I specialize in snowboard and skateboard photography. I also snowboard and skateboard myself, usually skating in Madrid and snowboarding in the Pyrenees and occasionally the French Alps.

    I studied photography for three years in high school and recently took a course on digital photography and Photoshop. Currently, I work as a gardener in Madrid. This is the first time that I have participated in a contest of photographs of this type. In the future, I would like to work in photography professionally.

    • Santiago Arenas Monzón, Category finalist 2007: Experimental
  • Experimental_TimMcKenna_Portrait.jpg
    Tim McKenna
    Experimental_TimMcKenna_Portrait.jpg
    Photographer

    Tim McKenna

    Biography

    I was born in Sydney but spent most of my youth near the beaches of southwest France. After heading back to Australia for university studies, I focused on surf photography, and in 1990 the European surf-wear company, Oxbow, took me on and triggered my interest in other extreme sports. I have since worked with many champions in sports ranging from surfing and windsurfing to motocross, snowboarding, and rock climbing. My best images have made the covers of leading magazines and illustrated books, while my landscape and fashion assignments have appeared in advertisements around the globe. I am currently publishing a fine art poster collection and a book.

    Still a keen surfer and snowboarder and a rusty black belt (second Dan) in the martial art of Kendo, in quiet moments I sit down at a keyboard and improvise. However, although now based on the island of Tahiti with my wife and son, striving to capture the magic of Polynesian life, I still tour the world, dedicated to the nomadic life, searching for the myriad forms of light that make unforgettable images.

    • Tim McKenna, Category finalist 2007: Experimental
  • Wings_ThiloBrunner_Portrait.jpg
    Thilo Brunner
    Wings_ThiloBrunner_Portrait.jpg
    Photographer

    Thilo Brunner

    Biography

    I am based in Munich, which is perfect for my kind of work. The highest mountains are close, and the media and businesses I work with are not far from my office. I started my career as a journalist for different fun-sport media outlets. It was while I was working on an article about Niels-Peter Jensen, a mountain bike athlete, that I started to take pictures to make the story complete. For me, it was more interesting to be outside, working with light and right next to the action as opposed to sitting in front of the computer the whole day.

    To get more knowledge about photography, I started volunteering for a fashion and portrait photographer. Using light to shape the things I was trying to capture became more and more important to me. Light and shadow, two extremes in life and photography, are part of my work — I believe less light is more interesting. Today, I shoot images for both advertisements and editorial spreads. I’ve never tried to compete in an international photo contest like Red Bull Illume before. It’s a great experience to have your picture chosen from hundreds of similar ones.

    • Thilo Brunner, Category finalist 2007: Wings
  • ray_demski_014381.jpg
    Ray Demski
    ray_demski_014381.jpg
    Photographer

    Ray Demski

    Biography

    Growing up in the mountains of western Canada, the outdoors have always felt like home.

    Thanks to my crazy adventurous parents, even by the age of four I had been to a long list of far-flung places.

    At fourteen I moved with my family onto a sailboat, none of us having a clue about sailing. Together we spent almost seven years sailing around the globe, exploration was my education.

    During the sailing voyage I picked up a camera and began photographing the people and places along the way - I’ve been addicted ever since.

    Going pro in 2007, as a lifelong athlete and explorer, I gravitated to action and adventure photography.

    These days I split my time between commercial work and expeditions to intense places with amazing people.

    When not shooting I get outside and enjoy the sports I love.

    Since 2013 I call Munich, Germany home, but most days I can be found on the move.

     

    • Ray Demski, Category finalist 2016: Mobile
    • Ray Demski, Category finalist 2016: Lifestyle
    • Ray Demski, Category finalist 2013: New Creativity
    • Ray Demski, Category finalist 2007: Wings
    • Ray Demski, Category finalist 2013: Experimental
  • Wings_ThomasUlrich_Portrait.jpg
    Thomas Ulrich
    Wings_ThomasUlrich_Portrait.jpg
    Photographer

    Thomas Ulrich

    Biography

    I was born on November 16,1967 in Interlaken, Bernese Oberland, Switzerland, where I still live with my Norwegian wife, Åsta, and our three girls. Besides my professional training to become a carpenter and a mountain guide, I started early with extreme climbing. In 1988, I traveled for the first time to Patagonia; subsequently, I added six more expeditions to this place, doing important climbs but also completing the first successful traverse of the Southern Patagonian inland ice (together with Norwegian explorer Børge Ousland) in 2003.

    I have published three stories in National Geographic magazine, beginning with an article about the first winter ascent of the “Ferrari” route on Cerro Torre that I did with friends in 1999. I started my career path toward becoming a world-famous adventure photographer as an autodidact – I was self-taught. Today my pictures are published in magazines such as Animan, LIFE, and Sports Illustrated, and I work for several commercial clients in the outdoor market. In addition, I work as a cameraman and filmmaker and have won several prizes for my movies. In 2006, my attempt to cross the Arctic solo and unsupported failed; nevertheless, I go on planning the next expeditions, bound to my credo: “Follow your heart!”

    • Thomas Ulrich, Category finalist 2007: Wings
  • klaus_fengler_011467.jpg
    Klaus Fengler
    klaus_fengler_011467.jpg
    Photographer

    Klaus Fengler

    Biography

    I was born in 1963 and raised in Lower Saxony, Germany and now live in Berchtesgaden. I started photography when I was young because my father was an amateur photographer and he passed on his enthusiasm to my two brothers and I.

    At 17, I started to sport climb. Then I studied mechanical engineering in Konstanz before working for 12 years with the company Siemens in standard engineering. But photography was always more than just a hobby for me and it was only natural that I should combine my two hobbies, climbing and photography.

    After I had meet Stefan Glowacz personally in 2000, I went on regular climbing expeditions in different countries of the earth. In 2003, I decided to go freelance as a photographer. Since then I’ve been self-employed with a focus on outdoor expeditions, landscape and reportage.

     

    • Klaus Fengler, Category finalist 2007: Spirit
    • Klaus Fengler, Category finalist 2016: Enhance
  • Spirit_DamianoLevati_Portrait.jpg
    Damiano Levati
    Spirit_DamianoLevati_Portrait.jpg
    Photographer

    Damiano Levati

    Biography

    In my university years I started taking pictures of my passions: skiing, biking, and climbing. Then I had to make a decision. On one side I had my master’s degree in electronic engineering with a specialization in artificial intelligence, and on the other I had my camera, my skis, and my bike. Obviously, I chose the second.

    My idea of photography is linked to the idea of shooting in action. I like to be part of what I’m shooting, both mentally and physically. This means being ready for the action, and I train to improve my skills and strength. From the beginning, I had the idea that having a camera didn’t make me a photographer. So I’ve been exploring every aspect of photography. Photography is not just a way of earning money or proving to be a good technician. With my small skiers lost in oceans of snow, I try to show that there is a different way to relate with nature. For me, this is the first step in my personal evolution. Thanks to photography, I’m travelling the world and meeting a lot of people. Every new experience enriches me and makes me want to find a new story to be told using only one word: click.

    • Damiano Levati, Category finalist 2007: Spirit
  • Frode_Sandbech_2099.jpg
    Frode Sandbech
    Frode_Sandbech_2099.jpg
    Photographer

    Frode Sandbech

    Biography

    Sandbech traded in his electric guitar for an old Pentax camera in 1994. In 2001 he sold his first photo, then in 2004 had an international breakthrough landing the cover of Transworld Snowboarding Photo Annual. He has now had more then 50 magazine covers; enjoyed worldwide travels with top athletes and international photo campaigns for various companies. Won the WSSF contest in 2014, both the people's choice award and the judged contest. And had his first solo exhibition ‘Turning Point’ in November 2018, with great success.

    In my photography, I try to balance creativity with clean graphical lines.

    I usually strive to find a simple composition that brings out the rider, tells a story and makes you dream. This way I aim to create photos that are aesthetic and comfortable for the eye, and at the same time true to the riders personal styles. I also try to push myself and my photography by adding unpredictable components or working out concepts and new ideas. I am still dedicated to learning and am always looking for new ways to develop my skills, as there are always ways to improve both technically and creatively in photography.

    • Frode Sandbech, Category Semi-Finalist 2019: Innovation by Sony
    • Frode Sandbech, Category finalist 2007: Spirit
    • Frode Sandbech, Category finalist 2013: Wings
  • Spirit_JacquesMarais_Portrait.jpg
    Jacques Marais
    Spirit_JacquesMarais_Portrait.jpg
    Photographer

    Jacques Marais

    Biography

    I am based in Cape Town, South Africa and specialize in any human-powered outdoor action.  I first studied electronic engineering, but became bored and subsequently got involved in photography.  My key clients include Red Bull, Land Rover and the majority of premium travel and adventure magazines in South Africa.

    I have authored and photographed several books on mountain biking, adventure racing and trekking, and I am currently working on a guide to adrenaline destinations around the globe. I am also a contributing editor to BICYCLING Magazine. I spend a lot of time behind the lens and keyboard, and I’ve lost count of my accumulated frequent flyer miles. My free time is spent on the beautiful Cape Peninsula, kicking back with my family, paddling my sea kayak or bombing trails on a free-ride bike.  My motto is to go find the action, even if it means following the athletes from dawn to dusk.

    • Jacques Marais, Category finalist 2007: Spirit
  • Sequence_DavidBlazek_Portrait.jpg
    David Blažek
    Sequence_DavidBlazek_Portrait.jpg
    Photographer

    David Blažek

    Biography

    I was born in 1979 in Prague in the Czech Republic. Around 1996, during my secondary school studies, I fell in love with the skateboard. My first photography endeavors started with shooting skateboard friends from my crew. That was the beginning of a period of hard work: spending my nights behind a bar as a bartender and making big investments in photography equipment.

    Today, I work on a freelance basis, with a specialization in snowboarding, skateboarding, bikes, and product shots. I still make my home in Prague, but I’m living outside for more than 200 days each year. I am the main photographer for the Czech publication Free Magazine and for Freeride.cz Internet magazine. Other European publications that have used my photography include Boardlife, Docky, Snowboard MDS, Snow, Pleasure, Kingpin, and Playboard. I am also working as the primary photographer for a Czech company called Horsefeathers, doing action shots and product catalogs. Additional clients have included Burton, Red Bull, Fanatic, Vehicle, Funstorm, Santa Cruz, and Aeon.

    • David Blažek, Category finalist 2007: Sequence
  • Sequence_FlorianGrill_Portrait.jpg
    Florian Grill
    Sequence_FlorianGrill_Portrait.jpg
    Photographer

    Florian Grill

    Biography

    I was born in Konstanz, Germany, in 1979, and I grew up between the Alps and a large lake. Any spare time was filled with the search for new adventures in the mountains or on the water. After attending the Rudolf Steiner School in Wahlwies and serving an apprenticeship as a carpenter, I moved to Bielefeld in 2004 to study photography, media, and art.

    My main focus lies in lifestyle photography in connection with action and fashion images. With the establishment of the floriangrill.com Studio in Hamburg in 2007, I will further develop this concept in the high-end area with — among other equipment — the Hasselblad H3D camera system. So far I have shot action photos for Etnies, Eastern Bikes, TSG/Titus, Twenty Inch Magazine, and Ride BMX Magazine UK, among others, and I won the Schlueschen-Stiftung award for sport photography in both 2005 and 2006. In the future, I wish to be able to continue to cooperate with such great people and to pursue my passion of photography.

    • Florian Grill, Category finalist 2007: Sequence
  • Sequence_AlexSchelbert_Portrait.jpg
    Alex Schelbert
    Sequence_AlexSchelbert_Portrait.jpg
    Photographer

    Alex Schelbert

    Biography

    I am based in Munich, Germany, and though my portfolio includes many types of photography, I specialize in extreme sport events, shooting only digital with Canon! I started with snowboard photography in 1995, and I also worked as editor for Modern Sport Magazine and Piranha Magazine. In 1999 I took part in the first ever Red Bull Photochallenge in Cortina d’Ampezzo, shooting a mountain bike race that was held in an ice channel for bobsleighs.

    In the following years I’ve especially liked shooting freestyle motocross, Red Bull Air Race events, and Red Bull Crashed Ice (ice cross downhill), as well as mountain bike downhill and freeride or BMX (especially miniramp and flatland). My favorite events each year are the Red Bull X-Fighters in Madrid’s Las Ventas bullring and the Battle of the Year — the World Championships in breakdancing! I’ve shot for Red Bull, Adidas, Braun, Duracell, Sony, Samsung, the Fiat Freestyle Team, and, of course, a lot of magazines. I believe that you should enjoy every day of your life!

    • Alex Schelbert, Category finalist 2007: Sequence
  • Sequence_WadeMcKoy_Portrait.jpg
    Wade McKoy
    Sequence_WadeMcKoy_Portrait.jpg
    Photographer

    Wade McKoy

    Biography

    At 55, I have spent half my life photographing and writing about skiing and ski mountaineering. It’s been my pleasure and good fortune to travel the world’s mountains — including four of its tallest peaks — with friends intent on capturing the adventure of ski-touring, alpine climbing, and ski descent. Just one of the many gratifications such journeys provide is working with the indigenous peoples of remote locales, in the process learning something of their culture and becoming their friends.

    My photos and articles from Jackson Hole, Alaska, South America, Europe, Africa, Asia, and Antarctica have appeared in numerous national and international publications, including Powder, Backcountry, Men’s Journal, ESPN, Fall Line, Fluid, Powder Hound, and FreeSkier. I shoot commercial assignments and stock for clients such as Cloudveil, Patagonia, The North Face, and Marmot. I am co-owner of Focus Productions, Inc. (focusproductions.com) with another longtime Jackson Hole photographer, Bob Woodall, and publish three annual visitors’ guides: Jackson Hole Skier, Mountain Country, and the Jackson Hole Dining Guide. In the winter of 2006/07, I will shoot a ski adventure in Kashmir.

    • Wade McKoy, Category finalist 2007: Sequence
  • Playground_AlbertoGuglielmi_Portrait.jpg
    Alberto Guglielmi
    Playground_AlbertoGuglielmi_Portrait.jpg
    Photographer

    Alberto Guglielmi

    Biography

    I have been taking pictures since childhood, with the camera next to me and sharing in every adventure and passion of my life. I was a professional windsurfer and snowboarder before graduating with a degree in economics and undertaking a successful career in management consulting in Rome, London, and New York. After seven years in the “serious” business world, and while being a vice-president for a famous branding and design firm in New York City, I decided I was finally ready to leave the tie in the closet and go back to my roots. With many pictures in my portfolio already, transitioning to professional photography was an easy step. I started with a portrait exhibition in New York, and currently I’m a Nikon Pro with more than twelve magazine covers worldwide.

    I am just simply in love with photography. My specialization is lifestyle and portraits, combined with a great love and passion for extreme sports, which I shoot whenever possible. I live between upstate New York (where I have my own photo studio and spend most of the year) and Italy (my home in the summer months), and I travel the world for assignments. My clients include Lavazza USA, RRD International, Montecristo, RealBeDifferent, and Plastik.

    • Alberto Guglielmi, Category finalist 2007: Playground
  • pasi_salminen_014582.jpg
    Pasi Salminen
    pasi_salminen_014582.jpg
    Photographer

    Pasi Salminen

    Biography

    I got started in photography by shooting skateboarding. For the first eight years I shot skateboarding in my hometown of Ulvila, Finland. After I finished school I moved to Helsinki to get a job. For three years, I was an IT specialist - you know, coding programs and being a real nerd. From that nerd job I got enough money to buy some nice camera equipment and almost immediately started to shoot snowboarding.

    Three years was enough to be a nerd so I started working with a skate and snowboard distributor in Finland. With that job I got more time to shoot. After shooting two to three years almost full time, I decided to take charge and became a full-time photographer.

    In the winter, I make my living from shooting snowboarding and the rest of the year I shoot stuff for corporate communications, events, products, people, and anything else to get money to live.

    I take my job seriously. When it comes to photos, I am a perfectionist. I’ll sometimes use six to eight flashes to fill light where I want that light to be. From looking at my photos, you can easily see that I like to play with flashes.

     

    • Pasi Salminen, Category finalist 2016: New Creativity
    • Pasi Salminen, Category finalist 2007: Playground
  • Playground_VitekLudvik_Portrait.jpg
    Vitek Ludvik
    Playground_VitekLudvik_Portrait.jpg
    Photographer

    Vitek Ludvik

    Biography

    I was born on May 23, 1973, in the Czech Republic. I got started in photography at age 10 with a camera that was a gift from my grandfather. At 14, I started rock climbing and always had a camera around my neck. After I finished technical engineering school, I left for a surfing trip to Hawaii where I discovered the magic of landscape photography.

    I got seriously into photography on a trip to Mt. McKinley in 1996. My work was first published in 1997 and in the same year, I founded Sharp Pictures, a multimedia agency specializing in the international sport industry. Since then, I have been working as a freelance photographer. I shoot catalogs and ads for clients such as Rip Curl, Quiksilver, Fomei, Tamron, and Sensor. I also make and collaborate on movies, including Goosneck and Real Night in Prague (mountain biking) and Just One Day (snowboarding). A trip to photo-shoot and film life and backcountry snowboarding in forgotten Eastern European countries such as Bulgaria and Romania resulted in another movie as well as stories and photos in magazines. In 2002, I attended the Vancouver Film School and although I still live in the Czech Republic, Whistler is my second home.

    • Vitek Ludvik, Category finalist 2007: Playground
  • Playground_WojtekAnotow_Portrait.jpg
    Wojtek Antonow
    Playground_WojtekAnotow_Portrait.jpg
    Photographer

    Wojtek Antonow

    Biography

    In 1998, I started to work for the Polish magazine Slizg (music, skateboarding, graffiti, etc.). At first, I was a journalist, but then I started to take an interest in photography. I was shooting music events and some portraits, and finally I started to work with skateboarders as I had always been fascinated by skateboarding. I spent a lot of time on my board, but — to be honest — I wasn't very talented.

    At the moment, I'm based in Warsaw and am focused on sport photography. Skateboarding, snowboarding, and freeskiing are my favorite subjects. I really love what I'm doing: working with friends, meeting new people, traveling and visiting new spots and new places, trying to "catch the moments" with my camera, and learning everyday. Sometimes it's not easy to make a living from it, but the most important thing is that it gives me so much satisfaction. I would like to thank all my friends and all the athletes I have worked with since without them, I couldn't do what I'm doing – lots of love!

    • Wojtek Antonow, Category finalist 2007: Playground
  • NewCreativity_DanielKudernatsch_Portrait.jpg
    Daniel Kudernatsch
    NewCreativity_DanielKudernatsch_Portrait.jpg
    Photographer

    Daniel Kudernatsch

    Biography

    My specialization is snowboarding. I love the sport and that’s why I started shooting it. My home base is Vienna in the summer and the mountain village of Schladming in the winter. I have no professional background and am autodidact, or self-taught. I work with snowboard mags and the snowboard biz all around the world, and I am still stoked if one of my pictures gets published.

    Being out in the mountains with your friends and working with them is the best job I can imagine!

    • Daniel Kudernatsch, Category finalist 2007: New Creativity
  • Jimmy_Wilson.jpg
    Jimmy Wilson
    Jimmy_Wilson.jpg
    Photographer

    Jimmy Wilson

    Biography

    I was 15 when I broke my ankle skateboarding and picked up a camera. Things kinda just took off from there and somehow I've managed to score a job where I'm literally living a dream… or at the very least watching it from courtside seats. Sure I still pull plenty hours in the Surfing Magazine office so it's not all boat trips and plush hotels, but I could count the days on one hand that I've actually dreaded going to "work", and those must have all been because of hangovers!

    Surfing is still my favorite thing in the world to do, followed by traveling with friends, capturing moments with a camera, and newly, snowboarding. My main goals are to have as much fun as possible, laugh at all the hilarious situations, continue to stay psyched on life by living like a little kid, and be an honest and genuinely good human.

    Go Jaguars!

    • Jimmy Wilson, Category finalist 2013: Lifestyle
    • Jimmy Wilson, Category finalist 2007: New Creativity
  • NewCreativity_MarcoToniolo_Portrait.jpg
    Marco Toniolo
    NewCreativity_MarcoToniolo_Portrait.jpg
    Photographer

    Marco Toniolo

    Biography

    I was born in Italy in 1972 and graduated in economics in December 1996. One month later, I moved to Münich and worked there until 2002 as an accountant. My passion for the mountains took me away from the office and threw me in the mountain biking/skiing/snowboarding battlefield where I work with some of the best riders, searching for the most dramatic scenery for photo shoots. My clients have included Bike Magazine, Skiing, Magura, Fusion Bikes, Canyon Bikes, and Amplid.

    What I do doesn’t feel like work. It’s always fun, even taking photos at -20° Celsius in deep powder snow or carrying my mountain bike over a 5,000-meter Himalayan pass. Obviously, you don’t get a salary at the end of the month, but if this is the price for freedom, I am glad I can pay it. Being international is part of my life: my wife is from Sweden, my father from Belgium, my mother from Italy, my newborn son Axel a European who has to manage three languages in his family. I live close to Münich in a 350-year old farmhouse in a small village not far from the mountains. I speak Italian, German, and English fluently, and I write for many magazines in addition to providing photographs.

    • Marco Toniolo, Category finalist 2007: New Creativity
  • NewCreativity_MattiasFredriksson_Portrait.jpg
    Mattias Fredriksson
    NewCreativity_MattiasFredriksson_Portrait.jpg
    Photographer

    Mattias Fredriksson

    Biography

    After living in Riksgränsen, Sweden, for two seasons as a ski bum, I started my career in print journalism with Vertikal Magazine, eventually landing in Åre as editor of Sweden’s national ski magazine, Åka Skidor. But the meetings and the long hours in the office started to wear on me. So I hit the reboot button. I grabbed my camera, went into the mountains, and started taking photos. Over the next few years I got heavy into the whole action-sport scene. That’s where the bulk of my work is today: living out of a big, gear-filled bag, traveling the world to shoot awesome athletes, trying to keep my points up so I can eat free cake in the Gold Club lounge. I have been a pro photographer since 2000.

    Today my work regularly appears in photo-driven, industry-leading magazines like Powder. I also contribute to a host of other magazines around the world like Bike (U.S.), SBC Skier (Canada), Fluid (France), and Skiing: the next level (Germany). My humble services as a photographer and photo editor are also contracted out by Åre-based Peak Performance magazine, Transition (Sweden), and Magasin Åre (Sweden).

    And even though I’m a Swede and I can’t play hockey to save my life, I was invited to Canada in 2003 to be a presenter at the World Ski and Snowboard Festival’s internationally renowned Pro Photographer’s Showdown. I like tight-fitting clothes, electro, house, and heavy metal music, and women who like to rub my scalp as if it were a magic ball.

    • Mattias Fredriksson, Category finalist 2013: Illumination
    • Mattias Fredriksson, Category finalist 2007: New Creativity
  • john_gibson_014813.jpg
    John Gibson
    john_gibson_014813.jpg
    Photographer

    John Gibson

    Biography

    I’m from Alberta, Canada. In 1987 after graduating from a photography program in Edmonton at the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology I moved to Calgary and began a nine-year career as a photographer at the Calgary Sun newspaper. In 1988 I landed an assignment shooting the Winter Olympics for the Canada Olympic Association.

    After that I spent the next nine years shooting news and sports in the Calgary area. During that time I was also a wire service freelance photographer for Agence France Presse (AFP). When the sport of mountain biking began to take shape in the 80s a few mountain bike publications began to appear and my girlfriend handed me an early copy of Bike magazine and said, “you should get some photos like this”. After that I began to bring a camera on mountain bike rides.

    During a holiday to California in 1994 I phoned David Reddick – photo editor at Bike magazine and asked him if he would look at my portfolio of cycling photos and after that he asked me to start contributing photos to the magazine. At that time very few photographers were taking pictures of mountain biking – it was still a very small sport. In 1995, I began to shoot photos for the Kona Mountain Bike Company as their full time photographer. In 1996 I started my own business and began to shoot the sport of mountain biking full time. Twenty years later I am still doing the same thing – taking photos of people riding their bikes. The world of photography has changed drastically in my lifetime but many things have remained exactly the same.

     

    • John Gibson, Category finalist 2007: Sequence
    • John Gibson, Category finalist 2016: Sequence
    • John Gibson, Category finalist 2007: Experimental
  • Jeroen_Nieuwhuis.jpg
    Jeroen Nieuwhuis
    Jeroen_Nieuwhuis.jpg
    Photographer

    Jeroen Nieuwhuis

    Biography

    My name is Jeroen Nieuwhuis and I live in a small town in the eastern part of the Netherlands. I started photography when I was 11 years old, capturing friends with the camera I got for my birthday. My obsession for photography quickly grew and started to feel like something more than just a hobby, leading me to spend all the money I got on new gear. After a couple of years, my photographic interest shifted to genres other than just skateboarding. I started shooting portraits of friends and posting them on different forums to receive feedback on them. Slowly I developed my own taste in photography and started to look at images differently.

    Nowadays, I work as a freelance photographer and co-owner of a photography and film studio. Photography has taken me from the cold landscapes of the North Cape to the warm favelas of Brazil. I can't wait to see the rest of this beautiful planet! 

    • Jeroen Nieuwhuis, Category finalist 2013: Close Up
  • Morgan_Maassen.jpg
    Morgan Maassen
    Morgan_Maassen.jpg
    Photographer

    Morgan Maassen

    Biography

    I am a photographer from Santa Barbara, California and was born in 1990. My interest in photography started in my teens after experimenting with my family's home video camera at the beach, goofing off with friends and exploring the central coast. I graduated high school early at the age of sixteen to concentrate and explore visual media freely and intensely via many different mediums. After working in the graphic design industry, I decided to pursue filmmaking and then photography as both a creative outlet and occupation.

    Growing up in and around the ocean has provided me with my favorite subject to photograph. The majority of my work is water-related and involves the oceanic lifestyle. I've also frequently incorporated my passions of traveling, nature, architecture and fashion into my work. While I strive to capture what I see as beautiful, this is often not the perfect moment. Instead, light, textures, and the abstract nature of the earth are what truly fascinate me – the human element and the infinite variables of emotion keep me on my toes when working with people.

    I consider myself an active participant in the digital age. The internet has allowed me to communicate, network and collaborate with people, places, and subject matter across the world. I enjoy working with both film and digital mediums, and motion pictures are the apple of my eye. I dream of nothing more than visiting the next new country, capturing whatever beauty it may hold.

    • Morgan Maassen, Category Finalist 2019: Masterpiece by EyeEm
    • Morgan Maassen, Category finalist 2013: Lifestyle
    • Morgan Maassen, Category finalist 2013: Spirit
    • Morgan Maassen, Category finalist 2013: Spirit
    • Morgan Maassen, Category finalist 2013: Close Up
  • David_Carlier.jpg
    David Carlier
    David_Carlier.jpg
    Photographer

    David Carlier

    Biography

    It all started 20 years ago with my passion for documenting and creating aesthetic images that tell stories. As an action sports specialist, I have been shooting outdoor activities all over the world, working closely with the best athletes in freeskiing, mountaineering, BASE jumping, kayaking, sailing and more.

    By accumulating a lot of experience in various challenging natural environments, I have learned techniques to shoot, store and distribute content from remote places, ranging from capturing the best shots to workflow management in production teams and content distribution both online and offline.

    I am Swiss, so my first natural playground was the Alps and the beautiful lakes we have, bouncing from mountain activities to water sports depending on the season. My inspiration comes from nature and unique lighting situations. I always try to think twice about the framing of a photograph and incorporate elements that are not expected. Silhouettes, shapes, shadows – my goal is to find different perspectives on any given subject.

    I like photojournalism a lot. Through my travels I look for good subjects, forcing myself to tell a story through a single frame. I love the challenge and try to take timeless images, being more interested in ‘imperfect’ photography – images that are suggestive and can open a discussion – than obvious shots. I love to go out and play – and if at the end of the day I have one good picture to show... I call it a perfect day!

    • David Carlier, Category finalist 2013: Sequence
    • David Carlier, Category finalist 2013: Energy
  • jeremy_bernard__000005-5.jpg
    Jeremy Bernard
    jeremy_bernard__000005-5.jpg
    Photographer

    Jeremy Bernard

    Biography

    I was born in France and raised in the French Alps. My parents taught me to ski at two and I haven’t stopped since then. After ski racing until the age of 16, I got more interested in freeskiing. Then, at the age of 20, my life took a complete new direction when I met a professional photographer. From that moment, I fell in love with photography and I realized it was a great way for me to keep on skiing.

    Today, I'm a freelance photographer based in the Alps. I spend most of my time up high in the mountains, looking for the best light and aestheticism. I’m also more and more involved in mountaineering and steep skiing. I love doing that, because it forces me to keep my photographic skills high but also because it challenges me on my skis.

    Photography has taken me all around the world, from Japan to Alaska; from Greenland to Cape Horn. After spending years following skiers in deep and cold snow, I'm now looking for new horizons and I try to transfer my photographic skills into other sports such as trail running, sailing and mountain biking. I’m also co-founder of a website whose aim is to tell the stories we like on the people we meet, with our own style, and this is what I love.

    • Jeremy Bernard, Category Finalist 2019: Best of Instagram by SanDisk
    • Jeremy Bernard, Category Semi-Finalist 2019: Innovation by Sony
    • Jeremy Bernard, Category finalist 2016: New Creativity
    • Jeremy Bernard, Category finalist 2013: New Creativity
    • Jeremy Bernard, Category finalist 2013: Energy
  • fred_pompermayer_013006.jpg
    Fred Pompermayer
    fred_pompermayer_013006.jpg
    Photographer

    Fred Pompermayer

    Biography

    I have been shooting big wave surfing and action shots for more than a decade. I was born in Brazil. From a very young age I was transfixed by the ocean and waves. I majored in architecture at college; afterwards I travelled the world taking photos as my hobby and surfing as much as I could.

    While I was working as an architect in Brazil I realized that sitting at a desk, designing buildings was not something I wanted to do for the rest of my life. I felt like I was wasting my days, so I quit my job and put my mind to cultivating my career incorporating my two passions, photography and surfing.

    I live in Los Angeles where I can catch a quick flight to most places – most of the time it’s last minute to catch the swells – and where I can surf year round.

     

    • Fred Pompermayer, Category finalist 2016: Energy
    • Fred Pompermayer, Category finalist 2013: Energy
  • philip_platzer_010738.jpg
    Philip Platzer
    philip_platzer_010738.jpg
    Photographer

    Philip Platzer

    Biography

    My name is Philip Platzer and I am a 37-year-old sports photographer based in the Graz, Austria. I have always been active in sports such as surfing, rock climbing, and snowboarding but I always knew something was missing.

    I wanted to capture the dynamic and emotion of a single moment. I've always been interested in both photography and sports, so for me it made perfect sense to capture all these great moments and adventures.

    I started to shoot friends, and became addicted to photography pretty quickly. I don’t have any classical education or training - I am an autodidact. I’ve also done lots of assisting, and still do, because it’s a great way to learn new things and improve my skills.

    In 2009, I started working as a pro photographer, and I’m happy it worked out for me that way. What I love most about my job is creating unique and never-before-seen images.

     

    • Philip Platzer, Category Finalist 2019: Creative by Skylum
    • Philip Platzer, Category Winner 2019: Wings
    • Philip Platzer, Category finalist 2016: Wings
    • Philip Platzer, Category finalist 2013: Experimental
  • Elias_Kunosson.jpg
    Elias Kunosson
    Elias_Kunosson.jpg
    Photographer

    Elias Kunosson

    Biography

    I think I’ve always been quite an image-oriented person, being much more drawn to imagery than words. As a kid I used to look in magazines and dream of the places I saw. My interest in action and adventure sports started a bit later on, some time in my teens. My best friend and I were crazy about snowmobiling. We used to watch Slednecks movies and dream of one day being in one. It carried on and when we got old enough to get our licenses we took every opportunity we got to go out and ride. It didn’t take long before we started making movies and taking pictures of each other, still dreaming about one day riding with the Slednecks crew. I remember looking at the images and movies in the summertime, dreaming of winter and snowmobiling.

    Then I went on to university, moved to a new city and kind of lost touch with both photography and snowmobiling. I studied for about a year and a half until I realized it really wasn’t for me. I dropped out, not really knowing what to do with my time. I picked up snowmobiling again and raced sno-x for a while. And with snowmobiling also came the urge to document it again. I decided to take a few photography classes and did so for about a year.

    After I had finished, I decided to pack my car and drive around the country. I lived in my car for a couple of months, photographing everything I did. Eventually I ended up in Åre, Sweden’s ski and bike capital. This was about two years ago and I’ve been photographing ever since. My dream is to one day make my living as a full time photographer. I pray for that day to come!

    • Elias Kunosson, Category finalist 2013: Experimental
  • daniel_roos_014626.jpg
    Daniel Roos
    daniel_roos_014626.jpg
    Photographer

    Daniel Roos

    Biography

    I was born and raised in a small wine village in southwest Germany. When I was about 12 years old, skateboarding and taking photos with my dad’s Canon reflex cam were about my biggest passions in life. I was sure that either I’d become a pro skateboarder or a pro photographer. Needless to say, my skate-career didn’t go far. My favorite sports changed over the years but the photography has stayed!

    Finally, at 27, I decided to learn photography as a profession. My time as a trainee was characterized with lots of food and fashion photography. Still, having a sports mindset I gravitated towards shooting pictures of all different extreme-sport genres when I was unleashed onto the world.

    I am really happy to say that I earn my money with the best job on earth; who else gets the chance to work with interesting people all over the world at the most beautiful places you could imagine? And capture these moments for good!

     

    • Daniel Roos, Category finalist 2016: Masterpiece
    • Daniel Roos, Category finalist 2013: Illumination
  • scott_serfas_013091.jpg
    Scott Serfas
    scott_serfas_013091.jpg
    Photographer

    Scott Serfas

    Biography

    I was born in the suburbs of Vancouver, Canada where the only things that separated me from the North Pole were a stained wooden fence and some crushed rock. At the age of 16, I was ‘abducted’ from high school by an unsuspecting cult organization and forced to ski moguls and lame tricks off Lemmings Leap under the 7th heaven chairlift – the original stimulus for my interest in airtime photography.

    Home was a friend’s Volkswagen that we would park underground, below the conference centre. There we would take power from the last stall of the third floor to heat the ’73 Westfalia. I subsisted on leftover food from the Rendezvous restaurant atop Blackcomb Mountain and wore clothing left in the lost and found. During the early 1990s I acquired my first camera when a drunk French-Canadian freestyle skier, being pursued by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, stashed it along with twenty rolls of unexposed Fuji Provia and a half bottle of Rye Whiskey in stall number three of the Garfinkle's washroom. My destiny was sealed.

    In 1998, the world’s largest and most prestigious snowboard magazine, TransWorld SNOWboarding, recruited me as a staff photographer. Now, 18 years later, I still work for them among many other brands and publications. I have had thousands of action sports photos published worldwide including more than 100 covers.

     

    • Scott Serfas, Category finalist 2016: Sequence
    • Scott Serfas, Category finalist 2016: Sequence
    • Scott Serfas, Category finalist 2016: Wings
    • Scott Serfas, Category finalist 2013: Playground
    • Scott Serfas, Category finalist 2013: Wings
    • Scott Serfas, Category finalist 2013: Wings
    • Scott Serfas, Category finalist 2013: Illumination
    • Scott Serfas, Category finalist 2013: Sequence
  • anthony_favennec_010830.jpg
    Anthony Favennec
    anthony_favennec_010830.jpg
    Photographer

    Anthony Favennec

    Biography

    I was born in Morlaix, France, in 1990. My interest in photography started with my family, my father especially, and grew when I started riding BMX at 14. As a teenager, I spent a lot of time riding and traveling with my friends to find riding spots along the Atlantic coast of France. I was lucky enough to share both of these passions with my friends, and as they became better at riding BMX, my photography evolved as well. This lead to my work being published in a magazine for the first time when I was 16.

    At 21, I graduated from photography school, and after working in a few studios, I decided to pursue filmmaking and photography as an independent. Today I am dedicated to film and photography as a creative vision as well as a profession and lifestyle.

    I'm in my element when I shoot sports, especially biking, motorsports, and surface water sports like surfing or wake-boarding. I try to remain close to my BMX origins, partly because it offers endless opportunities to be creative, but also because this sport is the starting point of my passion for capturing life on film.

     

    • Anthony Favennec, Category finalist 2016: Mobile
    • Anthony Favennec, Category finalist 2016: Close Up
    • Anthony Favennec, Category finalist 2013: Lifestyle
  • jussi_grznar_014088.jpg
    Jussi Grznar
    jussi_grznar_014088.jpg
    Photographer

    Jussi Grznar

    Biography

    It all started back in the former Czechoslovakia (now Slovakia) at the age of three when my dad strapped skis on my feet and pushed me down the local hill. Since then, I pretty much skied every winter until I was about 17-years-old, when I got my first snowboard. I would park cars at luxurious hotels in the summer and coach snowboarding in the winter.

    After finishing college I moved to NYC to embark on a hotel management in-ternship. That’s when I used to steal my roommate’s camera and shoot ran-dom photos around the city. Halfway through the internship I went to TGR’s ‘High Life’ premiere. The movie just blew my mind, so two weeks later I packed my stuff and moved to Whistler, BC.

    After the first season in Whistler, I joined a few of my buddies on their surf trip down to Mexico. With the first camera I’d ever owned, a Canon 350D and one lens, I documented the trip and sent a few photos to Mat Rendek, the editor of Boardlife. He loved the photos and we ended up getting a 12-page story pub-lished from that trip. That was the beginning of it all.

    Nowadays, residing in Vancouver, Canada, I’ve worked for a number of great clients, crews and magazines all over the world and I’ll be chasing that ‘next great photo’ for the rest of my life.

     

    • Jussi Grznar, Category finalist 2016: Lifestyle
    • Jussi Grznar, Category finalist 2013: Lifestyle
    • Jussi Grznar, Category finalist 2013: New Creativity
    • Jussi Grznar, Category finalist 2013: New Creativity
    • Jussi Grznar, Category finalist 2013: Sequence
  • jaanus_ree_011260.jpg
    Jaanus Ree
    jaanus_ree_011260.jpg
    Photographer

    Jaanus Ree

    Biography

    Although I was always taking pictures during my school years, my real path towards becoming a professional photographer started when I got injured during a windsurfing competition and I had to stay on the shore for a while. I just couldn’t sit on the beach doing nothing; I wanted to get closer to the action. So I took a camera and got myself on the race officer’s boat as a photographer.

    At first I just wanted to see the action but then I ended up only shooting pictures. After that I was invited to shoot various windsurfing competitions and later on all kinds of different sports. A year later, I enrolled in the Estonian Academy of Arts to study photography.

    Today my main focus is on motorsports but I love to shoot other sports. Thanks to Nikon and Elinchrome I can try almost anything that comes to mind. I am always trying to find something new in every shoot: new lighting techniques, cool remote camera places or anything else. I believe there are a lot of interesting things yet to be discovered in the world of photography.

     

    • Jaanus Ree, Category finalist 2016: New Creativity
    • Jaanus Ree, Category finalist 2016: New Creativity
    • Jaanus Ree, Category finalist 2013: New Creativity
  • Dimitrios_Kontizas.jpg
    Dimitrios Kontizas
    Dimitrios_Kontizas.jpg
    Photographer

    Dimitrios Kontizas

    Biography

    I was born in Athens in 1980. I graduated from the Technological Institute of Athens in Greece as a Technologist of Graphic Arts and Design. For two years I worked at the scanning and photo editing department of a major newspaper in Greece and spent another two years working at a print shop. In addition, I have been the owner of the pre-press company PoisonDesign for more than five years.

    My photographic skills are self-taught and I have never attended a photography school. I just love taking pictures, especially of extreme sports. For the past three years, I have been the official photographer of ProBase, a company that organizes BASE Jumping events all over the world.

    Having my own climbing and photography equipment, I push my limits by trying to reach the edge of every exit point, no matter if it’s at 20m or 1,000m, from a helicopter or a plane. There is nothing more satisfying than the rush of a human being leaping from a safe place and diving towards the ground only with a parachute – I simply love what I do!

    • Dimitrios Kontizas, Category finalist 2013: Wings
  • markus_braumann_010995.jpg
    Markus Braumann
    markus_braumann_010995.jpg
    Photographer

    Markus Braumann

    Biography

    I’m Markus Braumann, 31 years old and raised and living in Berlin. It was a difficult decision for me to spend a huge amount of money on my first DSLR and some equipment.

    My first intention after buying a camera was to get shots and impressions for my sponsors of my weekly trips as a BMX pro. Since day one with my own amateur photo equipment I felt that my money was spent well.

    I was so excited about the new possibilities. I was hungry for more and better lenses and other equipment. While problems with an injury of my back became more annoying, the passion for the photography became bigger and bigger. People gave me positive feedback, I earned the first bugs with my new hobby and my motivation to change my focus from doing professional sports to being a photographer was stable.

    Since day one I love shooting BMX, but as a freelancer I still try to go many different directions with my camera to make new experiences.

     

    • Markus Braumann, Category finalist 2016: Sequence
    • Markus Braumann, Category finalist 2013: Wings
  • Krystle_Wright_105.jpg
    Krystle Wright
    Krystle_Wright_105.jpg
    Photographer

    Krystle Wright

    Biography

    Originally from the Sunshine Coast, Australia, these days my home has become the road worldwide as I pursue projects and expeditions around the world. I began my career in sports photography but after experiencing my first expedition to Baffin Island in 2010, I knew I had stumbled onto a different lifestyle that I wanted to breathe constantly. It was then, a chance phone call in 2011 offering me to work as a guide in Antarctica, that I finally left the newspaper world altogether and pursued freelance full-time. 
    As a friend once taught me, the pursuit of adventure photography is a lifestyle that you live and breathe and the line between work and play blends into each other constantly. I don't think I would have it any other way. Over time, my career has also evolved into directing and cinematography and whilst I enjoy the new challenges, my love for photography is what lights the fire the brightest. The beauty of the still frame and capturing a story within a fraction of a second will always be an art that is never tamed since art is never finished. My clients include Canon Australia, Red Bull, National Geographic, and many more. 

    • Krystle Wright, Category Semi-Finalist 2019: RAW
    • Krystle Wright, Category finalist 2013: Energy
    • Krystle Wright, Category finalist 2013: Wings
    • Krystle Wright, Category finalist 2013: Wings
  • George_Karbus.jpg
    George Karbus
    George_Karbus.jpg
    Photographer

    George Karbus

    Biography

    I'm a wildlife, water and landscape photographer based on the west coast of Ireland. I'm focused on wild marine mammals, the ocean, waves, surf photography and beautifully lit coastal sceneries. I try to capture the beauty of nature in its purest aspects. All my underwater images are taken during freediving in natural light in order to make them look as realistic as possible.

    My work is well recognized around the world and has been exhibited in Washington, London and Japan. My photography has appeared in the pages of Nature’s Best, BBC Wildlife magazine, BBC Focus, Nikon Pro, Outdoor Photography and many more.

    • George Karbus, Category finalist 2013: Spirit
    • George Karbus, Category finalist 2013: New Creativity
    • George Karbus, Category finalist 2013: Spirit
    • George Karbus, Category finalist 2013: Close Up
  • Marc_Daviet_1353.jpg
    Marc Daviet
    Marc_Daviet_1353.jpg
    Photographer

    Marc Daviet

    Biography

    Born in Annecy in the Haute-Savoie, where I still live, the French Alps have been my playground from a very young age. Skiing, snowboarding, climbing, mountaineering or caving, all these practices allowed me to appreciate nature and especially the mountains. Being a climbing instructor, an international route setter for competitions and former member of the French Climbing Team, I have a sound knowledge of this field, which allows me to have a particular look, that of an actor. When I'm behind the lens, I feel what makes the athletes vibrate. Taking pictures of climbing, mountaineering or skiing means, above all, spending long days together with athletes, sometimes in very difficult conditions. Unforeseen circumstances may arise anytime, during photo shoots, too; quite often, it is precisely then that the most beautiful images are shot, the ones with that little added zest, that piquancy which make them unique. Outdoor photography also equals to fabulous scenery, especially in the mountains, where light changes all the time. Ideally, you should be both a landscape and an action photographer. I am both. It's these moods, these little precious moments that I try to share through my pictures.

    • Marc Daviet, Category Semi-Finalist 2019: Playground
    • Marc Daviet, Category Finalist 2019: Creative by Skylum
    • Marc Daviet, Category Semi-Finalist 2019: Innovation by Sony
    • Marc Daviet, Category Semi-Finalist 2019: Lifestyle
    • Marc Daviet, Category finalist 2013: Close Up
  • michael_burnett_014751.jpg
    Michael Burnett
    michael_burnett_014751.jpg
    Photographer

    Michael Burnett

    Biography

    My name is Michael Burnett and I live in Cardiff-by-the-Sea, California. I became interested in photography as a teenager, staring at skateboard magazines – a hard-to-find commodity in the small Texas town I grew up in.

    As a student at the University of Colorado in Boulder I started making my own homemade skate 'zine, taking photos and writing about my friends and our adventures. After graduating with a journalism degree I was lucky enough to get my dream job – a staff photographer for Thrasher magazine. Seventeen years later and I'm the editor at large of this storied publication, still shooting photos and constantly stoked to be out skateboarding with some of the best in the world.

    It took me quite awhile to get my technical skills down (this was in the film era mind you,) but soon after I realized I also needed to pay attention to the more subtle moments that happened while I was out chasing around the rad. Inspired by street photographers like Robert Frank and my friends Ed Templeton and Fred Mortagne, I appreciate a funny reaction, epic composition or impromptu portrait just as much as the biggest air or handrail.

     

    • Michael Burnett, Category finalist 2016: Lifestyle
    • Michael Burnett, Category finalist 2013: Close Up
  • pally_learmond_012502.jpg
    Pally Learmond
    pally_learmond_012502.jpg
    Photographer

    Pally Learmond

    Biography

    I am a British photographer who now calls Innsbruck and the surrounding mountains in Austria my home. I’ve had a strong interest in photography since my teenage years, but it wasn’t until a badly broken leg halted my improbable attempts at becoming a professional freeskier that I decided to finally give up on that dream and study photography properly.

    I returned to the mountains and lived in an old military ambulance when I began shooting with friends who went on to pick up sponsors. I have been shooting professionally since 2006.

    These days I almost exclusively concentrate on shooting freeskiing action and the surrounding lifestyle and environment. This keeps me on the road for at least six months of the year, working with the biggest brands, athletes and film production companies in the sport. Even after 10 years, the prospect of new locations and the ever-evolving nature of the sport still keeps it fresh and exciting for me.

     

    • Pally Learmond, Category Semi-Finalist 2019: Wings
    • Pally Learmond, Category finalist 2016: Energy
    • Pally Learmond, Category finalist 2013: Close Up
  • Dave_Trumpore_2578.jpg
    Dave Trumpore
    Dave_Trumpore_2578.jpg
    Photographer

    Dave Trumpore

    Biography

    Photographer, world traveler and mountain biker for life. A former racer, Dave has recently turned his attention to photography and travel to document the sports top athletes in some stunning locations. His work is regularly published in all major cycling magazines and websites, and he has a client list made up of the who's who of the MTB industry. When not traveling in search of fresh trails and memorable images, he can be found riding his bike or skiing somewhere in beautiful Vermont.

    • Dave Trumpore, Category Semi-Finalist 2019: Playground
    • Dave Trumpore, Category finalist 2016: Lifestyle
    • Dave Trumpore, Category finalist 2016: Masterpiece
    • Dave Trumpore, Category finalist 2013: Spirit
    • Dave Trumpore, Category finalist 2013: Close Up
  • jeff_zielinski_011387.jpg
    Jeff Zielinski
    jeff_zielinski_011387.jpg
    Photographer

    Jeff Zielinski

    Biography

    You know you truly love doing something if you’re willing to get up early, stay up late, spend tons of money, and keep trying at it after countless failures. I began dusting myself off and trying again with BMX over 20 years ago, and photography followed shortly after.

    When you boil them down, they’re inherently the same – you have a tool that you can operate by yourself, and once you learn how to use it, you can manipulate it and ap-ply your own style to it. I’ve always considered myself to be extremely lucky to turn the marriage of my two labors of love into what I do everyday for a living.

    The staff position I’ve held at RideBMX magazine for the last 15 years has enabled me to travel the world, meet countless amazing people, and photograph a lot of in-credible BMX riding. The constant demands and unpredictability of the day-to-day grind of a BMX photographer has forced me to continuously hone my skills and con-stantly refine my style as a photographer and prepare me for any situation or subject matter.

     

    • Jeff Zielinski, Category finalist 2016: Playground
    • Jeff Zielinski, Category finalist 2016: Spirit
    • Jeff Zielinski, Category finalist 2013: Lifestyle
    • Jeff Zielinski, Category finalist 2013: Lifestyle
    • Jeff Zielinski, Category finalist 2013: Lifestyle
    • Jeff Zielinski, Category finalist 2013: Energy
  • Jeremiah_Watt_2711.jpg
    Jeremiah Watt
    Jeremiah_Watt_2711.jpg
    Photographer

    Jeremiah Watt

    Biography

    In the late 90s, after a college internship gone awry, I turned to photography as an educational possibility. Years later, after life in a van, following the seasons for rock and snow, my camera and I reconnected. Many cameras later, I still love an eclectic crew and a wild endeavor. Currently based in Salt Lake City, UT, my hope is to create an authentic story and character driven imagery that places the viewer in the midst of the experience. 

    • Jeremiah Watt, Category Semi-Finalist 2019: Masterpiece by EyeEm
    • Jeremiah Watt, Category finalist 2016: Close Up
    • Jeremiah Watt, Category finalist 2016: Energy
    • Jeremiah Watt, Category finalist 2016: Masterpiece
    • Jeremiah Watt, Category finalist 2016: Masterpiece
    • Jeremiah Watt, Category finalist 2013: Energy
  • fabrice_wittner_011783.jpg
    Fabrice Wittner
    fabrice_wittner_011783.jpg
    Photographer

    Fabrice Wittner

    Biography

    I began my artistic journey through drawing, painting and tattooing. After six years as a professional outdoor photographer, I joined the Slack.fr team as a senior photographer and creative manager where my time is divided between developing creative content for the slackline company and traveling the world for photo projects.

    During those years, I've worked with global outdoor press and brands. Today, my attachment to Slack.fr allows me to be a bit more selective with my work and definitely spend more time on personal projects.

    2015 was a great year for traveling and shooting. It started in January with a trip to Japan where I witnessed and fully appreciated a two meter snow pack. In September Leo Taillefer dragged me on a freeski trip to Patagonia.

    After a short stay in France, I flew to Vietnam to shoot the last part of a portrait project based on the traditions of ethnic minorities. Photography has always brought me that daily dose of inspiration and motivation I need. The focus might change but the creative process remains vital to me.

     

    • Fabrice Wittner, Category finalist 2016: Enhance
    • Fabrice Wittner, Category finalist 2016: Sequence
    • Fabrice Wittner, Category finalist 2016: Sequence
    • Fabrice Wittner, Category finalist 2013: Experimental
  • Jutzi_Nicolas.jpg
    Nicolas Jutzi
    Jutzi_Nicolas.jpg
    Photographer

    Nicolas Jutzi

    Biography

    I am a professional photographer and cinematographer based in Switzerland and have been interested in photography since my teenage years. I knew a career in photography would be challenging, so I followed my parents’ advice to get a university degree first. In 2009 I got my Master in Sport Science.

    However, my passion for photography was more alive than ever and I decided to start my career as a photographer. I am so keen on photography that it has not only become part of my life but also nourishes my dreams.

    My favorite subjects are outdoor sports, in particular sailing and mountaineering. Indeed I have always found the wind, snow, water and freezing conditions very inspiring. I like to observe the interaction between athletes and nature. Today, my work includes both photography and video, in Switzerland as well as abroad. I would change my job for nothing on earth, as photography brings me everything I ever pursued. Thanks to this very varied art, I can travel and discover amazing places as well as meet a lot of enriching people.

    • Nicolas Jutzi, Category finalist 2013: Illumination
  • chris_garrison_013134.jpg
    Chris Garrison
    chris_garrison_013134.jpg
    Photographer

    Chris Garrison

    Biography

    You can usually find me somewhere between Gate C35 and the rental car line – I spend most of the year traveling with more checked baggage than an average family of 12.

     

    I grew up in Naples, FL and developed an addiction to white sand and blue water. I originally specialized in shooting extreme action sports and athletes, and created a unique style over the past decade, which has led to the nickname FlashGarrison.

    These days I’m immersed in the highly competitive world of commercial advertising.

    Some of the first agencies and brands I worked with were dream clients; the knowledge I took away from working with these large brands has given me the confidence to push further on every shoot and I’m humbled to have received many awards for my work.

    As a multi-sport athlete myself, I have a passion to push boundaries and have collected enough camp fire stories to blow the most seasoned veteran’s mind! Unfortunately, I rarely have the time to tell them as Gate C35 is calling.

     

    • Chris Garrison, Category finalist 2016: Close Up
    • Chris Garrison, Category finalist 2013: Illumination
  • Martin_Lugger.jpg
    Martin Lugger
    Martin_Lugger.jpg
    Photographer

    Martin Lugger

    Biography

    I was born in Austria and grew up in an environment of steep mountains and wild rivers. Sports have always played an important role in my life since I was a kid. About 14 years ago, my uncle bought me a camera and I started taking pictures of friends climbing rocks and riding their mountain bikes.

    During my studies at the University of Applied Sciences I focused on photography. In 2007 I finished my master thesis in photography and was awarded a diploma in environmental technologies. In 2009 I decided to turn my passion into a career and have been specializing in sports, portrait and lifestyle photography ever since.

    For me, photography is all about the right moment. The right angle, nice light conditions and good vibes are the best recipe for top shots!

    • Martin Lugger, Category finalist 2013: Playground
  • Romina_Amato.jpg
    Romina Amato
    Romina_Amato.jpg
    Photographer

    Romina Amato

    Biography

    One day when I was 13 and still going to school in Switzerland, we were given this homework assignment to write about how we saw our future and what we wanted to be. I was excited about it – and believe me, that didn't happen very often at school!

    The next day, I proudly stood at the front of the classroom, presenting my story about wanting to be a photographer when I leave school to my classmates and teacher. My teacher took me aside afterwards and said, “It’s great that you are enthusiastic about your hobby, Romina, but you should really think about a decent profession!”

    Thirteen years later, when I was at the supermarket, I bumped into the same teacher again. He asked me how things were going and mentioned he had heard me being interviewed on the radio about sports photography.

    It was with great delight that I gave him my business card, which read "Romina Amato Photography", and told him how I was having an absolute blast traveling around, photographing cool stuff and amazing people in fantastic locations and even making a living from it – just like a "decent profession"!

    • Romina Amato, Category finalist 2013: Energy
  • john_barton_015670.jpg
    John Barton
    john_barton_015670.jpg
    Photographer

    John Barton

    Biography

    I’m from Perth, Western Australia. I feel my photographic passion wasn’t ignited by a single definitive moment, rather that a natural progression of events has led me down this path from a very young age. I’d always enjoyed capturing images but not until I began taking photography classes while completing an Advanced Diploma in graphic design at University did I start to really learn the craft.

    As an avid surfer, it was only a matter of time before my passion for the ocean and photography merged. I began shooting seascapes and surf in my spare time while working as an advertising creative, but after four years in an office, my wanderlust was undeniable. After a golden opportunity presented itself, I left the career behind to pursue my photographic dreams and moved to the Mentawai Islands in Indonesia where I would endeavor to forge my way as a surf photographer.

    Six years later, photography has taken me all over the world and I’m so honoured to still be living my dream. If the experiences I’ve had and the friendships I’ve made to date are anything to go by, I’m so excited to see where photography is going to lead me next.

     

    • John Barton, Category finalist 2016: New Creativity
    • John Barton, Category finalist 2013: Close Up
  • roberto_bragotto_011392.jpg
    Roberto Bragotto
    roberto_bragotto_011392.jpg
    Photographer

    Roberto Bragotto

    Biography

    I was born in a little town close to the mountains in 1980. Twenty years later I graduated from college as a graphic designer and photographer. During those years I was able to study and work with analog systems and black and white prints.

    After my graduation I did some photographic and calligraphic courses and I've been working as a freelance professional photographer for eight years now. I’ve covered positions for the main snowboard magazines in Italy, and am currently working with international titles as well as extreme sports brands.

    I started as a skater, but after three knee surgeries I had to quit and moved to snowboarding. I’m still riding as much as I can. Over the past five years I have dedicated my time to riding and shooting in the backcountry. I also love to shoot any kind of action sport and always stick to my style which distinguishes me.

    I believe that photography is a silent and sophisticated form of sensibility, different for every one of us. A real photo should be able to tell a story, a story that stays in your mind forever. I also believe I have the Peter Pan syndrome – I’m a half hippie, half gipsy living in the Italian countryside when not traveling around the world, and still believe in dreams.

     

    • Roberto Bragotto, Category finalist 2016: Enhance
    • Roberto Bragotto, Category finalist 2013: Experimental
  • Florian_Breitenberger.jpg
    Florian Breitenberger
    Florian_Breitenberger.jpg
    Photographer

    Florian Breitenberger

    Biography

    Growing up in the south of Munich (more precisely in Breitbrunn at the Ammersee) in the 1990s, I was strongly influenced by the Alps that surrounded me. About three years ago, I picked up my first camera and followed my friends into the mountains. It was my passion to highlight the culture and mountains surrounding me.

    Recently I have moved to Innsbruck, Austria to combine my studies with my passion for action sports photography. This step has not only helped me become a team photographer for the German Salomon Freeski Team, but has also given me the opportunity to work as a photo intern for downdays’ Freeski Journal and shoot the biggest European freeski events such as Nine Knights and Nine Queens.

    I've come a long way and my camera has given me the chance to meet many great people and capture many great moments and emotions. Right now, I’m in my fourth semester studying Management & Economics in Innsbruck. This year I decided to take a break from my photography for a while and fully concentrate on university. Apart from photography, I’m also into mountain biking, climbing, sailing and kitesurfing in the summer.

    • Florian Breitenberger, Category finalist 2013: Experimental
  • paul_bride_012404.jpg
    Paul Bride
    paul_bride_012404.jpg
    Photographer

    Paul Bride

    Biography

    I am a professional adventure and travel photographer residing in Squamish, BC, Canada. My photography career began back in 1995 when my girlfriend, and now wife, loaned me a point and shoot camera for a six-month solo trip through Asia. Armed with eight rolls of film I quickly realized I needed a better camera, and wanted to keep traveling.

    Twenty years later I’m still on the road but now shoot for some of the top outdoor companies in North America, and I have a way better camera!

    In a fast paced digital era I have stayed true to my style of shooting in natural light, creating images composed of clean lines and searching out unique locations.

     

    • Paul Bride, Category finalist 2016: Spirit
    • Paul Bride, Category finalist 2016: Masterpiece
    • Paul Bride, Category finalist 2013: Playground
  • alex_buisse_011674.jpg
    Alex Buisse
    alex_buisse_011674.jpg
    Photographer

    Alex Buisse

    Biography

    Alex Buisse walks the walk when it comes to capturing adventure and lifestyle imagery. He lives, breathes and takes active part in the variety of assignments and personal projects he undertakes. His expedition photography has led him around the world and the mountains are where Alex is most comfortable, and where he thrives as both an image maker and an alpinist.

    He has sailed an expedition yacht around Cape Horn, spent four days climbing a granite spire alone, named three mountains in Greenland, photographed the Rio Olympics, skied to the North Pole, climbed high on K2, trekked through the wilderness of Tierra del Fuego and kayaked with sea lions in the Galapagos Islands, among many other adventures.

    Alex is an alumnus of both the Eddie Adams and the Conflict Photography Workshops. He is based out of Chamonix.

    • Alex Buisse, Category Semi-Finalist 2019: RAW
    • Alex Buisse, Category Semi-Finalist 2019: Creative by Skylum
    • Alex Buisse, Category Semi-Finalist 2019: Lifestyle
    • Alex Buisse, Category finalist 2016: Masterpiece
    • Alex Buisse, Category finalist 2013: Spirit
  • Dan_Carr.jpg
    Dan Carr
    Dan_Carr.jpg
    Photographer

    Dan Carr

    Biography

    I was born in the UK and got my first taste of skiing and snowboarding during gap-year travels that took me to Whistler in British Columbia, Canada. I returned to England to complete a degree in Aerospace Engineering but I could never really get Whistler out of my mind. During university I took regular trips to Europe and my love for the outdoors and mountain lifestyle continued to grow.

    After finishing my degree, I headed back to Whistler for "one more year" and this time I purchased a camera just before I set off and soon found my passion for mountain life also extended to documenting it. Local magazines began asking to use my images and once I saw them in print I knew that the path in life that I had originally chosen was now changed forever. Within a year I had transitioned to shooting ski photography full time and my list of clients grew steadily to the point where I have done work for most of the major ski companies and many of the biggest ski magazines across the globe.

    I live full time in Whistler now, and I am a permanent Canadian resident. My passion for photography has grown to encompass many other fields, including motorsports, landscapes and wildlife. As well as shooting I also love to teach and I split my time between working for my clients and writing educational photography content for a variety of websites and magazines. This year I have also launched my own educational company called Shutter Muse, a website where people can follow my adventures and receive in-depth educational content on specific techniques like sequences as used in Red Bull Illume ...

    • Dan Carr, Category finalist 2013: Sequence
  • claudio_casanova_012774.jpg
    Claudio Casanova
    claudio_casanova_012774.jpg
    Photographer

    Claudio Casanova

    Biography

    On April 12th in 1985 I was born in Einsiedeln, Switzerland. The pre-alpine area around the famous monastery village is known as a winter sports paradise nationwide. The first ski tows are practically in front of my doorstep and therefore it was easy to have already be inspired by snow sports as a teenager. I apprehended the basis for my snowboard skills from skiing when I was a child. However, snowboarding became the true passion during my youth.
    I found my second passion through my job as a carpenter. I documented my finished work photographically and thereby discovered my joy and my talent for photography. Both passions can be linked perfectly and since I was able to get a few good shots in my early days, I became more and more enthusiastic for the creative art form.
    Even though my free time next to my full commitment as a carpenter is scarce, I use every free minute to be in the mountains with my snowboard and photo equipment to work on my projects.
    In 2009, I won 3rd place in a Swiss Youth Photography Award and was then able to reap laurels for a photo for the first time. At the same time, I presented two photos in the context of a local youth development project called ‘Young Art in Einsiedeln’. I was a finalist at the Sony World Photography Awards 2010 and my snowboard photo was chosen among the best ten photos in the category ‘Sport Amateur’. 
    These awards, along with the versatile positive feedback, motivated me to invest additional time and money into photography.
    In 2014, the world’s largest and most prestigious snowboard magazine, TransWorld SNOWboarding, gives me the ‘Photo Annual 2014 Cover’.
    In 2013 and 2016 I exhibited a photo at Red Bull Illume as a finalist.  After the events in Hong Kong and Chicago, the photos toured around the world since 2013 till now as an Outdoor and Indoor exhibition.
    And since then, I had many of my snowboard action sports photos published worldwide.

    • Claudio Casanova, Category Semi-Finalist 2019: Innovation by Sony
    • Claudio Casanova, Category finalist 2016: Close Up
    • Claudio Casanova, Category finalist 2016: Energy
    • Claudio Casanova, Category finalist 2016: Lifestyle
    • Claudio Casanova, Category finalist 2013: Close Up
  • Jimmy_Chin_4021.jpg
    Jimmy Chin
    Jimmy_Chin_4021.jpg
    Photographer

    Jimmy Chin

    Biography

    Jimmy Chin is an Academy Award winning filmmaker, National Geographic photographer and a professional climber for the North Face Athlete team. He has led cutting-edge expeditions around the world for over 20 years. He has climbed and skiied Mount Everest from the summit and made the coveted first ascent of the Shark's Fin on Mount Meru. His photographs have graced the covers of National Geographic Magazine and the New York Times Magazine. Jimmy co-produces and co-directs with his wife Chai Vasarhelyi. Their film Meru won the Audience Award at the Sundance Film Festival in 2015 and was on the 2016 Oscar shortlist for Best Documentary Feature. Their latest documentary Free Solo won a BAFTA and an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature and 7 Emmy's in 2019. Jimmy splits his time between New York City and Jackson Hole, Wyoming, with Chai, their daughter, Marina, and son, James.

    • Jimmy Chin, Category Semi-Finalist 2019: Lifestyle
    • Jimmy Chin, Category finalist 2013: Wings
    • Jimmy Chin, Category finalist 2013: Spirit
  • ale_di_lullo_010875.jpg
    Ale Di Lullo
    ale_di_lullo_010875.jpg
    Photographer

    Ale Di Lullo

    Biography

    I was born and raised at Lake Garda, Italy and have been passionate about outdoor and extreme sports since a young age.

    After an education in classical arts finished with a design and graphic communication degree, I had the chance to become a photographer for what in those days was an emerging sport – freeride mountain bike. It was already my passion and lifestyle.

    In more than a decade in this business I've been shooting every aspect of the sport in many different parts of the world; from the competitions to the adventure and lifestyle around it, and with the best athletes around from every discipline. My work has been displayed in almost every mountain bike magazine on the planet, with quite a few covers too. For several years I’ve also been shooting for some of the coolest brands in the industry on specific assignments and documenting races and contests around the world.

    • Ale Di Lullo, Category Semi-Finalist 2019: Lifestyle
    • Ale Di Lullo, Category Semi-Finalist 2019: Playground
    • Ale Di Lullo, Category finalist 2016: New Creativity
    • Ale Di Lullo, Category finalist 2016: Lifestyle
    • Ale Di Lullo, Category finalist 2016: Lifestyle
    • Ale Di Lullo, Category finalist 2016: Sequence
    • Ale Di Lullo, Category finalist 2013: Close Up
  • Scott_Dickerson.jpg
    Scott Dickerson
    Scott_Dickerson.jpg
    Photographer

    Scott Dickerson

    Biography

    Alaska is my homeland and the wild places here are the main source of my creative inspiration. Photography is a passion and a tool that both documents and supports my lifestyle. Twelve short years ago I resigned from a decade of commercial fishing in Alaska and have been focused on photography as my career ever since.

    The subjects I photograph are the things I love most; in this way photography has supported the pursuit of my passions in life and enabled me to stay light-footed and in touch with the natural cycles of life and nature. As my interests change, so do my subjects. Cold water surfing and flying are two of my favorite things, so naturally I shoot a lot of aerials and surfing photos. Occasionally I even combine the two!

    My photography work is for both assignment and stock, with a healthy balance of personal projects.

    • Scott Dickerson, Category finalist 2013: Playground
  • clark_fyans_010781.jpg
    Clark Fyans
    clark_fyans_010781.jpg
    Photographer

    Clark Fyans

    Biography

    I found a passion with photography at an early age when I was gifted my first SLR camera at the age of ten. Nearly 30 years later, the passion has only intensified. I feel lucky to have been introduced during the era of film and darkrooms.

    Early on in my life, I realized I was going to be spending a lot of time in the mountains. I was born at the base of the Wasatch Mountains in Salt Lake City, Utah and started skiing and climbing at a very early age.

    I am fortunate to have a profession that takes me to the corners of the planet. To the summits of the highest mountain peaks, to below the surface of the sea, I am dedicated to capture these moments to make them live forever.

     

    • Clark Fyans, Category finalist 2016: Playground
    • Clark Fyans, Category finalist 2013: Illumination
  • Lucas_Gilman.jpg
    Lucas Gilman
    Lucas_Gilman.jpg
    Photographer

    Lucas Gilman

    Biography

    I grew up in the mountains of Western Colorado and graduated from the University of Colorado at Boulder School of Journalism. I shoot adventure sports and travel for top magazines and commercial clients worldwide.

    I regularly work with editorial and advertising clients that span the globe, including National Geographic, Sports Illustrated, ESPN Magazine,  ESPN.com, Men’s Journal, and Outside Magazine. My commercial clients include G-Tech, Nikon, Lowepro, Manfrotto, SanDisk, Garmin, Patagonia, Gore-Tex, Marmot and Land Rover.

    • Lucas Gilman, Category finalist 2013: Wings
    • Lucas Gilman, Category finalist 2013: Sequence
  • Benjamin_Ginsberg.jpg
    Benjamin Ginsberg
    Benjamin_Ginsberg.jpg
    Photographer

    Benjamin Ginsberg

    Biography

    Ever since I got my first 35mm SLR as a kid I enjoyed taking photos – it was a fun thing to do. But it wasn’t until I made a photo journal as part of my high school senior project for a trip called the ‘March of the Living’ (6,000 Jewish teens touring the Nazi concentration camps of Poland) that I realized the power of an image.

    Growing up between the southern Connecticut shore and the mountains of Vermont I was lucky enough to strap on a pair of skis at the age of two, and spend many summers in the ocean at Martha's Vineyard. As a competitive freestyle skier traveling the country, I quickly caught the travel bug. My sense of adventure took me out of the cold New England mountains to the warm shores of Australia. There I spent a year learning to surf, and began taking photos of both surfing and the amazing beauty of Australia. Soon I learned that with little more than my camera and surfboard I was immensely happy.

    Upon returning stateside, I moved to Boston, where I began my career working throughout the New England region as a photographer, urban planner, and freestyle ski coach. Falls were spent chasing hurricane swells from Rhode Island to New Hampshire, and weekends in winter on the snow in Vermont. By 2007 I was seriously missing the beach life, and took an urban planning job, which allowed me to relocate to Orange County, California. In 2009 I made the switch to full time photography.

    Since my first Fine Art sale in 2005 I have traveled as much of the world as possible, combining my passion for adventure and action sports with my love for photography.

    • Benjamin Ginsberg, Category finalist 2013: Wings
  • Paris_Gore_75.jpg
    Paris Gore
    Paris_Gore_75.jpg
    Photographer

    Paris Gore

    Biography

    With an uncanny eye for capturing the natural, uninhibited stories that shine from his subjects, professional photographer Paris Gore has dedicated himself to documenting mountain bike action and culture for the past 10 years. Taking his talents learned in the bike world, Paris has now translated his vision into the broader industry of sports, automotive campaigns and more. Based in Bellingham, Washington, Paris graduated from the world-class Commercial Photography Program at Seattle Central and has pursued his passion of photographing life behind handlebars and the world beyond. 

    First as a rider, then a photographer, Paris has long studied the interplay of movement, light and landscape in the mountains. From behind the lens, he translates those stories for his audience through images crisp with authenticity. His work is routinely featured in major publications and powered commercial campaigns for companies all around the world. 

    • Paris Gore, Category Semi-Finalist 2019: RAW
    • Paris Gore, Category Semi-Finalist 2019: RAW
    • Paris Gore, Category Semi-Finalist 2019: Lifestyle
    • Paris Gore, Category finalist 2016: Sequence
    • Paris Gore, Category finalist 2013: Playground
  • Blotto_Gray.jpg
    Blotto Gray
    Blotto_Gray.jpg
    Photographer

    Blotto Gray

    Biography

    My interest in photography started when I picked up my first issues of skateboarding magazines. I immediately identified with not only the action in the photos, but with the image itself. The photographs struck a chord with me and in a subconscious way got me thinking about composing still life images of my friends as we skateboarded all over the Southwest United States.

    It wasn’t until some years later while living in Vail, Colorado that I actually picked up a camera and started taking pictures. My buddies and I owned a small snowboarding company which didn’t have the budget to pay for ad photos, so we learned to photograph, design catalogs and create a website ourselves. It was a learn-out-of-necessity scenario, and although we made plenty of mistakes, we were learning with everything we tried.

    Eventually I moved out to Burlington, Vermont in 1999 to work for Burton Snowboards as a Team Manager. This led to the job of Principal Photographer in 2003, which I still have to this day, documenting the Burton Team as they make their way around the world for contest, photo shoots and film trips.

    • Blotto Gray, Category finalist 2013: Sequence
  • ismael_ibanez_ruiz_013700.jpg
    Ismael Ibañez Ruiz
    ismael_ibanez_ruiz_013700.jpg
    Photographer

    Ismael Ibañez Ruiz

    Biography

    I’m a photographer from Burgos, a town situated in the north of Spain. Some years ago I discovered an incredible world named photography. All my life has been about BMX riding and when I took up photography I tried to create a new vision of the Spanish BMX scene.

    I shoot for different brands such as Fly Bikes, G-Shock, Arnette, Dickies or Pirate as well as for bike magazines like Wallride Magazine, Ride BMX Magazine, DIG BMX or Freedom BMX.

    All my inspiration comes from traveling, friends, colors, sensations, smells and bikes. I love taking photos in strange places like derelict skate parks with lots of old cement and ‘agro’ textures. I’m also passionate about the mountains – the interplay of colors and light there is amazing!

     

    • Ismael Ibañez Ruiz, Category finalist 2016: Enhance
    • Ismael Ibañez Ruiz, Category finalist 2013: Lifestyle
  • maksim_kalanep_014386.jpg
    Maksim Kalanep
    maksim_kalanep_014386.jpg
    Photographer

    Maksim Kalanep

    Biography

    I'm originally from a very small town in Latvia called Ventspils, but now I live and work as a professional freelance photographer in London, UK.

    My journey as a photographer started when I was already filming my friends skateboarding on my parents’ camera and was about to go to university to pursue a career in filming. Right at the start of my first course, on top of all our regular subjects, we got a class in traditional black and white photography. I got so excited and into it, especially shooting on film and developing everything in the darkroom, that I changed my mind and switched to a photography course and eventually graduated as a photographer.

    I never stopped filming, but in my head I decided that I wanted to be a professional photographer and earn my living that way and leave filming as a hobby. So to fulfil that dream I moved to London and spent two years working as a studio assistant getting experience, knowledge and saving for the equipment to be able to work as a freelancer.

    Nowadays I shoot skateboarding and non-skateboarding events and campaigns both in the UK and in Europe. I'm happy where I am and can't wait to see where photography will take me next.

     

    • Maksim Kalanep, Category finalist 2016: Spirit
    • Maksim Kalanep, Category finalist 2013: New Creativity
  • Reuben_Krabbe_3613.jpg
    Reuben Krabbe
    Reuben_Krabbe_3613.jpg
    Photographer

    Reuben Krabbe

    Biography

    Reuben Krabbe is a photographer from Squamish who likes long walks on the beach, and getting overly stressed about shooting pictures of space. 

    • Reuben Krabbe, Category Semi-Finalist 2019: Lifestyle
    • Reuben Krabbe, Category finalist 2016: Mobile
    • Reuben Krabbe, Category finalist 2013: Close Up
  • Christoph_Laue_3944.jpg
    Christoph Laue
    Christoph_Laue_3944.jpg
    Photographer

    Christoph Laue

    Biography

    Reading a magazine always meant looking at pictures for me; I think I’ve always been a visual kind of person. My second passion has always been mountain biking. I grew up in a small village in Germany and spent a lot of time outside, playing in the forests and riding my bike. I realized that being outside would have to be a part of my job. I started to take pictures of my buddies when we were riding in our local woods. A big step was definitely my first Nikon D200 that I could only afford thanks to an inheritance I got from my grandparents.

    I was overwhelmed when I saw my first published work in the magazines I used to read as a teenager. These successes pushed me more. My three-year apprenticeship as a photographer in Stuttgart helped me to become more professional.

    Today I feel extremely blessed to have a job that combines my passion for outdoor sports and photography. As a freelance photographer, I have the opportunity to travel to the most exciting spots all over the world and to work with fantastic athletes. Catching the one moment that defines the whole movement is what inspires me. My motivation is to go out there and capture the essence of action sports – hunting the perfect moment, scenery, mood and light. 

    • Christoph Laue, Category Semi-Finalist 2019: Innovation by Sony
    • Christoph Laue, Category finalist 2016: Masterpiece
    • Christoph Laue, Category finalist 2013: Wings
  • dave_lehl_014987.jpg
    Dave Lehl
    dave_lehl_014987.jpg
    Photographer

    Dave Lehl

    Biography

    I am an action adventure lifestyle photographer. I grew up riding bicycles, motorcycles, skateboards, and going camping with my family. Team sports and rules never appealed to us. I've been shooting professionally since 1998 when I graduated from college and started shooting model portfolios. I assisted professionally for six years with a plan of moving to New York, but ended up spending a season in Summit County, Colorado, where I quickly found that I was better at capturing action than beauty! I shot snowboarding exclusively for seven years, traveling the globe forever chasing snowstorms, until I decided to branch out into action in general. Nowadays I love shooting skateboarding, motorcycling, running, and the lifestyle that surrounds our odd obsessions.

    I'm really more attracted to conceptual action photography these days. When I shoot, I try to think of a new way of capturing the action, something that hasn't been done before. I've gotten tired of only shooting what's there; instead I try to think outside of the box and think, "what COULD be there?" I also really enjoy teaming up with athletes who like to take the extra time and effort to work with me on my concepts, even though we might not be getting the standard 'banger'. It takes a bit of a leap of faith to put your trust in someone who isn't shooting the standard shots, and I definitely appreciate that.

     

    • Dave Lehl, Category finalist 2016: Enhance
    • Dave Lehl, Category finalist 2013: Spirit
    • Dave Lehl, Category finalist 2013: Experimental
  • jody_macdonald_015052.jpg
    Jody MacDonald
    jody_macdonald_015052.jpg
    Photographer

    Jody MacDonald

    Biography

    I am a documentary and adventure sport photographer. I grew up in Saudi Arabia and it instilled in me a penchant for adventure and interest in different cultures. I began taking photography classes in university while I was majoring in Outdoor Recreation. I quickly fell in love with the medium as it allowed me to combine my two passions of art and outdoor sports in a very creative way. From that moment on, I would take my camera with me on all my outdoor adventures and my love for photography grew.

    In 2004 I began sailing around the world and my photography progressed as I traveled and adventured in different countries. For almost a decade I have called a 60ft catamaran my home as I’ve sailed to the wildest corners of the planet on a global kiteboarding, paragliding and surfing expedition that’s taken me to over 60 countries. This experience has provided me with an incredible platform to pursue my passion for photography in unique and inspiring environments.

    Today, I live in the mountain town of Sun Valley, Idaho and work as a freelance photographer. I am currently a Nat Geo Creative photographer and some of my current clients include National Geographic, Patagonia, Leica and Ford.

     

    • Jody MacDonald, Category finalist 2016: Lifestyle
    • Jody MacDonald, Category finalist 2013: Wings
    • Jody MacDonald, Category finalist 2013: Wings
    • Jody MacDonald, Category finalist 2013: Illumination
  • Rafal_Meszka.jpg
    Rafal Meszka
    Rafal_Meszka.jpg
    Photographer

    Rafal Meszka

    Biography

    I am a freelance photographer born in Warsaw, Poland in 1974. I started my career in 1998 and specialize in underwater, freediving and scuba-diving photography for magazines such as Playboy, Elle or Uroda.

    About five years ago, I started freediving training with the Warsaw Freediving Team. Soon, I was taking pictures of the freedivers and doing underwater fashion shoots and the whole thing quickly turned into my biggest passion.

    Apart from that, I have a nine-year-old son called Anthony and love mangos, traveling, taking pictures and water.

    • Rafal Meszka, Category finalist 2013: Spirit
  • graeme_murray_012399.jpg
    Graeme Murray
    graeme_murray_012399.jpg
    Photographer

    Graeme Murray

    Biography

    I first picked up a camera at age 14 and fell in love with photography. I practice shooting sports like  Motorcross and, for fun, would shoot the World Rally Champs when it came to New Zealand once a year.  It was on film back then so it was always so exciting to get the pictures back from the photo lab to see what pics I got. A great way to develop skills as a teenager. I love creating; my whole career has been in the image industry. After training in professional photography, the early days saw me working at one of New Zealand’s top audio/visual production companies creating, developing and producing product launches for New Zealand’s largest corporations - using various types of multi-media from theatrical lighting, to video/slide projection and interactive graphics, to set design and the most fun, pyrotechnics. Followed by a stint in the television industry.  
    I soon had this desire to run my own photography business; I now work with clients and agencies on projects that include advertising, portraiture, people, lifestyle, sport and extreme sports.
    I have been lucky to shoot many of the top athletes from around New Zealand, as well as the world, and I’ve worked in environments with snow, dirt, mountains, oceans and even in studios. 
    I spend my spare time mountain biking, surfing, snowboarding, Foiling, kitesurfing and maintaining some local mountain bike trails in the famous Whakarewarewa Forest in Rotorua, New Zealand.

    It's a busy life.

    • Graeme Murray, Category Semi-Finalist 2019: Energy
    • Graeme Murray, Category finalist 2016: Energy
    • Graeme Murray, Category finalist 2016: Sequence
    • Graeme Murray, Category finalist 2016: New Creativity
    • Graeme Murray, Category finalist 2016: Playground
    • Graeme Murray, Category finalist 2013: Lifestyle
    • Graeme Murray, Category finalist 2013: Lifestyle
    • Graeme Murray, Category finalist 2013: Sequence
  • haruki__harookz__noguchi_013838.jpg
    Haruki "Harookz" Noguchi
    haruki__harookz__noguchi_013838.jpg
    Photographer

    Haruki "Harookz" Noguchi

    Biography

    My photographic journey started years before I owned a camera. During my high school years, I endured the classroom grind by daydreaming while fixating on the glossy photographs in action sports magazines. The images resonated powerfully, motivating me to poach my mom’s point-n-shoot camera to document my own adventures in the mountains. Through a self-taught trial and error method that burned many rolls of film, I was able to establish a career doing what I love.

    The never-ending learning process of taking photographs fascinates me. It’s an obsession seeking magical unexpected moments, all the while deciphering the light to capture a certain feeling in a single frame.

    I feel very fortunate to call the coast of British Columbia home with a vast backyard that has far more than I’ll ever be able to capture. I’ve recently started photographing the world of fly fishing which continues to keep me awake at night. I will forever gravitate towards the path in life that allows me to play in the mountains and sleep under the stars as much as possible.

     

    • Haruki "Harookz" Noguchi, Category finalist 2016: Lifestyle
    • Haruki "Harookz" Noguchi, Category finalist 2013: Playground
  • zakary_noyle_012500.jpg
    Zakary Noyle
    zakary_noyle_012500.jpg
    Photographer

    Zakary Noyle

    Biography

    I was born in Hawaii in 1985 and have been in and around the ocean all my life. My father is a commercial photographer who helped me find my love and passion for shooting in the ocean. Working as a staff photographer for Surfer Magazine for the past five years has allowed me to travel to many exotic locations such as Tahiti, Rapa Nui and Indonesia to name just a few.

    Being in the water is my specialty, shooting mainly heavy and large waves with shallow reefs. I have a passion to show people a world they have never seen before, from a perspective that is almost inconceivable. I try to bring the viewers into my images and make them feel as if they’re right there alongside me in the world's most famous surf breaks.

    The thing I really love about surf photography is that you can never recreate the exact same wave. If you are not in the right position or have the right exposure as it comes in, there is no option to reshoot like in other sports. You need to be prepared, aware and know what image you want to capture.

     

    • Zakary Noyle, Category finalist 2016: Energy
    • Zakary Noyle, Category finalist 2016: Mobile
    • Zakary Noyle, Category finalist 2013: Sequence
  • alexander_papis_014153.jpg
    Alexander Papis
    alexander_papis_014153.jpg
    Photographer

    Alexander Papis

    Biography

    I grew up in Vienna and still live there. I first got in touch with photography at the age of 10 when my father bought me my first camera. It was a Polaroid so I could see instantly how my photo turned out, and I was fascinated by the way the photo developed by itself. This fascination has kept growing ever since then.

    I got my first SLR camera, started shooting with friends who were skateboarding and snowboarding and slowly got into the business but not yet thinking of a career in photography. Then I started shooting for the company Powderstorm, which accompanied all the big snowboard events in Austria and I had to get my trade certificate to be able to legally write invoices. That was in 2001 and my career as a freelance photographer began!

    Over the past 15 years I’ve always tried to be as creative as possible and to let my passion and work speak for myself. I’ve generated good relationships with clients like Völkl Snowboards, SP-United, Sport Scheck and many more who appreciate my style of work. I am very thankful for this kind of life and I hope to continue like this for a long time – traveling, shooting and evolving!

     

    • Alexander Papis, Category finalist 2016: Close Up
    • Alexander Papis, Category finalist 2016: Wings
    • Alexander Papis, Category finalist 2013: Wings
  • olaf_pignataro_013160.jpg
    Olaf Pignataro
    olaf_pignataro_013160.jpg
    Photographer

    Olaf Pignataro

    Biography

    My name is Olaf Pignataro, I was born in France, and later moved to Germany and Italy. I now live in London, UK. As a teenager I skated all the time, switching to BMX later in my twenties. On those two small wheels I wasn't progressing that much. I was helping a couple of friends with a BMX zine and I began spending more time taking photos of other riders than riding myself. After a while, I completely gave up my ambitions in BMX riding and focused on my photography career.

    I feel comfortable shooting all kinds of sports, no matter if it’s board sports or motorsports, aerobatics or sailing. But in all these years I have remained committed to BMX because, photographically speaking, it offers endless variables.

    Thanks to my job, I have had the opportunity to travel the world and work with the most amazing athletes around. I have had the chance to get to know their personalities and witness their successes and defeats and the joy and pain that come with any sport.

     

    • Olaf Pignataro, Category finalist 2016: Lifestyle
    • Olaf Pignataro, Category finalist 2013: Playground
    • Olaf Pignataro, Category finalist 2013: Wings
  • christian_pondella_015590.jpg
    Christian Pondella
    christian_pondella_015590.jpg
    Photographer

    Christian Pondella

    Biography

    I am an adventure sports photographer based in Mammoth Lakes, CA. As a participant in a lot of the sports I photograph, I try to capture an image through the athlete’s perspective, instead of the spectators’ view. My goal is to give people an intimate view of the cutting edge of adventure sports.

    I specialize in adventure sports with an emphasis on skiing, and love traveling to exotic locations throughout the world experiencing different cultures, and photographing in remote mountain ranges.

    My images have appeared in advertising and promotional campaigns for Red Bull, San Disk, ESPN, Patagonia, Black Diamond, Lululemon, Oakley and many other outdoor brands. I am senior photographer for Powder Magazine, a San Disk Extreme Team member, Fstop Global Pro, Lululemon Elite Ambassador and have also been published in Sports Illustrated, ESPN Magazine, Outside, Men’s Journal and a variety of other publications and newspapers throughout the world.

     

    • Christian Pondella, Category finalist 2016: Close Up
    • Christian Pondella, Category finalist 2013: Sequence
    • Christian Pondella, Category finalist 2013: Illumination
    • Christian Pondella, Category finalist 2013: Energy
  • Juan_Cruz_Rabaglia.JPG
    Juan Cruz Rabaglia
    Juan_Cruz_Rabaglia.JPG
    Photographer

    Juan Cruz Rabaglia

    Biography

    I discovered photography at the age of 14, when my father reluctantly let me borrow his beloved Nikon FM2 for my first trip to Southern Patagonia with some friends. It was then that I came across the two passions that would inexorably define my future: Patagonia and photography.

    I have been living with my family in San Carlos de Bariloche in the Argentinean Patagonia since 2002. It's in these woods, mountains and lakes where I have been doing most of my freelance professional photography since 1998. I love snowboarding and mountaineering.

    I’ve been working on advertising campaigns of different brands and collaborate with many graphic media productions associated with sports. I belong to the generation of photographers who had to face the transition from analog to digital photography but I am a big fan of digital photography and its endless possibilities.

    • Juan Cruz Rabaglia, Category finalist 2013: New Creativity
  • liz_rogers_011574.jpg
    Liz Rogers
    liz_rogers_011574.jpg
    Photographer

    Liz Rogers

    Biography

    I am an Australian cave diver who enjoys the challenge of capturing cave exploration as it happens. I move between dry caves and the weightless underwater world, taking images to share the underground sights with those who never leave the sunlight.

    I’m based in Melbourne and have taken photos in underwater caves in every state in Australia. My portfolio spans huge blue tunnels in the West Australian desert, through sunny sinkholes in South Australian farmland to muddy streamway caves on the East Coast of the continent. Following in my cave diving parent's footsteps I have contributed to significant exploration projects both in Australia and overseas. My photos have been published in major Australian newspapers and National Geographic Magazine as well as caving and diving magazines.

    I have been cave diving for a decade. Along the way I have won several photo competitions and enjoy giving presentations about the challenges and satisfaction of photography in extreme environments.

     

    • Liz Rogers, Category finalist 2016: Masterpiece
    • Liz Rogers, Category finalist 2013: Illumination
  • daniel_roennbaeck_015607.jpg
    Daniel Rönnbäck
    daniel_roennbaeck_015607.jpg
    Photographer

    Daniel Rönnbäck

    Biography

    I was born and raised in the northern part of Sweden and am now living in Stockholm. My passion for mountains and exploring nature combined with capturing and creating beautiful pictures has shaped my life the last few years. I love to explore outside my comfort zone and to try new things.

    I have a big passion for skiing in winter, and biking in the summer. But my mind is always searching for new adventures outside of this, from exploring cities to creating art.

    I’m running a production called Soda/Lime Company where we focus on capturing beach life, sand, water and surf.

    I have lived the last three years on the road; on paper homeless but in reality in my bags, with over 300 days of traveling a year! And this is what defines me – my passion to explore.

     

    • Daniel Rönnbäck, Category Finalist 2019: Masterpiece by EyeEm
    • Daniel Rönnbäck, Category finalist 2016: Close Up
    • Daniel Rönnbäck, Category finalist 2013: Energy
  • Jara_Sijka_3389.jpg
    Jara Sijka
    Jara_Sijka_3389.jpg
    Photographer

    Jara Sijka

    Biography

    I am still an ordinary guy with a big passion for everything outdoors - mountain biking, split boarding and basically just being out there as happy as I could be. With a camera of course.

    • Jara Sijka, Category Semi-Finalist 2019: Lifestyle
    • Jara Sijka, Category finalist 2013: New Creativity
  • Ryan_Taylor.jpg
    Ryan Taylor
    Ryan_Taylor.jpg
    Photographer

    Ryan Taylor

    Biography

    I am an action sports photographer and commercial cinematographer based out of Minneapolis, Minnesota. Focusing on wakeboarding and snowboarding, I strive to create something new and unique every time I shoot. This often means implementing new lighting techniques as well as working with athletes to think of new creative ways to showcase their sports. This has led to projects involving a giant rail carved out of ice, snowboarding in a corn field and sending wakeskaters through a field of cranberries.

    I grew up in southern Minnesota where I spent my youth wakeboarding and snowboarding. This quickly became a transition from participating to documenting once I got a camera in my hands. Because of the limited resources in the area for these sports, we had to adapt to other ways of riding.  Urban snowboarding quickly became a common subject of mine, as well as an early adaptation of winch riding in both wakeboarding and wakeskating. Once we started using the winch, it became clear that the doors were open to a new world of possibilities. I found this to be a refreshing look at the sport.

    When not shooting action sports, I work as a commercial director/cinematographer, shooting a wide variety of work for television and the web. While shooting projects with larger budgets and bigger resources has its benefits, I often find that standing waist deep in water or snow trying to capture the perfect shot can be just as rewarding.

    • Ryan Taylor, Category finalist 2013: Illumination
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    Ben Thouard
    Ben_Thouard_2586.JPG
    Photographer

    Ben Thouard

    Biography

    Ben grew up in the south of France, his father was a sailor and taught me everything about the ocean. 
    Coached by my older brothers, he quickly fell in love with surfing and spent the most time possible in the ocean.

    He discovered photography at the age of 15 and start shooting his friends who surfed. Ben studied in a photography school in Paris,  He managed to achieve his dreams of travelling to Hawaii and shooting images. During the next couple of years, I traveled the world alongside professionals in search of photogenic landscapes and waves that has never been surfed before.

    At 22, he decided to move to Tahiti. 
    Ben quickly made Teahupo’o’s famous wave his backyard and his favorite place to shoot.

    In the last years Ben has risen to the top of game being the one of the leading photographers based in the the tropical paradise called French Polynesia. Magazine covers, advertising campaigns, award winning images from the water and around it has lead to global success and acknowledgment from his peers and many happy clients world wide

    Finally Ben now dedicates a lot of his time shooting Waves and Ocean images that are displayed in Art Galleries.
    He recently released his first solo book "SURFACE", a 184 pages, hard cover, coffee table book that includes some very new and unseen images.

    • mov-200440-2586.youtube
      Ben Thouard, Category Finalist 2019: Moving Image
    • Ben Thouard, Category Semi-Finalist 2019: RAW
    • Ben Thouard, Category Semi-Finalist 2019: Energy
    • Ben Thouard, Overall Winner 2019: Energy
    • Ben Thouard, Category finalist 2016: Masterpiece
    • Ben Thouard, Category finalist 2013: Illumination
  • Theodore_Van_Orman1.jpg
    Theodore Van Orman
    Theodore_Van_Orman1.jpg
    Photographer

    Theodore Van Orman

    Biography

    At the age of 12, I bought my first BMX bike with money I had earned washing dishes at a cake bakery. That bike was the match that sparked the revolution of my life. BMX has transformed my view of the world and how I want to spend my time. I spent most of my childhood building dirt jumps in my parents’ backyard in Michigan.

    My older brother Beeler started taking photographs of my friends and me riding with my father's old 35mm. After a high school darkroom class, I bought my first 35mm. Not really grasping its full potential for several years, I was just a casual shooter.

    With time my desire to document only grew stronger. The more I saw things vanish from my life, the more I felt compelled to make images. Life is a special experience, and being able to capture it has grown very important to me.

    I enjoy using natural light to photograph. I find working with the available light "keeps my eyes open" and makes for more unique images, when the sun is being kind. My goal is to document riders in their natural form, not to create something that would never have happened. Candid photos are always the strongest in my opinion. I continue to ride, build and photograph in Denver, Colorado. 

    • Theodore Van Orman, Category finalist 2013: Lifestyle
  • samo_vidic_012395.jpg
    Samo Vidic
    samo_vidic_012395.jpg
    Photographer

    Samo Vidic

    Biography

    Born and raised in Bled, Slovenia, I started as an amateur photographer at the age of 17. Fascinated by what could be done with different cameras, lenses and film, I gained knowledge really fast and soon realized that this could be my dream job someday. At the age of 23 I started working as a professional photographer.

    Since 2005 I have been shooting for Red Bull, traveling the world and taking photos of the world's best athletes. I am a team member of Limex Images, a Getty Images contributor, covering different sports events for them. I also work with some leading sport companies and take photos for their advertising campaigns.

    My photos have appeared in the world’s most prestigious magazines, such as Outside, L’Equipe, ESPN. I am also a Canon Explorer and F-Stop Global Icon. In 2014 I was the winner of the wings category in Red Bull Illume, and am a multiple winner of the Slovenian press photo award.

     

    • Samo Vidic, Category finalist 2016: Wings
    • Samo Vidic, Category finalist 2013: New Creativity
    • Samo Vidic, Category finalist 2013: Wings
  • daniel_vojtech_013206.jpg
    Daniel Vojtěch
    daniel_vojtech_013206.jpg
    Photographer

    Daniel Vojtěch

    Biography

    I was born in the Czech Republic in 1986 and became fascinated with photography at an early age when I found my dad’s old camera. I bought my first film for it and there was no turning back! I used to skateboard a lot so it was only natural for me to start shooting the sport as well. 

    During the first couple of years, almost all of my pictures were black and white.
    Things really progressed for me when I started studying Advertising Photography at Thomas Bata University. I was surrounded by photography there the whole day and there really was no escape. Gradually I discovered medium and large format cameras as well as shooting in the studio. 

    Currently I am based in Prague where I have my own studio but work almost everywhere on the planet. I love shooting action sports, lifestyle and commercials as well. I love clean pictures, geometric compositions, hard light and concepts.

    • Daniel Vojtěch, Category Semi-Finalist 2019: Creative by Skylum
    • Daniel Vojtěch, Category finalist 2016: Sequence
    • Daniel Vojtěch, Category finalist 2016: New Creativity
    • Daniel Vojtěch, Category finalist 2016: New Creativity
    • Daniel Vojtěch, Category finalist 2016: New Creativity
    • Daniel Vojtěch, Category finalist 2013: Experimental
    • Daniel Vojtěch, Category finalist 2013: New Creativity
    • Daniel Vojtěch, Category finalist 2013: New Creativity
    • Daniel Vojtěch, Category finalist 2013: Wings
  • andrew_white_015532.jpg
    Andrew White
    andrew_white_015532.jpg
    Photographer

    Andrew White

    Biography

    My camera has been a gateway to experience the world, which I take full advantage of. After 12 years of riding BMX I started photographing the action, which greatly reduced my exposure to bodily injury. The camera and I instantly formed an unbreakable bond. From these beginnings I quickly rose to a senior contributor at DIG Magazine, the most influential and respected BMX action and culture outlet in the world as well as a member of Red Bull Photography.

    While pursuing BMX work, I found myself shooting friends and musicians which soon grew into a new and equally passionate body of work. Though my images cover different realms, my imbedded vision remains consistent no matter what the subject matter.

    I can’t stay still for very long, and it shows in my work. I prefer cold brew coffee over French press, the rewards of cooking over eating out, and plane tickets over possessions, with the one exception of my bicycle.

     

    • Andrew White, Category finalist 2016: Sequence
    • Andrew White, Category finalist 2016: Wings
    • Andrew White, Category finalist 2013: Wings
    • Andrew White, Category finalist 2013: Lifestyle
  • florian_jaeger_010683.jpg
    Florian Jäger
    florian_jaeger_010683.jpg
    Photographer

    Florian Jäger

    Biography

     

    I’m not really good at painting or singing, so I have chosen photography as a way to express myself! And this is exactly what drives me – trying to give other people a glimpse of how I see the world, trying to walk the thin line that combines documentary and fine art photography.

    Born and raised in southern Bavaria and based in Munich, I fell in love with mountains, snow and nature in my very early years. I found my passion in photography to share that love and point of view with others and am always looking around every corner to find new impressions and inspirations for my work.

     

    • Florian Jäger, Category finalist 2016: Wings
  • jason_colledge_010871.jpg
    Jason Colledge
    jason_colledge_010871.jpg
    Photographer

    Jason Colledge

    Biography

    I was working on a building site with my Dad before deciding the building industry was not for me. Why do something you don't love?

    Coming from a BMX background I had always collected the magazines and was fascinated by the images that were on the pages, always questioning how they were created. This sparked my desire to focus on shooting photos of BMX as well as just riding one.

    Eventually I was lucky enough to have some of my photographs published in the magazines I collected all those years ago. This became more frequent and bit by bit I was finding myself being sent away on trips to document the riding of some of the best riders in the world. Fast forward to the present day and I am still fortunate enough to be going away and shooting with these riders and having my work published in various outlets, one of them being a print magazine called Endless, which I am a senior photographer for.

     

    • Jason Colledge, Category finalist 2016: Sequence
  • chris_pilling_010782.jpg
    Chris Pilling
    chris_pilling_010782.jpg
    Photographer

    Chris Pilling

    Biography

    I am an action and adventure sports photographer currently based out of Whistler, British Columbia, Canada. Though I grew up in Calgary, Alberta and spent the first 23 years of my life there, I always knew I would end up in BC.

    Since I first got into action sports I knew it was something I wanted to be a part of for the rest of my life – the culture, industry, and lifestyle. Mountain biking eventually led me to taking photos and video of the sport and everything that came with it. A goal of mine has always been to make the viewer feel as if they were part of the action themselves. If a viewer can imagine themselves in the photograph or it inspires them to get outside, then I have done my job.

     

    • Chris Pilling, Category finalist 2016: Wings
  • alexandre_voyer_010993.jpg
    Alexandre Voyer
    alexandre_voyer_010993.jpg
    Photographer

    Alexandre Voyer

    Biography

    My name is Alex Voyer, I am 37 and I live in Paris, France. I was born near the sea in the Pacific Ocean and now I am a freediving instructor in a pool, but I try to spend all my spare time and holidays traveling around the world, looking for ocean creatures.

    All the photos are made on a single breath of air – I don’t use oxygen tanks – with natural light. I am training almost everyday to be in shape for when I meet these creatures. Taking photographs, practicing freediving and studying the behavior of the animals all go hand-in-hand for me.

    We are used to seeing images of humans’ destructive effect on nature, but in my photos, I try to show that we can be part of nature!

     

    • Alexandre Voyer, Category finalist 2016: Close Up
  • sergey_shakuto_011085.jpg
    Sergey Shakuto
    sergey_shakuto_011085.jpg
    Photographer

    Sergey Shakuto

    Biography

    I was born and grew up in a small town in Russia, but since childhood I have dreamt about traveling the world and doing extreme sports. As soon as I made money as a graphic designer, I started to realize my dream. So for the past 15 years I have been doing all kinds of sports, from surfing to skydiving, and capturing them with my camera.

    My super-power is my insider knowledge of sports and it helps me to speak the same language with all the athletes I'm shooting.

     

    • Sergey Shakuto, Category Semi-Finalist 2019: Wings
    • Sergey Shakuto, Category finalist 2016: Playground
  • sebastian_villegas_vargas_011130.jpg
    Sebastián Villegas Vargas
    sebastian_villegas_vargas_011130.jpg
    Photographer

    Sebastián Villegas Vargas

    Biography

    My name is Sebastián Villegas and I live in Medellín, Colombia. I took up photography when I was 14-years-old, capturing moments of my friends riding their bikes with the camera I got as a present from my mom. Within a few months, I started to get professional jobs as a photographer. From that moment, I realized that photography was something I wanted to do for a living.

     

    After a trip to the Amazon, my photographic interest in sports became mixed with one in nature. I realized that I had a strong connection with the places and animals I visited there, sort of like they knew when I was going to portrait them. After I came back the engagement department from my school contacted me so my pictures could be shown in the school’s art gallery for a week.

     

    Nowadays, I work as an independent photographer for both commercial and sports brands. My photographic style throughout the years has been in constant change, but always keeping in mind that I must have a previous relationship with, and knowledge of, the person or place that is on the other side of the camera.

     

    • Sebastián Villegas Vargas, Category finalist 2016: Mobile
  • Enric_Gener_2684.jpg
    Enric Adrian Gener
    Enric_Gener_2684.jpg
    Photographer

    Enric Adrian Gener

    Biography

    I was born in Menorca, a small island in the middle of the Mediterranean and I grew up there, surrounded by sea, enjoying and learning from it until I went to university. It was there, while studying art and design, that I had my first contact with photography, studying everything from the darkroom to digital over four years.

    I started to work in motion graphics and design, first in some companies and after that as a freelancer. And because my work is purely digital I started to work remotely. This allowed me to change my lifestyle, letting me live in many different places, far away from the city and just a small step from the sea.

    I kept working in motion graphics and at the same time started to mix my passion for the sea with photography. For me this is so important because my underwater project was born free – from passion and not for work. Today, it remains the same.

    • Enric Adrian Gener, Category Finalist 2019: Innovation by Sony
    • Enric Adrian Gener, Category finalist 2016: New Creativity
  • gaps_sabuero_011356.jpg
    Gaps Sabuero
    gaps_sabuero_011356.jpg
    Photographer

    Gaps Sabuero

    Biography

    I come from a city in the Philippines best known for its waterfalls, but these days I find myself treading a different body of water – surf. In 2015, I packed up my life and headed to Siargao, the country’s surf capital, with what seemed like nothing. A few shirts, boardies, fins, laptop, a DSLR, and a GoPro. Essentially, it was all I needed to get started.

    My background is in landscape, travel, and documentary photography and I am no stranger to capturing beauty from behind the lens. But it was my combined passion for surfing and photography that made me dive headfirst into the country’s best waves.

    A year on, I dare not say it, but I’m starting to build a career for myself. I’m working with (and learning from) top class watermen, photographing surf and lifestyle for local surf brands and running a cafe-gallery aptly called ‘Shaka Siargao’. I owe this island and everyone on it my dream. It’s the only way I know how to give back. My dedication I hope is evident in my work which tries to embody the laid-back vibe of the island I feel I owe so much.

    • Gaps Sabuero, Category finalist 2016: Masterpiece
  • christian_adam_011383.jpg
    Christian Adam
    christian_adam_011383.jpg
    Photographer

    Christian Adam

    Biography

    I have been a photographer for nine years, and in the spring of 2014 I graduated from Brooks Institute with a Bachelors of Fine Art, specializing in outdoor adventure commercial advertising. I was previously a photo editor for Chris Burkard and interned before that at Corey Rich Productions.

    I don't necessarily refer to myself as a photographer but more as an image creator. The camera is just one of many tools to bring the ideas in my head to paper. I strive to not just create pictures, but to create images that really engage the viewer, to leave them saying ‘wow’.

    I strive for innovation and exploration every time I go out to shoot and believe that in order to create amazing images there first needs to be an idea or inspiration. The vastness and pure awe of Mother Nature always inspires me to create amazing imagery. My goal as a photographer is to share my experiences and to hopefully inspire the next generation.

     

    • Christian Adam, Category finalist 2016: Energy
  • oscar_carrascosa_010953.jpg
    Oscar Carrascosa
    oscar_carrascosa_010953.jpg
    Photographer

    Oscar Carrascosa

    Biography

    I’m Oscar Carrascosa, when I was a child the only thing I wanted, like kids, was to follow around my older brother. So at only 11-years-old I begged my father for a camera and after months of insistence, I got one! A Práktica MTL.

    From that moment I devoted myself to following my brother and taking photos the whole time. This introduced me to a new world of sensations and every new discovery led me closer to my future career.

    For many years I dedicated myself to photography, developing in black and white, learning to control the light, the filters and the times in a special form. I fell for analogue photography, but a new way was opened for me up with digital photography. I did not believe the quantity of possibilities that were possible! This began a new stage for me, a professional stage.

    In any professional career there are moments that change your life. One of the moments that changed mine, and that made my career take off, was in 2004 when I had the honour of photographing the presentation of the Red Bull car for the Dakar 2005.

    From this moment I have not stopped growing as photographer, and today I work with the best brands in the world - Red Bull, Nike, BWIN and Volkswagen. In addition I share this passion with my twin brother Jose Luis and with him I teach photography classes. At 40-years-old I feel lucky to have experienced so much thanks to my camera.

     

    • Oscar Carrascosa, Category finalist 2016: Close Up
  • fabiano_rodrigues_010785.jpg
    Fabiano Rodrigues
    fabiano_rodrigues_010785.jpg
    Photographer

    Fabiano Rodrigues

    Biography

    I live and work in São Paulo. Since 2010 my photographic work has explored the position of my own body in relation to the architecture and landscape of urban centers. I prefer symbolic and modernist constructions.

    A former professional skateboarder and self-taught photographer, I like to portray myself in movement, capturing the climax of maneuvers within previously planned compositions, using a remote control to shoot the camera. My performative accuracy goes sometimes in harmony, sometimes in disarray, with architectural forms, resulting in geometric images, drawn by a magnificent play of light and shadows.

    I shoot mainly in black and white, making single prints. I’ve twice been the recipient of the Banco do Espírito Santo/Shopping Iguatemi Acquisition Award (2012-2013) and once the recipient of the MASP Pirelli Acquisition Award (2013).

    Recent exhibitions include Deslize (Rio Art Museum – MAR, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 2013-2014), Love and Hate to Lygia Clark (Zacheta National Gallery of Art, Warsaw, Poland, 2013-2014), Photo Biennial MASP (São Paulo Art Museum – MASP, São Paulo, Brazil, 2013), and Arte Contemporânea Brasileira (Estação Pinacoteca, São Paulo, Brazil, 2012). I had my first solo exhibition, AUTOCONTROLE, at LOGO gallery, in June 2014, in São Paulo.

     

    • Fabiano Rodrigues, Category finalist 2016: Enhance
  • eisa_bakos_011498.jpg
    Eisa Bakos
    eisa_bakos_011498.jpg
    Photographer

    Eisa Bakos

    Biography

    I live in a small town called Esher just outside of London. I started photography when I was around 16 years old, just taking photos of my friends while out riding in and around London.

    My camera started collecting dust when I had to get a full time job and eventually it became super hard to find time and to get motivated to shoot. It wasn’t until 2014 that I decided to seize an opportunity that came to me and commit 100% into pursuing photography full-time.

    Photography is my passion as well as BMX. When it comes to BMX trips abroad with a dope crew I like the fact you have no idea what sort of photos you will be shooting, as it's all mostly freestyled when going to a country you have never been to.

    Nowadays, I am using most of my time working on my own magazine called 'Endless' that I started in November 2015.

     

    • Eisa Bakos, Category finalist 2016: Sequence
  • phil_pham_011555.jpg
    Phil Pham
    phil_pham_011555.jpg
    Photographer

    Phil Pham

    Biography

    Growing up skateboarding, I first got in touch with action sports photography through print magazines. Some photos were surreal and aesthetically really pleasing, as so many subjects were combined into one photo. You could look at them for hours on end. Especially photos in urban settings with impressive architectural backgrounds, those fascinated me. Photography is an evolving art. It will never stand still as the medium changes over time. Especially now, in the time of social media, photography tends to get real faster and just raw. Single shots are not as predominant anymore, and photo and video seem to be merging into a new world of impressionism.

    • mov-205648-1908.youtube
      Phil Pham, Category Semi-Finalist 2019: Moving Image
    • Phil Pham, Category finalist 2016: New Creativity
  • christopher_radford_010697.jpg
    Christopher Radford
    christopher_radford_010697.jpg
    Photographer

    Christopher Radford

    Biography

    I'm an amateur photographer who divides his time equally between New Zealand and the UK. I've been lugging a camera around with me for six years now but I've been riding a BMX for well over 30 years, so that was always going to be a natural starting point for my photography.

    Sometimes it takes more than just a lens attached to a camera to realize an image as seen through the prism of the mind’s eye. That's where my interest in photo realistic compositing and manipulation was born from. Combining action sports photography with manipulation is always a delicate dance, as I know only too well from my many failures at connecting with my target audience. But you should know I'm a tenacious individual, I wont quit till I've bent your world to fit my vision! Or maybe I'll just keep climbing mountains and taking pictures of sunsets.

     

    • Christopher Radford, Category finalist 2016: Enhance
    • Christopher Radford, Category finalist 2016: Enhance
  • vladimir_voronin_010823.jpg
    Vladimir Voronin
    vladimir_voronin_010823.jpg
    Photographer

    Vladimir Voronin

    Biography

    There are two things without which I can’t imagine my life. First is movement and the second is photography.

    It all started when I was about 13 or 14 years old, when my friends and I started to explore an abandoned building in the area. We would play tag and other games, watch sunsets on the roof and we would sometimes set up a campfire there at night. It may sound funny, but it was then that my acquaintance with parkour and photography really began.

    After all, what could be better than taking a parent’s old camera, climbing to the roof and taking a picture heroically standing over a precipice on a thin horizontal bar with a sunset as my background?

    I have developed this passion to this day, turning it from a hobby to a speciality. Gradually technology updated and with it I gained skills and experience in photography. Now I'm 25, but I'm still the same 14-year-old kid who jumps on the roofs, pipes and railings and takes pictures of my friends and I.

    I consider myself an extreme photographer, because my parkour skills allow me to be in the places ordinary people can’t reach. Aside from taking parkour-related pictures I love to photograph other sports, as well as portraits, landscapes, cities, architecture and animals. I’m always happy to try something new – except weddings!

    Sometimes it’s really hard but I think people should do exactly what they love the most and always follow their dreams.

     

    • Vladimir Voronin, Category finalist 2016: Wings
  • rein_rijke_011588.jpg
    Rein Rijke
    rein_rijke_011588.jpg
    Photographer

    Rein Rijke

    Biography

    I’m a Netherlands-based adventure photographer and for the last two years I have been taking photography a bit more seriously and have started working as a freelance photographer. It’s a bit ironic in a country with no mountains, but as well as working as a photographer, I have a full time job at the Dutch Mountain Federation.

    I like adventure sports and if possible I try to combine this with my passion for photography. Creating inspiring images for clients and being in places others cannot reach is something that brings a smile to my face. I like to push myself to the edge, sometimes literally, but always with my camera close at hand.

    To me, there is nothing better than to spend time in the mountains or in the ocean, always in search of little adventures that give me the opportunity to come home with unique images.

    • Rein Rijke, Category finalist 2016: Playground
  • balazs_palfi_011643.jpg
    Balázs Pálfi
    balazs_palfi_011643.jpg
    Photographer

    Balázs Pálfi

    Biography

    My name is Balázs Pálfi. I’m a 27-year-old photographer from Hungary. I bought my first camera in 2004, when I was 16-years-old. When I finished high school I knew that I wanted to be a photographer. As I didn’t have the chance to study photography at university, I had to practice and acquire knowledge on my own.

    After a lot of work and time spent practicing, slowly I got my first contracts. Now I work as a freelance photographer for online and print magazines. Mainly I take photos of athletes, shoot portraits and classical documentary photos.

    As I’ve skateboarded since the age of nine, my main interest is focused on extreme sports. That’s why I’d rather choose to photograph outdoor events and dynamic photo shoots.

     

    • Balázs Pálfi, Category finalist 2016: Sequence
  • roberto_zampino_011720.jpg
    Roberto Zampino
    roberto_zampino_011720.jpg
    Photographer

    Roberto Zampino

    Biography

    I am a Sicilian photographer and filmmaker. I have been based in Italy, Cyprus and London working as a freelance photographer and commercial and photography teacher. I am specialized in travel, sport, portrait and story-telling (documentary / social photography); conveying powerful pictures embedded with my passion and commitment to the subject.

    I like to consider myself an ‘out there’ nomadic photographer, expert in outdoor activities (hiking, climbing, mountaineering, trekking) with the particular talent of adapting to any situation and environment creating strong connections with the subjects of my photography .

    I graduated from the Academy of Fine Art in Macerata, Italy – specialising in Multimedia communication and I obtained a Master Degree (MA) in Photojournalism and Documentary photography from the London College of Communication (LCC – UAL).

    I love photography and believe that it allows me to discover places and people in a very different way. I combine photography with the activities I do such as traveling, climbing and sports in general, which has allowed me to merge my passion and work in a lasting way.

     

    • Roberto Zampino, Category finalist 2016: Mobile
  • josef_Sulc_011377.jpg
    Josef Šulc
    josef_Sulc_011377.jpg
    Photographer

    Josef Šulc

    Biography

    I am an action and wedding photographer from the Czech Republic. I love new technologies, places and ideas. Working with a team of the best people is the way to live this awesome life. Recently I started working as a photography lecturer for Fujifilm, which gives me the chance to share my experience with others. My inspiration is people and their freedom of movement!

    The journey of many photographers starts the same. You get injured but you feel like you don't want to give up your hobby. I am no exception. Around six years back I had a serious injury while snowboarding. Without realizing it at the time, the new era of my life had begun.

    After some time I got back to sport but this time as a photographer. Thanks to my knowledge I know what is expected from different tricks and how they should be executed which means I am able to capture the perfect moment and enjoy it as much.

    There are unlimited options to express yourself. While taking a picture you can be relaxed and on different occasions you can experience some serious adrenaline. Photography gives you everything. I would like to pay tribute to all who were involved in developing the photography to give us the chance to snap the important moments in our lives just with one click.

     

    • Josef Šulc, Category finalist 2016: Playground
  • federico_modica_011612.jpg
    Federico Modica
    federico_modica_011612.jpg
    Photographer

    Federico Modica

    Biography

    I was born in a small village in Val di Fiemme, in the midst of the Dolomites, in 1990 – I grew up with a passion for mountain sports and became a lover of extreme adventures and hard conditions.

    I started photography in 2007 when I was 17. For four years I covered football, volleyball, alpine ski and some other small assignments. As my experience, my gear and my skills grew, I got bigger and bigger jobs, specializing in outdoor photography, lifestyle and commercial shoots.

    In 2010 I began participating in photo contests. I won a national prize, I've been selected into the top 10 of the Digital Camera Photographer of the Year award in two categories with four different pictures. I also came third twice at the International Photo Annual Award and have been a finalist in the Sony World Photography Awards. Since that time I started a partnership with Sony for the UNITED project.

    Runner, climber, skier, surfer and of course, artist, I’m able to bring action and movement in every shot, even in studio and commercials. Since 2014 I’ve also started video and film projects but always with my own style.

     

    • Federico Modica, Category finalist 2016: Playground
  • ryan_allan_012059.jpg
    Ryan Allan
    ryan_allan_012059.jpg
    Photographer

    Ryan Allan

    Biography

    My name is Ryan Allan. I grew up in a small town called Grimsby in Ontario, Canada. It was during my teens in that small town I discovered the joy of photographing my friends skateboarding.

    My father was a budding photographer and after ‘borrowing’ his gear and learning the ropes I found joy in the medium.

    Years later I founded SBC Skateboard Magazine in Toronto, Canada and it went on to be a major player in the skateboard industry. I now live in Southern California and photograph skateboarding alongside commercial and editorial fashion and lifestyle.

     

    • Ryan Allan, Category finalist 2016: Mobile
    • Ryan Allan, Category finalist 2016: Mobile
  • patrick_steiner_010870.jpg
    Patrick Steiner
    patrick_steiner_010870.jpg
    Photographer

    Patrick Steiner

    Biography

    Growing up surrounded by mountains in a small village close to Innsbruck I quickly developed my love for mountain sports. At the age of nine I got my first snowboard, and from that day on I spent every free minute in the snow parks.

    Sometimes I brought my little point and shoot camera, just to capture some of the great moments I had hanging out with my friends in the mountains.

    Later I tried shooting with a friend’s DSLR and it was such a cool experience, I bought one for myself. From that day on photography was my passion and ever since I've tried to spend as much time as possible behind my cam.

    Nowadays I'm based in Innsbruck and my favorite thing to shoot is still snowboarding. But as I love being outdoors I enjoy taking photos of all kinds of outdoor-sports and document the lifestyle that goes along with it.

     

    • Patrick Steiner, Category Semi-Finalist 2019: Wings
    • Patrick Steiner, Category finalist 2016: Wings
    • Patrick Steiner, Category finalist 2016: Sequence
  • mike_yoshida_012077.jpg
    Mike Yoshida
    mike_yoshida_012077.jpg
    Photographer

    Mike Yoshida

    Biography

    My name is Mike Yoshida. I am a photographer and grew up in Homer, Alaska. I have relocated to Bellingham, Washington and also spend quite a bit of time in California and traveling.

    I started photography at a young age when a skateboarding injury left me on crutches for several months. During my healing time I realized that photography was something that I truly enjoyed.

    When I fully healed up, I ended up moving to the mountains to pursue my love for the outdoors and snowboarding. This is when I realized I could fuse the two things that I loved the most: snowboarding and photography.

    I moved on to spend my summers at Mt Hood shooting for the snowboard camps there, and soon after landed a gig with K2 Snowboards as a staff photographer.

    I ended up working with K2 for four years, and moved on to work for Snowboarder Magazine as an associate photo editor, and nowadays I also help manage their instagram account.

     

    • Mike Yoshida, Category finalist 2016: Wings
  • daniele_molineris_012136.jpg
    Daniele Molineris
    daniele_molineris_012136.jpg
    Photographer

    Daniele Molineris

    Biography

    I am 36 and I live in a small town in the west Italian Alps. I started photography in 2004 when I was 24 and I began for one reason: I was an employee of a graphic designer for printed paper media and was often looking for high-res pictures to put in my work and for this reason only I decided to buy my first camera.

    For me editing was not the real problem because I was already a Photoshop user, the real problem was the use of the camera. I started to study by myself by night and in my free time because I was very curious and I discovered a real passion.

    After a lot of time spent with my camera and with some real clients I resigned from my then job in 2012 and started my career as a freelance, always with an eye on my other passion: outdoor sports.

    Now, after four years my job works fine, I work for some of the best athletes and brands in outdoor sports and I’m very happy, seriously happy!

     

    • Daniele Molineris, Category finalist 2016: Close Up
  • Milos_Stafek_2647.jpg
    Miloš Štáfek
    Milos_Stafek_2647.jpg
    Photographer

    Miloš Štáfek

    Biography

    Milos is a 37 year old photographer from the Czech Republic, taking pictures of sports and landscape, trying to experiment with a camera and try a new level of image. He has not studied at photography school, he is constantly learning and improving.

    • Miloš Štáfek, Category Semi-Finalist 2019: Playground
    • Miloš Štáfek, Category finalist 2016: Enhance
  • ciaran_heurteau_011299.jpg
    Ciarán Heurteau
    ciaran_heurteau_011299.jpg
    Photographer

    Ciarán Heurteau

    Biography

    I started photography in 2010 after an accident in which I spent 12 hours deep in the New Zealand bush with a dislocated shoulder. We had just gone heli-kayaking on the Kokotai river on South Island. About half way through the run I got stuck in a hole and my shoulder popped. We didn’t manage to get it back in so two of my friends went to get rescue, and one stayed with me.

    After getting winched out (yes, it was painful!) and two shots of morphine, the doctor told me I wouldn’t be able to kayak anymore, the nerve damage was too big after 12 hours of being dislocated.

    I only had kayaking in my life – no degree, no jobs on the side, so I started to freak out about what life was going to be. I had saved up a bit of money, so I went and bought my first camera, started to film and take photos of my friends kayaking. A few months later, after a lot of hard work, my shoulder was back to being normal, I did the kayak Slalom World Championships in Slovenia and I’d go out shooting whenever I wasn’t training or racing.

    Now filming and photography has allowed me to travel to some of the most remote places on earth, to document a sport that has been with me since I was seven.

     

    • Ciarán Heurteau, Category finalist 2016: Sequence
  • viktor_lyagushkin_012302.jpg
    Viktor Lyagushkin
    viktor_lyagushkin_012302.jpg
    Photographer

    Viktor Lyagushkin

    Biography

    My name is Viktor Lyagushkin and I am based in Moscow. Everything important in my life has happened incidentally. For 20 years I’ve worked in magazines as a designer, journalist and photographer.

    I became a professional photographer in 1998. It happened that our staff photographer was busy and the editorial office had to send me as photographer. It was the beginning. Then, just by chance, I began to dive and almost casually passed technical diving courses. From 2003 I started to use an underwater camera.

    For me it would be ideal if the entire world was plunged into darkness, so I could paint it again, illuminating it with flashes according to my taste, and people would see the world in a new way.

    I am fascinated with the moment when a person overcomes circumstances or oneself and become different.

    From 2011 I have been a contributor for National Geographic Magazine. I am a Nikon ambassador and Subal Pro Team member.

     

    • Viktor Lyagushkin, Category finalist 2016: Spirit
  • nicolas_brizin_011221.jpg
    Nicolas Brizin
    nicolas_brizin_011221.jpg
    Photographer

    Nicolas Brizin

    Biography

    I'm a French guy who lives in Andorra. I’ve always said I'm lucky when the first shot is good. But this is normal if your first camera was the old parental Yashica from the 70s!

    After working in the snowboard industry, I was chief editor for a French online MTB magazine. It was a pretty cool experience, working with the best French riders was so sweet and easy.

    Now, I'm working for a bike company, in the marketing department. It's so cool to shoot just for fun and only on exciting projects. One more time, I'm lucky.

    The most interesting part of a job in mountain biking photography is working with talented people. Every year, a young ripper is coming through and pushing everyone to work harder. This is what I'm trying to do, without pressure and discreetly.

    The most interesting aspect of a sports picture is the action, the right action in the right place with good light. This specific moment is impossible to duplicate, the best picture is often the first one, or second, with natural attitude and the lucky time. Always lucky.

    I'm so proud to be in the Red Bull Illume contest and I'm hoping you enjoy all of the amazing photos this contest highlights.

     

    • Nicolas Brizin, Category finalist 2016: Close Up
  • dmitriy_tibekin_012094.jpg
    Dmitriy Tibekin
    dmitriy_tibekin_012094.jpg
    Photographer

    Dmitriy Tibekin

    Biography

    Photography is my way to explore the world and to show people what they cannot see. When I started to dance 16 years ago I tried various forms of self-expression in the art. I came to the photography when I started to shoot travels of my breakdance crew but it was just for fun.

    Later, at the age of 18, I left my hometown, a small Siberian city called Barnaul and headed to the cultural capital of Russia. Saint-Petersburg determined my further evolution in photography but until 2013 it was still just a hobby.

    That was revolutionary year for me. I’d never traveled and shot as much during one year: Finland, Germany, Ukraine, Belarus and more than 10 cities in different corners of Russia. I stopped my advertising career and concentrated on photography. The next important step was to start shooting for Red Bull, which gave me even more opportunities to fulfill my potential.

     

    • Dmitriy Tibekin, Category finalist 2016: Playground
  • daniel_deak_bardos_012537.jpg
    Daniel Deak Bardos
    daniel_deak_bardos_012537.jpg
    Photographer

    Daniel Deak Bardos

    Biography

    I was born and live in Munich but I have a Hungarian surname in case you’re wondering. After finishing my photography education around 2001 I started working for a German snowboard magazine (MBM). Besides taking pictures of my favorite sport I learned how to edit, design and publish a print magazine. It was a great five years for sure!

    Besides that I started to do my own wakeboarding magazine (Wakeboarder Europe Magazine) around 2005. But unluckily we had to stop publishing after a couple of years. Nevertheless I still had the passion for wakeboarding and really love to shoot it.

    Then I moved on to a leading high-end image editing studio for almost two years. I think that improved my Photoshop, InDesign and Illustrator skills considerably.

    Since 2010 I have been a freelance photographer for sports, advertising and fashion. I specialize in watersports but love snow as well! My awesome long-time clients include ION (Boards&More), Rixen, TSG, Red Bull and Starelation.

     

    • Daniel Deak Bardos, Category finalist 2016: Playground
  • claudia_ziegler_012673.jpg
    Claudia Ziegler
    claudia_ziegler_012673.jpg
    Photographer

    Claudia Ziegler

    Biography

    I got into photography when I got my first camera at the age of six. I started my education in photography at the Höhere Graphische, Vienna. In addition to my art-degree at the school of Friedl Kubelka I also worked for the photo agency Anzenberger.

    I never imagined myself to be an outdoors and sports photographer until I started climbing myself at 22. Since then I have been in a constant quest for the most interesting light and atmospheric conditions to experience moments of beauty, drama and, above all, intensity.

    Now my images are used in catalogues for international companies such as Salewa, Jack Wolfskin, Ice Peak and Edelrid, and are featured regularly in magazines throughout the world.

    My chief focus in photography is outdoor sports such as climbing, skiing, canyoning, paragliding, base jumping, kayaking etc. I like to call my individual style ‘dynamic photography’ which is my way of expressing the constant tensions between the activity I am shooting, the naturalness of the environment and the originality I bring to my images.

     

    • Claudia Ziegler, Category finalist 2016: Playground
    • Claudia Ziegler, Category finalist 2016: Spirit
  • russell_ord_012948.jpg
    Russell Ord
    russell_ord_012948.jpg
    Photographer

    Russell Ord

    Biography

    I’m based in Margaret River, Western Australia with my beautiful wife Catherine and three kids Kalani, Tavian and Ayla.

    I am an ex-fireman by trade, and my journey into surf photography started 15 years ago when I injured my knee surfing. Instead of sitting on the couch for three months I picked up a camera and spent the days at the beach shooting friends. That injury transformed my life, a passion for photography was born and now I love to capture the beauty of the sea.

    My main focus over the past seven years has been to steer clear of the crowds, explore the rugged Western Australian coastline, swim into some of the heaviest waves imaginable and push my photographic boundaries in waves of consequence. I have moved away from capturing every single moment, and now I'm just trying to get that one moment that's challenging to me.

    So that means swimming right into impact zone, my whole life revolves around that journey; what I eat, how I breathe and how I train.

     

    • Russell Ord, Category finalist 2016: Energy
  • silas_stein_011857.jpg
    Silas Stein
    silas_stein_011857.jpg
    Photographer

    Silas Stein

    Biography

    I was born in Germany in 1994 and started photography when I was 14-years-old. I took a small compact camera from my parents and photographed everything I was interested in. When I was 17 I bought my own camera equipment and started working for a running and triathlon magazine. In 2013 I started an apprenticeship as a photographer in a photo studio in Rottweil, Germany.

    In my free time I ride my downhill bike through the Black Forest in southern Germany. My interests in BMX and skateboarding started during my apprenticeship. My roommates got me motivated to start taking pictures of them. We went on small trips to local skateparks with huge success.

    The fascinating thing about sport photography is that sometimes you have one chance to capture the moment in a fraction of a second, because it can't always be repeated. For me, photography is more than a job, it's my passion and I want to produce the best quality images I can.

     

    • Silas Stein, Category finalist 2016: New Creativity
  • nathaniel_harrington_012988.jpg
    Nathaniel Harrington
    nathaniel_harrington_012988.jpg
    Photographer

    Nathaniel Harrington

    Biography

    I began shooting action sports in 2002 in Minnesota where I was born and raised. I tried sneaking my way into an Academy Snowboard camp at Wild Mountain, MN using photography as the method to get me in. It turned out that I ended up shooting more than snowboarding, and the passion was born. I continued shooting snowboarding from the age of 15 until the age of 25, and have been published in major magazines.

    However travel from snowboarding led me to the ocean, where a new passion was sparked - a love for the surf and the ocean. I now live on the East Coast in Florida, travel, and endlessly document surfing and surf culture. I am primarily known as a water photographer recognized for unique angles with crisp, critical focal points. I’ll swim all day everyday if there’s enough surf to perform on.

    My images can be found in features with Surfing Magazine, Surfer Magazine, Surfline, Six Magazine, Eastern Surf Magazine and many more publications.

     

    • Nathaniel Harrington, Category finalist 2016: Lifestyle
  • vegard_aasen_013074.jpg
    Vegard Aasen
    vegard_aasen_013074.jpg
    Photographer

    Vegard Aasen

    Biography

    I was born in 1991, and grew up surrounded by wilderness in a tiny village in western Norway. My childhood gave me a fascination for nature and wildlife that only grew stronger when I got older. As a teenager I also fell in love with skiing and climbing, and my photography was pulled in this direction. As a natural progression, I started working with videography as well. In recent years my work has been focused on skiing, climbing and other extreme sports, as well as landscapes, nature and wildlife. I now live in a small town called Sogndal not far from where I grew up, where I´m running VERI Media together with Knut-Hendrik Lajord Snitjer and Eric James Ryan.

    • Vegard Aasen, Category Semi-Finalist 2019: Playground
    • Vegard Aasen, Category finalist 2016: Mobile
    • Vegard Aasen, Category finalist 2016: Mobile
  • emily_ibarra_013135.jpg
    Emily Ibarra
    emily_ibarra_013135.jpg
    Photographer

    Emily Ibarra

    Biography

    I am a freelance photographer living out of my suitcase and camera bag. I’m rarely in the same place for more than a week or two.

    I grew up in San Jose, California and have been based out of San Francisco and Los Angeles in the past. Photography was just something we did. As a kid, if we got bored we would run outside, dress up, and take photos of each other. It is what we did for fun, it’s still what I do for fun.

    In college I started assisting commercial photographers in the Bay Area and I was applying what I was learning to my friends, who were all musicians. Through platforms on social media more people began to see the images we were creating and more bands began to hit me up for shoots and I found myself touring the USA documenting bands. It was amazing.

    I believe a quarter life crisis made me feel like I needed to settle down in one place and be ‘successful’ and I ended up in LA. But really it was just a means for a new introduction into the parkour and freerunning world. It wasn't long until I was back living life on the road in search of the next destination and location to play with. The need to settle down is long gone.

     

    • Emily Ibarra, Category finalist 2016: Wings
  • frank_kretschmann_012973.jpg
    Frank Kretschmann
    frank_kretschmann_012973.jpg
    Photographer

    Frank Kretschmann

    Biography

    For 10 years I have worked as a professional photographer in the field of action sports, outdoors, fashion and people photography. My passion is climbing and I’ve traveled a lot around the world, so it made sense to combine everything together: climbing, traveling, photography – and make a living out of it.

    As a climber I’m fascinated by all disciplines of the sport and have climbed and photographed all over Europe and the Alps, Morocco, Asia, Peru and of course the big walls of Yosemite. The location that has the biggest place in my heart is my home crag, Germany’s Frankenjura.

    My goal is to tell individual stories in the most professional way. However, ultimately the key to success for every shot is to be at the right place, at the right time and with the right people. I like to make the people around me feel relaxed and comfortable, then wait for those special moments. For me photography is not about using expensive gear or complex techniques, it’s about capturing the real moments and emotions. Ideally, the subjects don’t even realize that they are being shot. Finding these moments – delving deeper into people’s true selves, that is my goal.

    • Frank Kretschmann, Category finalist 2016: Lifestyle
    • Frank Kretschmann, Category finalist 2016: Lifestyle
  • felix_woelk_013205.jpg
    Felix Wölk
    felix_woelk_013205.jpg
    Photographer

    Felix Wölk

    Biography

    I was born and raised in the city of Munich, Germany. As soon as I finished school I wanted nothing else but to become a hang and paragliding pilot. So I started working as a bicycle messenger in the wintertime and took all the money to fly in summer. I used to live in a VW bus in the summer (I still have it!) and drove from one competition to another.

    I did outdoor photography in my youth. With freeflight photography it became professional. I fixed huge camera mounts on my hang glider to capture my personal adventures as a pilot. Suddenly I had a front page in Germany's biggest freeflight magazine. This was when I noticed I could really make a job out of the thing I loved to do. Nowadays I'm specialized in air to air photography. I still love the bird’s-eye view, it still makes me feel humble to discover the planet from above.

    For my photographs, I'm looking for sceneries that put the pilot and his wing in places that look threatening (some of them are!). It gives an interesting contrast to the peaceful looking paraglider. And the more exciting it is to shoot, the more fun it generally is.

     

    • Felix Wölk, Category finalist 2016: Wings
    • Felix Wölk, Category finalist 2016: Enhance
  • Simon_Bischoff_2072.jpg
    Simon Bischoff
    Simon_Bischoff_2072.jpg
    Photographer

    Simon Bischoff

    Biography

    Simon is a professional photographer and film maker who began climbing in high school whilst living in Canberra. His passion for documenting his adventures and wild landscapes has seen him emerge as one of Australia’s best climbing photographers. Simon has just recently published his first book with Gerry Narkowicz which is a chronicle of Tasmanian climbing history. He has also made a feature film about a winter ascent of Blade Ridge which toured internationally with the BANFF film festival. Simon is also one of Tasmania’s top climbers and in 2018, he made the first ascent of The Hour Glass (30), the hardest traditional rock climb Tasmania. 

    • Simon Bischoff, Category Semi-Finalist 2019: Playground
    • Simon Bischoff, Category finalist 2016: Playground
  • denis_klero_013374.jpg
    Denis Klero
    denis_klero_013374.jpg
    Photographer

    Denis Klero

    Biography

    My journey to photography was an unusual one. I was not interested in photography as a child and how I came into it is quite mundane. During the last years of university I started doing web-design and sometimes, to implement my ideas and unable to rely on stock libraries, I was forced to pick up a camera myself. Essentially, it was out of desperation. My first digital camera was a compact, not a DSLR, but its capabilities were enough for me. I soon found photography to my liking and the career as a web designer soon ended.

    Krasnoyarsk City is quite small by Russian standards and it ceased to satisfy my needs as a photographer so I moved to the capital, Moscow. Thanks to my athlete friends in Krasnoyarsk, I became interested in shooting extreme sports.

    Since 2007 I've been working with Red Bull, which helps me to improve my skills not only in action sports, but photography in general. In recent years I have traveled around the world covering many events. A highlight? That has to be a BASE jump project on Everest with the athlete Valery Rozov which I shot for Red Bull. To this day I do not think of photography as work – it’s my passion and my life.

    • Denis Klero, Category Winner 2019: Creative by Skylum
    • Denis Klero, Category Finalist 2019: Lifestyle
    • Denis Klero, Category Semi-Finalist 2019: Creative by Skylum
    • Denis Klero, Category finalist 2016: Close Up
    • Denis Klero, Category finalist 2016: New Creativity
  • sebastian_wahlhuetter_011013.jpg
    Sebastian Wahlhuetter
    sebastian_wahlhuetter_011013.jpg
    Photographer

    Sebastian Wahlhuetter

    Biography

    I am a professional photographer based in the urban jungle of Vienna, but you’re more likely to find me in the wild outdoors of the world. My photographic origins date way back to an analog era at the turn of the millennium. I have always been drawn to action and out-door adventures of all kinds and found that photography was the best way to keep me in the heart of this fascinating lifestyle.

    I have intensively studied the technical and conceptual dimensions of photography and am self taught as well as in various professional educational programs. After working as a freelance photographer be-side my job as post-doctoral research fellow, I finally decided to quit my academic career and follow my passion full time.

    My anthropologic background allows me to get a different angle on my projects and proves to be a useful tool for profound editorial sto-ries for different clients. Besides commercial shootings, reportage work is also one of my favorite fields of photography. A personal photographic long-term project is the exploration of urban adventures and the adaption of the public spaces through adventure sports.

     

    • Sebastian Wahlhuetter, Category finalist 2016: Sequence
  • justa_jeskova_013526.jpg
    Justa Jeskova
    justa_jeskova_013526.jpg
    Photographer

    Justa Jeskova

    Biography

    I remember the exact moment I fell in love with photography as if it had happened yesterday. It was on a bike trip in Norway in 1997. At the time, it wasn’t just love there was also frustration. Frustration with the fact I couldn’t figure out photography, which isn’t all that different from a new love.

    I only had an old point and shoot camera with no zoom and next to no experience. Seeing these beautiful rugged mountains, waterfalls, and fjords while not being able to capture them the way I saw it drove me nuts but also started a new journey.

    Originally from Slovakia, I have been living in Whistler, BC since 2001 and it is here in these mountains and valleys I do most of my work. I met my partner here, Steve Storey, who is in most of my action and adventure photos as an athlete. We make a great team and work together on our travel and adventure projects. It’s where some of my favorite images have been created. Mountain biking has always been my niche but more recently I’ve been mixing it up with editorial, lifestyle, and commercial photography.

     

    • Justa Jeskova, Category finalist 2016: New Creativity
  • mark_watson_012054.jpg
    Mark Watson
    mark_watson_012054.jpg
    Photographer

    Mark Watson

    Biography

    I’m an Australian adventure photographer (and occasional journalist). It’s not as glamorous as it seems although chances are if you drop me an email you’ll get an out of office auto reply that says I’m heli-skiing in New Zealand or trekking in Patagonia.

    I’m one of seven Nikon Ambassadors in Australia, am sponsored by Elinchrom and Lowepro and regularly travel to all corners of the world photographing with Nitro Circus.

    I like to claim that all I do is ‘press a button’ but actually it’s the challenge to create impactful imagery that really drives me. I photograph cool people, in cool places, doing cool things but it’s not always as exhilarating as it seems and I spend half my life suffering behind athletes.

    In my downtime I enjoy surfing and mountain biking along Sydney’s Northern beaches and can be spied drinking café lattes on the beachfront when I should be editing photos.

     

    • Mark Watson, Category finalist 2016: Masterpiece
  • william_struntz_013336.jpg
    William Struntz
    william_struntz_013336.jpg
    Photographer

    William Struntz

    Biography

    I'm an accidental photographer really. I was supposed to finish my Master's degree in Marine biology then go on to a doctorate program but somewhere along the way my little hobby of snapping photos of my friends morphed into pursuing photography as a career – God cracked open the door, then I kicked it open you could say.

    I started submitting slides to the photo editors at Surfing, Surfer, and TransWorld. Probably in large part because I was relentless in my phone calls and attempts to improve – and there were not many others doing the same from the East Coast circa 2000 – they took the time to help me. I am forever indebted to Larry ‘Flame’ Moore, Peter Taras, Richard ‘Mez’ Meseroll and Jason Murray for giving me a chance to prove myself.

    My talent and creativity as a photographer has since taken me all over the globe and I’ve produced photo shoots in over 40 countries. My work has been commissioned by the likes of Surfing Magazine, NBC, CNN, Globe International, CBS, ABC and Fox.

    I like to get knee-deep into my craft, whether that’s shooting an epic surf image or capturing the adventures on a spearfishing trip, I hope to captivate my audiences with every beautiful shot. I seek to capture images that inspire the viewer and help them see a perspective that might be new to them or put them in the place of the athlete to give them a better understanding or enjoyment of that moment.

     

    • William Struntz, Category finalist 2016: Masterpiece
  • greg_mionske_011092.jpg
    Greg Mionske
    greg_mionske_011092.jpg
    Photographer

    Greg Mionske

    Biography

    It is somewhat of a miracle that I ever fell in love with photography. I have one too many childhood memories of forcing a smile as my mother fumbled with her SLR snapping family photographs. As it turns out, my mother’s inefficiencies behind the camera failed to deter me and I now realize she had this desire to capture these moments in an everlasting medium.

    By 2008 I was partway through a journalism degree at the University of Colorado at Boulder. CU did not offer photojournalism degrees, but I was able to take a number of classes from the adjunct professor and New York Times photojournalist, Kevin Moloney. At 20, he had a profound impact on my life.

    I spent the first couple years of my career tackling any job I could get. I shot apartment interiors, covered 5k races, and photographed way too many 12-hour-long dance competitions. Perhaps more important than this slew of crappy assignments was my time spent assisting for a local photographer, Jamie Kripke who was more than generous with his time, patience and guidance.

    Today, I focus primarily on commercial and editorial photography in the world of adventure and active lifestyle and have been fortunate to create images for brands such as The North Face, Red Bull and Adidas.

     

    • Greg Mionske, Category finalist 2016: Spirit
  • kirsten_quist_013373.jpg
    Kirsten Quist
    kirsten_quist_013373.jpg
    Photographer

    Kirsten Quist

    Biography

    I got my first camera when I was ten. As an enthusiastic beginner I remember taking photos of nearly everything around me (whether or not it made a good photo). One day a photo I posted on an online art community was made ‘featured daily photo’ on their page. That validation got me hooked.

    I started taking photos of things I loved – adventure, animals, nature, and gradually I grew in skill and confidence. I offered photography for horse shows, rodeos, and other local events. More recently, I’ve been focusing on travel and nature photography. In the past few years I’ve been published in several magazines, and I’ve won and placed in various national and international photography competitions.

    Although I’m not currently working as a full time photographer, that’s my goal. I’d love to spend my days using my creativity and documenting this beautiful world. After recent travels to India and a photo safari to the Arctic, my desire to pursue professional photography has only grown.

     

    • Kirsten Quist, Category finalist 2016: Lifestyle
  • john_webster_011108.jpg
    John Webster
    john_webster_011108.jpg
    Photographer

    John Webster

    Biography

    I am John Webster, a born and raised Idahoan and a professional visual story teller. Since my parents gave me my first camera, I have loved to tell stories through the medium of photography.

    If there is anything that I have learned in the past few years, it is that the people who encompass extreme sports are some of the most interesting individuals in the world. The talent, devotion, and positivity that drive this diverse genre of athleticism is what makes me want to capture it all.

    I love being in deep canyons kayaking with my friends as well as being in the mountains riding fresh powder. I love the relaxed sensation after having a great day of shredding. To be in solitude is one of the best experiences I think anyone can have. I also think the power of an image is one that can move mountains and that is why I love to shoot. On to the next venture!

     

    • John Webster, Category Semi-Finalist 2019: Wings
    • John Webster, Category finalist 2016: Spirit
    • John Webster, Category finalist 2016: Energy
  • markus_berger_013473.jpg
    Markus Berger
    markus_berger_013473.jpg
    Photographer

    Markus Berger

    Biography

    I am based in Fuschl am See, Austria, and I work internationally. I have more than 15 years experience of working with big brands in advertising and editorial projects. I have been organizing and shooting projects all over the world. Photography is my passion and I put my heart into every single project. I like to have fun and be amongst people that share a positive vibe. My photography is focused on editorial and commercial and is always driven by creativity. For me photography is all about moments and being able to capture the essence in a frame. I started shooting professionally in 2005 and since then had quite a ride. My background is a professional sports career in Basketball, studies in digital media and assisting reknowned photographers. I strive to evolve and come up with new concepts and tell interesting stories.

    • Markus Berger, Category Semi-Finalist 2019: Creative by Skylum
    • Markus Berger, Category Semi-Finalist 2019: Innovation by Sony
    • Markus Berger, Category finalist 2016: Enhance
    • Markus Berger, Category finalist 2016: Lifestyle
    • Markus Berger, Category finalist 2016: Enhance
    • Markus Berger, Category finalist 2016: New Creativity
  • pedro_esteves_012430.jpg
    Pedro Esteves
    pedro_esteves_012430.jpg
    Photographer

    Pedro Esteves

    Biography

    My name is Pedro Esteves and I was born in Portugal in the year of 1976. In 2008 with a master’s degree in marketing management I started studying photography at the Portuguese Institute of Photography.

    In 2010 I did a curricular internship with the photographer António Pedrosa. Then, in 2011 I took a workshop – master class of assembly and curator of photographic exhibitions.

    In April 2012 I was invited to present my portfolio within the framework of ‘Chats about photography’, a presentations cycle organised by IPF and Fnac.

    I specialize in landscape photography and I love the outdoors and the contact with nature.

    Over the last years I have been awarded and distinguished in several photography competitions, both national and international.

     

    • Pedro Esteves, Category finalist 2016: Energy
  • vernon_deck_013795.jpg
    Vernon Deck
    vernon_deck_013795.jpg
    Photographer

    Vernon Deck

    Biography

    I was born in Motueka, a tiny beach town on the northern tip of South Island, New Zealand. During my teens I backpacked around Australia for two years and it was during this time that I got my first camera and the passion for imagery was awakened.

    Moving to Switzerland at 22 I discovered snowboarding and ended up mixing my two passions. Three or four years later I managed to make this my full time occupation although I don’t really see it as a job most of the time.

    I spend winters chasing the snow with the Volcom team riders and in summer I'm on my 36ft sailboat, with the goal being to sail around the world in the next 10 years.

     

    • Vernon Deck, Category finalist 2016: Wings
  • leroy_bellet_013138.jpg
    Leroy Bellet
    leroy_bellet_013138.jpg
    Photographer

    Leroy Bellet

    Biography

    I'm a high school student and freelance Australian surf photographer, focused on documenting ocean-orientated action, adventure, abstract, interactions and people.

    Not knowing whether I will roll out of bed and into a regular High School day or some of the most raw, dangerous and beautiful situations mother nature has to offer is what keeps me on my toes. I reckon drowning in paperwork would be the worst way to go.

    My theory is that to capture the essence of action sports, you have to be in the thick of the action.

     

    • Leroy Bellet, Category finalist 2016: Energy
  • max_lowe_013556.jpg
    Max Lowe
    max_lowe_013556.jpg
    Photographer

    Max Lowe

    Biography

    I was taken into the wilderness and packed along on adventures across the globe before I could even walk. From my home in the mountains of Montana to Antarctica, Nepal and Mongolia I have witnessed some extraordinary moments, wildlife, people and places.

    Since the first photos I ever shot when I was traversing the Super Inca Trail at 15-years-old, I was hooked on the unique perspective a camera gives you to interpret the world as you see it. Since then I have been lucky enough to have more experiences in far flung corners of our planet that I ever could have imagined, and its with amazement that my camera has led me through all this.

    I am captivated by the story - a single image can encapsulate a lifetime. But I don’t seek out the single image per say, more a collection of images from each of my experiences that represent my own footsteps on this planet, and through them the world as I illuminate it through my lens.

     

    • Max Lowe, Category finalist 2016: Spirit
  • luke_shadbolt_013913.jpg
    Luke Shadbolt
    luke_shadbolt_013913.jpg
    Photographer

    Luke Shadbolt

    Biography

    I’m a professional photographer and creative director from Australia, focusing on action sports, travel, lifestyle and fashion industries, particularly in relation to water.

    I grew up around the ocean and was interested in image-making and story-telling from a young age. After studying a Bachelor of Visual Communication at Newcastle University, I worked as a freelance graphic designer and creative director for several years with some of Australia’s largest surf brands, before shifting my focus to photography.

    In my short career in surf photography, I have been awarded the Nikon/Surfing Australia Surf Photo of the Year (2014), as well as being recognized as the Bodyboarding Photographer of the Year by both Le Boogie Bodyboarding Magazine and Riptide Bodyboarding Magazine (2014). I have recently worked on creative campaigns for brands including Audi Australia, Veuve Clicquot, Samsung and Lancome, as well as continuing to freelance for surfing publications.

    I enjoy wide open spaces, getting outside of my comfort zone, the ocean, surfing, art, basketball, animals, new challenges, jokes and heated debates. What best defines my style and work ethic? An ability to illustrate a grand idea on a minimal and intimate scale, coupled with an adventurous and perpetually self-critical nature.

     

    • Luke Shadbolt, Category finalist 2016: Energy
    • Luke Shadbolt, Category finalist 2016: Sequence
  • corey_wilson_013901.jpg
    Corey Wilson
    corey_wilson_013901.jpg
    Photographer

    Corey Wilson

    Biography

    I am from Santa Cruz, CA. I started photography about eight years ago when I was in high school and I fell in love with shooting photos, deciding to make a career out of it.

    After graduating I really wanted to learn as much as I could about photography. I enrolled in Brooks Photography Institute in Santa Barbara. It was a three-year program and I walked away with a Bachelors Degree in Professional Photography. It was the best thing for my career.

    I currently live in Newport Beach, CA and I travel the world all year round, working as a staff photographer for Surfing Magazine, Rip Curl, and freelancing for other companies. I’m constantly on the road going on surf trips and fashion shoots etc.

    I hope to continue with photography for the rest of my life. I couldn't be more stoked to turn my passion into a career. With all the new technology coming out year by year it lets us create new types of images, and endless amounts of creativity.

     

    • Corey Wilson, Category finalist 2016: Spirit
  • hugo_silva_013906.jpg
    Hugo Silva
    hugo_silva_013906.jpg
    Photographer

    Hugo Silva

    Biography

    I was born in Lisbon in 1980, Portugal, which is where I live today. In 2003 I started my photographic career in action sports and later became a freelancer.

    My career in photography developed through action sports, reportage and lifestyle. My work can be found in different brands and publications.

    In 2014 I joined Red Bull Photography. My portfolio is very wide and incorporates different areas, which makes me privileged in the photography universe. I want to take my work to a bigger dimension, with new challenges and international goals.

    What fascinates me in action sports is to see how athletes can turn an ordinary place into somewhere truly memorable.

     

    • Hugo Silva, Category finalist 2016: Lifestyle
  • victor_sukhorukov_013948.jpg
    Victor Sukhorukov
    victor_sukhorukov_013948.jpg
    Photographer

    Victor Sukhorukov

    Biography

    I was born in 1989 and currently live in Saint Petersburg, Russia. I’ve been working as a full-time photographer since 2010.

    I once sold my digital camera and bought a Nikon film camera, a decision that changed my approach to photography – I realized that using a film camera doesn’t give you the opportunity to make a mistake and you should appreciate every moment in your life, and also be able to catch it. Obviously I bought a digital camera later, but the habit to take the right shot at the right time will stay with me forever.

    I’m keen on urban exploration. There's something about walking on the rooftops and in subway tunnels – you rarely get bored.

    In 2013 I left work in a large telecommunication company and decided to dedicate my life to professional photography. For the last four years I've been working as a professional photojournalist for different Russian news agencies.

    The genre of war photography has caught my mind and camera recently. In 2013 and 2014 I was working on a photo report of the Ukrainian revolution. Several times I’ve been in hot spots in the Donbass region of Ukraine. In 2014 and 2015 I covered the armed conflict in Syria.

     

    • Victor Sukhorukov, Category finalist 2016: Masterpiece
  • colin_adair_013733.jpg
    Colin Adair
    colin_adair_013733.jpg
    Photographer

    Colin Adair

    Biography

    As a kid growing up in Eastern Canada, I started snowboarding at the time when a lot of ski hills did not allow snowboarders. The early days of the sport were all about being loud and rebellious. The magazines and imagery surrounding snowboarding showcased a lifestyle full of attitude and adventure. I was hooked.

    The glossy photos of perfect conditions and sunny days from Western Canada and USA burned into my mind: ‘Move West Young Man’. I counted the days. Eventually I made my way to Whistler, BC and worked nights so I could snowboard and start shooting photos. After a few years of trial and error shooting 35mm film on some questionable gear, some success came my way. I started working with and shooting for Snowboard Canada Magazine. A few years later I became photo editor which allowed me to shoot full time and travel. It was also an amazing experience to work with and learn from the photography legends in Canada while searching out new photographic talent at the same time.

    In 2008 my dream job came along, shooting full time for DC Shoes Inc as their snowboard team photographer. I worked with riders like Devun Walsh, Iikka Backstrom, and Travis Rice, traveling all over the world chasing the best conditions. In 2016 my photography career took me in a new direction away from the mountains, but after almost 15 years as a snowboard photographer I make time to get to the mountains and shoot as much as possible.

     

    • Colin Adair, Category finalist 2016: Wings
  • james_colbeck_014270.jpg
    James Colbeck
    james_colbeck_014270.jpg
    Photographer

    James Colbeck

    Biography

    Having received a kidney transplant following a short illness in 2007, I decided that life should be best spent doing things I enjoy. I promised myself that within a year I would get back to skiing! Less than a year later I met my now wife, a doctor and ski instructor.

    With her help, I am now back skiing and enjoying life! We have since been across the world promoting organ donation with Transplant Sport UK, to places like Australia, Sweden and Argentina.

    My main passion is being active, whether that be running, skiing, riding or driving. Being in a place to take in the beautiful scenery and pursue these activities is what inspires me to take more and more pictures, and I am so thankful to my donor that I am still here to do so!

    I always strive to frame a photo and give it context, a story, and make sure the elements, whatever they be, work in the photo’s favour. I hope you enjoy my pictures and my story.

     

    • James Colbeck, Category finalist 2016: Mobile
  • rasmus_kaessmann_012662.jpg
    Rasmus Kaessmann
    rasmus_kaessmann_012662.jpg
    Photographer

    Rasmus Kaessmann

    Biography

    My name is Rasmus Kaessmann, I was born in 1979, and I’m one of those photographers who have turned their hobby into their profession.

    After many years in Berlin I recently moved back to the Bavarian mountains with my wife and two kids. It’s where I grew up and where I started taking pictures of friends while rock-climbing and snowboarding.

    The springboard into my profession was doing four years of freelance photo assisting. My work has vastly expanded from pure sport photography. You can see this from my list of clients which includes brands like Audi, Sony, Stihl, Opel, Vattenfall, Reebok, Red Bull, Uniroyal, Rütli-Wear - a social project fashion-label from Berlin - Neukölln, and many more. Lately, I received a bronze award at the CCA Awards with an image of the rowing Red Bull athletes, the Sieber brothers.

    I also work for different magazines like the ADAC travel magazine, Playboy, Men's Health, Women’s Health and Stern magazine amongst others.

     

    • Rasmus Kaessmann, Category finalist 2016: Wings
    • Rasmus Kaessmann, Category finalist 2016: Wings
  • klaus_thymann_013936.jpg
    Klaus Thymann
    klaus_thymann_013936.jpg
    Photographer

    Klaus Thymann

    Biography

    As an artist working with lens-based media I regularly undertake projects that challenge me both as a photographer and director.

    My work is often influenced by concepts that include mapping, narration, exploration and science. Building on past experiences and a passion for the environment led me to set up Project Pressure, a UK-based charity that documents the world’s retreating glaciers. It combines science, art and education to depict the repercussions of climate change.

    A significant body of my work is 'Hybrids', which was produced over a period of four years when I mapped peculiar hybrid cultures around the planet, such as Snow Polo in St. Moritz, Gay Rodeo in LA, Underwater Striptease in Chile and Underground Gardening in Tokyo.

    I have been fortunate enough to receive grants from Arts Council England, Danish Arts Council, Getty Images, Hasselblad and The Queen of Denmark amongst others. In 1996 I was the youngest ever winner of the Scandinavian Kodak Gold Award, and in 2013 I was the recipient of the Sony World Photography Award in fashion.

    I have lectured at Oxford University, The Photographers' Gallery and at Central St. Martins College of Art and Design. And I have been featured in the BBC, Wired, the Guardian, the New York Times, National Geographic, Vice, Creative Review and more.

     

    • Klaus Thymann, Category finalist 2016: Enhance
  • francisco_david_rodriguez_benitez_014302.jpg
    Francisco David Rodríguez Benítez
    francisco_david_rodriguez_benitez_014302.jpg
    Photographer

    Francisco David Rodríguez Benítez

    Biography

    My name is David Rodriguez and I am a Spanish amateur photographer based in paradise, Gran Canaria, the Canary Islands.

    Currently I'm finishing my degree in architecture and I'm starting to do some work as a freelance photographer. Since I was a teenager photography has been important to me. I took the trouble to spend my money on cameras and because of that, my role among my friends has been to keep the memories of our youth.

    I think there are two facts that influence my way of photography; my studies of architecture and the amazing landscape of my island, Gran Canaria, which is one of the most spectacular in the world.

    After studying architecture my passion for photography evolved and I spent some time learning the basics and honing my technique. Now I love to walk with my camera and discover amazing places to capture. I think that my photography reflects geometry and the relationship between man and nature.

     

    • Francisco David Rodríguez Benítez, Category finalist 2016: Close Up
  • mark_welagen_014331.jpg
    Mark Welagen
    mark_welagen_014331.jpg
    Photographer

    Mark Welagen

    Biography

    I live in a village near Amsterdam in the north of Holland, close to the North Sea and dunes; places I love to wander around.

    I have always been interested in photography, but never that stoked on shooting. But when I went on a trip for several months I started shooting more and more. Back in Holland I saved up some money to buy a DSLR, and started shooting more often at my sur-roundings like the beach and became more interested in surf pho-tography.

    After a while I wanted a bit more of a challenge. So I went to the Photo Academy in Amsterdam, and started to shoot film again. Shooting film gives me a lot more opportunities to experiment with developing and printing. Nowadays I only shoot film and I use all kinds of cameras from 35mm to medium and large format. At this moment I am working on a book that represents the persistence of the North Sea surfer who has to endure the ice-cold North Sea to wait for the perfect wave.

     

    • Mark Welagen, Category finalist 2016: Enhance
  • jonathan_mehring_014361.jpg
    Jonathan Mehring
    jonathan_mehring_014361.jpg
    Photographer

    Jonathan Mehring

    Biography

    I am a photographer based in Brooklyn, NY. I began taking photos of my friends skateboarding in high school. During this time I found my passion for photography and enrolled at Virginia Commonwealth University to further my skills. While focusing more on artistic photography that came with classwork, I continued to shoot my friends skating and submit the photos to magazines. Soon I was published in both Slap and Thrasher and within a year I was asked to move to Philadelphia to shoot for Slap full time.

    After several years of shooting with professional skateboarders I landed at Skateboarder Magazine where I began to do travel stories around the globe in unexpected places. These trips included the Trans Siberian Railway, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, motor biking through Vietnam, the Brazilian Amazon by boat, and visiting India’s Kumbh Mela Festival, always with a crew of skateboarders looking for the ever-elusive skate spot.

    All the work producing these trips paid off more than I could have imagined with the release of my first book, Skate the World – Photographing One World of Skateboarding, was published by National Geographic. I continue to work as a freelance photographer in NYC, focusing on skateboarding locally and abroad, as well as shooting commercial lifestyle jobs and other documentary projects.

     

    • Jonathan Mehring, Category finalist 2016: Lifestyle
    • Jonathan Mehring, Category finalist 2016: Playground
    • Jonathan Mehring, Category finalist 2016: Wings
  • marcos_ferro_011606.jpg
    Marcos Ferro
    marcos_ferro_011606.jpg
    Photographer

    Marcos Ferro

    Biography

    I was born in Argentina in 1982, grew up in Patagonia and then moved to Mexico where I’ve been based since 2004. Since a kid, I was always close to the adventure world; mountain biking everyday to school and later when I discovered rock climbing.

    At about 15, I began experimenting with a borrowed camera while I got serious with adventure sports. In 1999, aged 19, I participated in my first adventure race and later focused on trail running (and ultra distance races), something that not only became good training, but also a good opportunity to take my camera to the most remote places. Since then, mostly self-taught and working as a photo assistant, I started my career as an adventure and action photographer.

    My professional career began in 2005. During those years, I’ve photographed nu-merous adventure races, expeditions, different sports and journeys in remote places. I’ve contributed to the editorial market working with National Geographic Traveller, Runner's World, Trail Runner, Bike, the New York Times and Climbing among others. I’ve also collaborated with Red Bull, Discovery Channel, Speedo, Petzl and Mexico’s tourism board.

    I was a semi-finalist at Red Bull Illume 2010 and in 2014 was selected by Red Bull to be one of 75 photographers featured in redbullphotography.com.

     

    • Marcos Ferro, Category finalist 2016: Close Up
  • Jason_Halayko_2074.jpg
    Jason Halayko
    Jason_Halayko_2074.jpg
    Photographer

    Jason Halayko

    Biography

    It has been over 25 years since my humble beginnings in high school photography 101, but I still love photography and all the adventures it has brought into my life over the years. Now a full time professional photographer based in Tokyo, Japan, I shoot everything from DJs and breakdancers to BMX, skateboarding and even E-Sports. For me variety is the spice of life and I love meeting so many amazing people in the whole spectrum of athletes and performers killing it today. Thank you everyone, always! 

    • Jason Halayko, Category Semi-Finalist 2019: Lifestyle
    • Jason Halayko, Category finalist 2016: Mobile
  • geoff_holman_012521.jpg
    Geoff Holman
    geoff_holman_012521.jpg
    Photographer

    Geoff Holman

    Biography

    As a kid I had a hard time focusing. Growing up with dyslexia made reading challenging for me so most of my time in school was spent day-dreaming and drawing. I struggled with low self-esteem and always felt like the slowest kid in the classroom. My parents realized this and made what was a radical move at that time and pulled me out of public school and started homeschooling.

    Being homeschooled was a fresh start for me. It gave me the time and opportunity to take my passion for art and do something with it in a practical way. Before long I was mentoring with an accomplished landscape artist Roger D Arndt. I learned color theory, composition and what it would take to survive as a full time artist. This turned out to be the most important education I could have asked for and really shaped me as the artist and photographer I am today.

    Becoming a sports photographer happened as a natural progression for me. I had no real aspiration at the time to shoot these types of photos. But growing up in British Columbia I was surrounded by epic landscapes and people who were excited about getting out and experiencing them. My close group of friends and I have a passion for skiing and mountain biking, we starting experimenting with different photo set-ups on our adventures and that is how this addiction to getting the shot started and why I love experiencing the outdoors through the lens today.

     

    • Geoff Holman, Category finalist 2016: Lifestyle
  • simone_mondino_012424.jpg
    Simone Mondino
    simone_mondino_012424.jpg
    Photographer

    Simone Mondino

    Biography

    I'm a self-taught freelance photographer, was born in 1988 and currently live in Fossano, Italy.

     

    I love to photograph longboard in particular. With this sport you can mix incredible landscapes and the amazing energy that this action sport provides. My favorite combo is when there are bad weather conditions, riders and sick road. This is perfect!

    In 2012 I began to photograph this sport following the Italian leg of the Sector9 EURoK Summer Tour. I can say that this has been my training. I photographed the Women’s World Champion Elena Corrigall and other international riders during their trip. I think in that moment my love for this sport and the lifestyle around it was born. Freedom, happiness, friendships and really sick landscapes, this is longboard for me!

    Now I'm here in my awesome country and I think there are some of the best spots that I ever saw. I'm a little bit lucky because I live so close to the Alps.

    I've been published in some international skateboarding magazines such as HeelSideMag, Crvis3r Skateboarding and Concrete Wave. Finally I do what I love – great landscapes, action sports and photography. What else is there to say?

     

    • Simone Mondino, Category finalist 2016: Mobile
  • fernando_marmolejo_013249.jpg
    Fernando Marmolejo
    fernando_marmolejo_013249.jpg
    Photographer

    Fernando Marmolejo

    Biography

    Seville, southern Spain. Here I met my passion for MTB and photography. In Leogang, Austria, after a fall doing downhill training, I had to spend the next five days in a bikepark with my collarbone broken, shooting photos with my friend’s compact camera using the left hand. That, in 2007, was my first photography experience.

    After the injury I switched to BMX, and in a year I had bought a Nikon D40 and a short while later a few flashes and a few triggers. I was trying to copy the greatest BMX photographers. I learned many things from the wonderful world of photography by myself, just shooting and shooting. But I focused on BMX.

    Over the last four years I started to turn my passion into a profession. Currently I shoot anything that moves fast or high, whether two or four wheels. I love action sports. This passion I hope will take me all over the world!

     

    • Fernando Marmolejo, Category finalist 2016: Energy
  • roman_neimann_012193.jpg
    Roman Neimann
    roman_neimann_012193.jpg
    Photographer

    Roman Neimann

    Biography

    I started filming road trips with my friends about 15 years ago using a VHS camera I borrowed from my dad. I got really into it, then started to take photos with a camera that also belonged to my dad. I was also snowboarding a lot back then and knew the local riders so came up with the idea to make a snow movie.

    During filming I also had the opportunity to take some photos and sent them to an action sports photo competition – somehow I won! After that I shot film and photos. I made snow movies for five or six years then slowly started getting into more serious business – shooting TV commercials, music videos and brand marketing videos.

    There have always been times in my life when I have shot more photos than filmed and vice versa, but I have never taken photos as a professional as it has always been a hobby. Perhaps this was because I thought filming was cooler, with a bigger crew, bigger budgets, and I received many awards for best music videos and commercials.

    Photography has always been more for myself. I am alone with the camera and the subject. That is totally different from shooting a commercial. And I think that’s why I love it so much. About three years ago I started a movie project entitled ‘LoveLifeMovie’. During this shoot I also took many photos and that was the first time my pictures appeared in a skiing magazine. It definitely pushed me to take more photos and that’s the reason I’m taking part in this mega photo competition!

     

    • Roman Neimann, Category Semi-Finalist 2019: RAW
    • Roman Neimann, Category finalist 2016: Masterpiece
    • Roman Neimann, Category finalist 2016: Lifestyle
  • stefan_madej_014522.jpg
    Stefan Madej
    stefan_madej_014522.jpg
    Photographer

    Stefan Madej

    Biography

    My story of becoming a photographer started only few years ago, but it has its roots in my childhood. When I was 12, my parents took me on a trip. It wasn't just a regular family weekend, but something completely different from what a random Polish kid in the 1990s could experience. We went rock climbing. I instantly fell in love with this amazing sport and since then I had devoted every moment of my life to practicing climbing and traveling for climbing. This activity became my passion, and finally, my profession. Now it is my life.

    In high school and college I had been poking around Poland, and later Europe, in search of interesting natural climbing areas. Most of them are located in national parks, or other extraordinarily beautiful places. Each time I visited magnificent mountains to climb I admired the background as well. I developed a need to capture those stunning moments, where sport, challenge and adventure meet the beauty of natural landscapes. I wanted to shoot my friends doing their life records, as well as capturing the magnificent views from the unique climbers’ perspective.

    Right now I'm a professional climber. I work as a climbing teacher and coach. I'm based in Warsaw, Poland. I also work as a freelance photographer, mostly engaged in shooting climbing-related subjects. Combining my beloved hobby with my sport gives me satisfaction. Being a climbing pro, and a climbing community insider, is an opportunity for me to capture the most unique moments during training for this amazing sport.

     

    • Stefan Madej, Category finalist 2016: Energy
  • sulejman_omerbasic_014531.jpg
    Sulejman Omerbašić
    sulejman_omerbasic_014531.jpg
    Photographer

    Sulejman Omerbašić

    Biography

    I live in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina. I fell in love with photography when I was in elementary school. My father was a photo enthusiast and he showed me how to work with cameras.

    Soon after, I started chasing cats and pigeons around house for a good shot with a zoom lens. For me the results where fantastic, for example, capturing a bird in a moment of flight was something beyond my expectations. So photography and visual arts have become my true passion.

    In my 20s I got my first assignments and my hobby slowly turned to my profession. I was able to buy better photo equipment and started to work for a magazine as a photographer.

    Since then I have been working with major news and photo agencies in the world covering major events mostly in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Currently I work as photo editor in a Bosnian weekly newspaper but I try to make time for other interesting assignments in Bosnia and abroad. Photography has taken me to beautiful places and made me meet very interesting people for which I am truly grateful and I consider this the biggest award in my photographic career.

     

    • Sulejman Omerbašić, Category finalist 2016: Sequence
  • eric_parker_012756.jpg
    Eric Parker
    eric_parker_012756.jpg
    Photographer

    Eric Parker

    Biography

    At the age of 16 I was introduced to whitewater kayaking. The power of the river, the international kayaking community, and exploration quickly became the focal point of my life. As I learned about rivers, I realized how little we as humans know about these incredibly beautiful and sacred places. I soon became overwhelmed with the urge to document these mesmerizing landscapes: canyons, waterfalls, and pristine waterways around the world. Naturally, photography became the medium for me to share my experiences and document nature’s wonders.

    Now after eight years, hundreds of rivers, and 24 countries, my passion continues to prosper just as much as it did when I took my first strokes on the rivers and captured my first images.

    When I am not on the river or in the mountains, I can be found working on various commercial, editorial and conservation projects. I hope to continue on this journey and promote environmental stewardship and protection of our planet’s most precious resource, water.

     

    • Eric Parker, Category finalist 2016: Playground
    • Eric Parker, Category finalist 2016: Spirit
  • markus_rohrbacher_014669.jpg
    Markus Rohrbacher
    markus_rohrbacher_014669.jpg
    Photographer

    Markus Rohrbacher

    Biography

    I am a self-taught freelance photographer based in the centre of the Alps in Austria. After graduating as an architect I decided to take a year off and focused on action photography, primarily snowboarding. The mountains in front of my house gave me first hand experiences and allowed me to spend every day in the snow with my friends, which resulted in a quick progression of my photographic skills.

    In 2011 I turned my interest in photography into a professional career. As a staff photographer at Nitro Snowboards I was assigned to shoot their athletes and to accompany them on their journeys around the world. Photography gives me the chance to travel around the globe and my goal is to capture the sport by documenting landscapes, surroundings, or structures in which the athletes find their playground.

    Beside the sport, I always try to discover new genres of photography to keep my work challenging and to enhance my skills.

     

    • Markus Rohrbacher, Category finalist 2016: Enhance
  • cristian_traila_011166.jpg
    Cristian Traila
    cristian_traila_011166.jpg
    Photographer

    Cristian Traila

    Biography

    I was born in a small village near Bucharest, Romania. When I was 20 I came to Madrid on vacation, loved the culture, people, food and weather so much, I decided to live here for a while. Ten years have passed since then and here I am, still living in Madrid.

    Since I was little I've been amazed with bicycles and photography, then one day I discovered BMX riding and everything changed. After a couple of years I started shooting video and taking photos of my friends; it felt natural from the beginning. My favorite subjects are extreme sports and lifestyle.

    I’m so grateful for everything, looking back at all the adventures I’ve had, friends I've made and places I've seen thanks to my passion for photography and bikes. Currently I'm working for a photography and film studio in Madrid as a filmmaker and photographer. I can't wait to see what the future brings.

     

    • Cristian Traila, Category finalist 2016: Energy
  • sophie_zander_010677.jpg
    Sophie Zander
    sophie_zander_010677.jpg
    Photographer

    Sophie Zander

    Biography

    I was born in 1993 and raised in the northern suburbs of Stockholm, Sweden. Photography has always been a part of my life. My dad and his best friend used to have a darkroom and a small studio, so I grew up around cameras.

    I started taking pictures back in 2009 when my dad gave me his old Canon EOS 10D. In the beginning it was a way for me to hang out with my dad and it was during this time I discovered the joy of photography.

    When I started to photograph surfing it felt like home. I fell in love with it immediately. I love everything about it – the people, the smells, the sound of the waves, the environment, everything. I checked the forecast as often as I could, I didn’t want to miss a single opportunity.

    I prefer shooting extreme sports, concerts and portraits. Photography has taken me to amazing places over the years and I still have a lot of places to see. I have met so many people and made new friends through this interest. And maybe most importantly, I found something I was good at.

     

    • Sophie Zander, Category finalist 2016: Lifestyle
  • teddy_morellec_014839.jpg
    Teddy Morellec
    teddy_morellec_014839.jpg
    Photographer

    Teddy Morellec

    Biography

    I was born in 1987 and grew up in a Parisian suburb. In my teenage years, whether through movies or still pictures, I loved capturing the moment. At this time I used to borrow my granddad’s camera, until I could buy my own DSLR.

    Passionate about skateboarding and music, I naturally started shooting them. After I tried different styles of photography, the love remained for event photography and sports.

    In 2010 I started shooting for Red Bull and at many sports events and music festivals. I developed my inspirations by traveling with athletes and covering sporting events around the world.

    In 2013 I created my company based in Paris, La Clef Production, which gathers photographs and videographers. Together we exchange and develop our skills. We can work on bigger projects with the support of the many brands we’re working for.

     

    • Teddy Morellec, Category finalist 2016: Mobile
    • Teddy Morellec, Category finalist 2016: Enhance
  • tatyana_emelina_014250.jpg
    Tatyana Emelina
    tatyana_emelina_014250.jpg
    Photographer

    Tatyana Emelina

    Biography

    I'm just simple Russian girl. My name is Tatyana. I live in Novosibirsk, Siberia. One day I got a camera and since then I have been trying to capture every moment of the world. I try to feel and share the beauty of every day, to capture every shade of meaning hidden in the ‘now’ we live in.

    Every day we do many things and can see a lot. We have different emotions and we try to solve as many problems as we can. Taking photos is my way to capture every moment. I like taking photos of the emotions people have in their everyday lives; the emotions that help you better understand someone just by looking at his or her photo. I am not a professional photographer, but photography is definitely a part of my life.

    A new stage of my development as a photographer began when I started climbing and going to mountains. I like to take photos of people when they climb to the top doing their best to reach the goal. It is not easy to be a sport photographer and you must be ready at any moment. I find this genre very interesting now.

     

    • Tatyana Emelina, Category finalist 2016: Mobile
  • maksim_balakhovskii_014595.jpg
    Maksim Balakhovskii
    maksim_balakhovskii_014595.jpg
    Photographer

    Maksim Balakhovskii

    Biography

    I was born in Kamchatka, in the far east of Russia. I was one of the first snowboarders there and after a while I created the Kamchatka Snowboard Association with some friends. This organization literally changed the life for many young and modern people on our peninsula. We organized many different events, contests, filmed the first Russian snowboard video – ‘White Trails’, and did photo shoots with local professional photographers.

    With incredibly beautiful Kamchatka’s nature and with these shoots, I started to think about having my own camera. We also started to organize the first heliski and heliboarding riding for ourselves and for our friends on our local volcanoes from 1995.

    This activity later formed the basis of what I do today – as a heliski guide with my company Helipro. From 2002 we have organized many trips into all the major places where heliskiing exists around the world.

    I had my camera from the first trip and it helps to create a new format of heliski trips. Now our clients return home not only with great feelings but also a bunch of professional photos and videos. Our company has worked with most of the major film studios and companies like Brainfarm, Pirates Movie Production, Red Bull, Burton and Yes Snowboards. I really love to shoot sport, nature, travel, timelapses, panoramas, and 360s.

     

    • Maksim Balakhovskii, Category finalist 2016: Masterpiece
  • aaron_zwaal_014633.jpg
    Aaron Zwaal
    aaron_zwaal_014633.jpg
    Photographer

    Aaron Zwaal

    Biography

    I’m a 25-year-old action sports photographer from Nijmegen, the Netherlands with a keen interest in light and analog film techniques. I graduated as a media-designer, studying photography and afterwards had the choice between choosing a driver's license and a camera. I chose the latter! So far it’s been an amazing decision.

    I first started shooting my local BMX friends on vacations. I’ve been shooting serious-ly since 2008. I broke my elbow at the end of that year and kind of slowed down with riding and took on the filming and shooting aspect of it.

    Fast forward to now and I am still enjoying it as much as I did when I got my first DSLR, except now on a way more serious and wider level, with way more traveling. These days I’m shooting with a Canon 5D Mark II, a strobist setup, Hasselblad, large format and various 35mm cameras

     

    • Aaron Zwaal, Category finalist 2016: Close Up
  • alexandre_ferreira_012265.jpg
    Alexandre Ferreira
    alexandre_ferreira_012265.jpg
    Photographer

    Alexandre Ferreira

    Biography

    My name is Alexandre but most people call me by my short name Xande. I started taking pictures not so long ago. I decided to start taking pictures so I could capture climbing. I'm not a very good climber but I love the sport. I wanted to be able to share with the world all the good things that were leading me to spend entire days at climbing crags. That led me into photography.

    As a photographer, I try to capture the emotion and beauty of outdoor sports. My goal is to catch breathtaking images showing nature, effort, exposure and the achievements of those dedicated athletes.

    My passion for climbing led me to take it as my main focus but photography is an endless universe and I'm always open for new possibilities.

     

    • Alexandre Ferreira, Category finalist 2016: Mobile
  • Bruno_Long_3574.jpg
    Bruno Long
    Bruno_Long_3574.jpg
    Photographer

    Bruno Long

    Biography

    Bruno Long is a professional adventure sports photographer, specializing in mountain biking, skiing and trail running. He is especially interested in self-powered adventures, earning his own turns, and running (albeit not always fast) the same trails that he shoots. He likes to be a part of the adventure, injecting himself into the thick of it, whether it’s a remote backcountry line, a long hike-a-bike, or a strenuous ultra run. Whatever the case may be, Bruno is always searching for amazing light, dramatic shadows, incredible contrast, and all the in-between moments that make action sports so unique.

    • Bruno Long, Category Semi-Finalist 2019: Playground
    • Bruno Long, Category Semi-Finalist 2019: Lifestyle
    • Bruno Long, Category finalist 2016: Close Up
  • felix_rioux_014681.jpg
    Felix Rioux
    felix_rioux_014681.jpg
    Photographer

    Felix Rioux

    Biography

    I was born in Montreal, Canada, studied architecture and cinema and started my professional photography career shooting for skate companies in the mid nineties. In 2000, I opened the first retail shop with two business partners selling exclusively freeski gear, D-Structure Proshop.

    Working in the freeski scene both as a photographer and entrepreneur, I fell in love with the sport and created another unique project, the International Freeski Film Festival, iF3. It has since become an international brand and traveled to four continents.

    I have now left the festival to focus 100% of my time on my first passion: photography. After specializing in skiing for the past 15 years, I’ve branched out to many other sports, the tourism industry, studio and commercial work.

    Color, dynamism and authenticity are what I look for in an image. Over the years, traveling has taught me to pay attention to the bigger picture. When shooting action, I try to look at the landscape and how my subject fits within it.

     

    • Felix Rioux, Category finalist 2016: Masterpiece
  • thinh__little_shao__souvannarath_011609.jpg
    Thinh "Little Shao" Souvannarath
    thinh__little_shao__souvannarath_011609.jpg
    Photographer

    Thinh "Little Shao" Souvannarath

    Biography

    My real name is Thinh Souvannarath but I’m known as ‘Little Shao’ which is actually my nickname as a breakdancer. I'm 33-years-old and live in France. I've spent all my childhood in the worst suburbs of Paris but that's where I discovered the hip-hop culture.

    I started B-boying and getting into hip-hop when I was 14-years-old in 1997 and this passion brought me to photography later in 2004 because I wanted to show to the world my vision of this culture. The main reason was that I couldn't find any pictures that represented what I saw. I wanted to show my parents and everyone else how beautiful this culture was and how gifted we were because at the beginning no one really respected us.

    Using community platforms and social media was my way to share my work and reach a mainstream audience, which had no clue about what this culture was about. Before long, artists and events from all around the world started to ask me to work with them.

    From a passion it turned into a full time job in 2012 when I decided to quit my job as a business analyst in a bank. Today I work as a freelance photographer and have the chance to travel the world doing what I love, meeting artists around the world, working with huge brands and big companies and having new projects everyday.

    I still can't believe it but I would say that my B-boy mentality got me where I am today.

     

    • Thinh "Little Shao" Souvannarath, Category finalist 2016: Energy
  • seth_de_roulet_012410.jpg
    Seth de Roulet
    seth_de_roulet_012410.jpg
    Photographer

    Seth de Roulet

    Biography

    I am a Californian originally from the great state of New York. I am a world traveler and adventure enthusiast who loves nothing more than to watch the sunrise from the cold clutches of the Pacific Ocean.

    I fell in love with photography as a young child and have pursued it as a career with surfing as my main focus. I was trained at Brooks Institute in Santa Barbara, California under the guidance of early surf photographer Bill Robbins. I currently work for Surfing Magazine and other international publications to bring the best quality surf photography to audiences around the globe.

    I am a lover of all things family and I can’t wait to share my knowledge and passion for the ocean with my son, Oliver.

     

    • Seth de Roulet, Category finalist 2016: Close Up
  • tom_hawkins_011257.jpg
    Tom Hawkins
    tom_hawkins_011257.jpg
    Photographer

    Tom Hawkins

    Biography

    After being born and raised in the Middle East, I needed a change of scenery from the desert and decided that tropical jungles would be more up my ally. I packed up and moved to Bali at the age of 19, where I found employment working under surf photographer Dustin Humphrey. For the better part of three years I traveled around the islands via motorcycle in search of waves, building my surf and motorcycle portfolio and gaining a lay of the land.

    After branching out by myself, I became an RVCA Advocate living the brand, shooting surf and the adventures it brought around the world. My work has brought me to five of the seven continents and I have been published in Japan, Australia, Europe, the States, Brazil and Indonesia.

    Most of the year you’ll find me riding my motorcycle and traveling around Southeast Asia with good friends Ellis Ericson and Jason Salisbury constantly in search of adventure, waves and good times.

     

    • Tom Hawkins, Category finalist 2016: Lifestyle
  • francisco_taranto_junior_011341.jpg
    Francisco Taranto Junior
    francisco_taranto_junior_011341.jpg
    Photographer

    Francisco Taranto Junior

    Biography

    I was born in the wonderful city of Rio de Janeiro and as a teenager I discovered two passions that I will never give up – climbing and photography. In 2002, I took part in my first big wall experience as a photographer.

    That kicked it off! I left the realm of photo-journalism in order to do reports on the mountainous world. After 26 years in Rio, it was time to go to France. Since 2011, I’ve been working with my wife, Sandra Ducasse, as a photographer and filmmaker specializing in climbing.

     

    • Francisco Taranto Junior, Category finalist 2016: Playground
  • nicolas_armer_014976.jpg
    Nicolas Armer
    nicolas_armer_014976.jpg
    Photographer

    Nicolas Armer

    Biography

    Hi, my name is Nicolas Armer and I'm a 27-year-old outdoor photographer from Germany.

    Being outdoors has always played a major role in my life. Whenever I'm in nature my mind and body seem to relax. All the rush and stress from everyday life simply vanishes.

    Pretty soon after I started my career as a photographer I realized that shooting nature and outdoor-activities was the thing I want to do.

    I'm more than grateful to have a passion that allows me to travel, meet new people, go on unforgettable adventures and earn some money at the same time.

    My favorite things to shoot are: kayaking, highlining, snowboarding or skiing, flyfishing, landscapes and nature.

    In Germany I'm also working as a photojournalist, which led to publications in the Washington Post, New York Times, The Guardian, Stern, Sydney Morning Herald, SFChronicle, The Wall Street Journal and much more.

    The perfect day for me would look like this. Waking up in a tent on a mountain on the Lofoten Islands at night. Cooking breakfast with the crew before shooting the night sky and some highlining during sunrise. After that, hiking back to the car to shoot some kayaking and fishing near the beautiful town of Reine. To end the day we'd gather around a campfire with some beers and grilled fish while enjoying the sunset.

     

    • Nicolas Armer, Category finalist 2016: Enhance
  • skip_brown_015029.jpg
    Skip Brown
    skip_brown_015029.jpg
    Photographer

    Skip Brown

    Biography

    I’m a long time freelance photographer based in the Washington DC area. I’m a former professional kayaker and competitive hang glider pilot, as well as an avid sailor, kite boarder, mountain biker and a pioneer of whitewater SUP.

    I regularly paddle and surf the Class V whitewater and world-class standing waves at Great Falls on the Potomac River just minutes from my house in Cabin John, Maryland. I’ve never been content just being an observer so I’m a bit obsessive about getting good at a lot of sports.

    I shoot a wide variety of editorial work from outdoor adventure sports and travel, food and portraits, as well as local corporate and advertising jobs. I’m married with three school age children and currently represented by NG Creative.

    • Skip Brown, Category finalist 2016: Mobile
  • paulo_macedo_015312.jpg
    Paulo Macedo
    paulo_macedo_015312.jpg
    Photographer

    Paulo Macedo

    Biography

    The art of photography gives me freedom to express all that I see through my camera. We have to do what we like, and believe in what we do so I decided to be a photographer. My father was a photographer and he was my influence. He used to take photos of my brothers and me during our childhood.

    I decided to show the world that everyone thinks differently and everyone is different. Photography was the best way to show that we can make art through our eyes as if our eyes were paintbrushes and our camera paint. We can paint our pictures using our ideas and our cameras.

     

    • Paulo Macedo, Category finalist 2016: New Creativity
  • benoit_jeannet_015380.jpg
    Benoît Jeannet
    benoit_jeannet_015380.jpg
    Photographer

    Benoît Jeannet

    Biography

    My name is Benoît Jeannet and I live and work in Neuchâtel, Switzerland. I graduated in the photography department of the Lausanne school of art and design and the photography school of Vevey, Switzerland. I’ve presented my work in several individual and group exhibitions since 2011.

    I won the first Focale Ville de Nyon award in 2012, the Beau Virage Lausanne prize in 2014 and the 2015 PhotoforumPasQuart Award.

    My self-published book, A Geological Index Of The Landscape was shortlisted for the 2015 Paris Photo-Aperture Foundation PhotoBook Awards and the MACK 2016 First Book Award.

     

    • Benoît Jeannet, Category finalist 2016: Enhance
  • lukas_oujesky_011508.jpg
    Lukáš Oujeský
    lukas_oujesky_011508.jpg
    Photographer

    Lukáš Oujeský

    Biography

    Barbora Karpíšková and I are photography students in Pilsen College, Czech Republic. We are partners in our personal life and sometimes we work together also.

     

    We were born on opposite sides of our small country but now we live together in our capital city, Prague, which is the cultural center of our country.

     

    Barbora makes fine art photography and concepts. Her creativity is unique, using many different technologies and influences. My work is commercial photography; products, interiors, fashion and in this case extreme sports photography.

     

    For this project we decided to collaborate and work together to create something esspecially for Red Bull Illume. We think that when combined, our two different perceptions of photography can work together really well.

     

    • Lukáš Oujeský, Category finalist 2016: Enhance
  • Felix_Pirker_2449.jpg
    Felix Pirker
    Felix_Pirker_2449.jpg
    Photographer

    Felix Pirker

    Biography

    I grew up in the heart of the Alps, the famous Arlberg. Some years ago I moved to Innsbruck to pursue my photography and broaden my skills. I took my first photos with my mum’s camera, to document my friends and my backcountry kicker building adventures and first steps in the park! At the age of 16, I used my hard-earned savings to buy my first DSLR, and I took it everywhere with me. It was the beginning of a wonderful friendship. Although my main focus is on snowsports, I admire any kind of pursuit that people follow with passion. I have been very lucky to experience some incredible adventures and witness people pushing their limits in their quest for perfection. My quest is to capture those perfect moments, when everything comes together for just a split a second. I have searched for those moments across a range of different sports, from snowboarding and skiing, to surfing and mountainbiking, to skateboarding and downhill longboarding. As all of these sports involve varying terrain and environments, it lets me draw a large amount of inspiration from the actual scenery and the uniqueness every rider brings along in style, personality and choice of trick or line. Photography has taken me to many places I would have never dreamed of. With my constant pursuit of capturing those moments, I hope there are many more adventures yet to come.

    • Felix Pirker, Category Semi-Finalist 2019: Energy
    • Felix Pirker, Category Semi-Finalist 2019: Energy
    • Felix Pirker, Category finalist 2016: Playground
  • cam_mcleod_012276.jpg
    Cam McLeod
    cam_mcleod_012276.jpg
    Photographer

    Cam McLeod

    Biography

    My name is Cam McLeod and I am a photographer based in Ogden, Utah. Growing up along the sandy shores of Lake Michigan and now calling the Wasatch front my home, I am forever influenced by my surroundings and beautiful landscapes. From amazing stretches of beach and great bodies of water to the grandeur of mountains that seem to reach towards something unobtainable, I draw inspiration from these places and their people. The human experience and its relationship with nature is a constant theme in my work and I feel is something I could spend a lifetime exploring.

    My photographic journey did not begin with a camera, it began with a razor blade and magazine clippings. As a child I studied the gallery sections of action sports magazines like Powder, Thrasher and Surfer. My favorite images would find a home on my bedroom walls until there was no more wall space to be found. This bedroom gallery collection was an amazing source of inspiration. I had no idea that 20 years later I would be working as a photographer and maybe somewhere a kid is cutting out one of my photos to be hung on their wall.

     

    • Cam McLeod, Category finalist 2016: Close Up
  • kelvin_trautman_015166.jpg
    Kelvin Trautman
    kelvin_trautman_015166.jpg
    Photographer

    Kelvin Trautman

    Biography

    I’m a photographer and filmmaker based in London whose work focuses on narrative driven content, where I typically use travel, sport, and expeditions as a lens to look at the human and environmental condition.

    Telling stories is important to me. The longer I spend behind a camera the more I feel I have some moral obligation to use my skills and medium to inspire. And when I tell people this I often get asked what you need to tell a good story. And to me it’s simple; all you need is a camera and empathy. The latter is particularly important, and it’s something I use across the board, whether it’s shooting commercial campaigns or those fleeting and unguarded moments in documentary work.

    As I continue to explore the art of narrative photography and filmmaking, the more I want to challenge perceptions and push creative boundaries. To do this I want to look beyond the stereotypical perfect moment. I want to immerse myself in the story, to learn and be humbled by my subjects, to share experiences with authenticity.

    • Kelvin Trautman, Category finalist 2016: Mobile
  • syo_van_vliet_014923.jpg
    Syo van Vliet
    syo_van_vliet_014923.jpg
    Photographer

    Syo van Vliet

    Biography

    My name is Syo van Vliet, I'm 25, living in Amsterdam and currently traveling the world through photography.

    After my parents gave me my first camera in 2009 as a high school graduation present, I took it with me to loads of places.

    I began taking my camera to the BMX events either myself or my friends were riding in. After photographing my friends, I realized with my knowledge of the sport and communication with the riders, I was able to capture the beauty of this scene. I put the riding to the side and took photography more seriously, playing around with composition and lighting.

    My work got noticed and I began being booked out for jobs within the BMX scene. At one point I realized I wanted to do more than just BMX, so I got into shooting FMX, portraits, lifestyle stuff and snowboarding. With my first few snowboarding trips my work was published and from then on, it sort off took off.

    Nowadays I’m fully living off my photography and filming work. Working for my own company I shoot for many nice brands, get to meet awesome people and am trying to see and capture as much of the world as possible.

     

    • Syo van Vliet, Category finalist 2016: Close Up
  • ryan_creary_015279.jpg
    Ryan Creary
    ryan_creary_015279.jpg
    Photographer

    Ryan Creary

    Biography

    I was born and raised on the east coast of Canada in New Brunswick. Growing up in a coastal environment instilled in me a need to explore and appreciate the natural world. After university in Northern Ontario, I migrated west to British Columbia in search of deep powder and bigger mountains and now call the outdoor paradise of Revelstoke home.

    As cliché as it is, I simply love where I live. I've found the spot that feels like home and that brings me great happiness. My passion is being active in nature and when I'm not taking photographs I spend my time kayaking, biking, snowboarding, running and climbing.

    I’ve worked full time as a professional mountain sports photographer for more than 15 years. Clients include Patagonia, Outdoor Research, Outside, Men’s Journal, Alpinist, Bike, Powder and Canoe and Kayak. Always on the hunt for exquisite light, moody scenes and unique angles, I’m intrigued by the subtle moments of the activities I pursue, as well as the cultural side of mountain sports.

     

    • Ryan Creary, Category finalist 2016: Close Up
  • Tristan_Lebeschu_3089.jpg
    Tristan Lebeschu
    Tristan_Lebeschu_3089.jpg
    Photographer

    Tristan Lebeschu

    Biography

    Tristan ’Shu’ Lebeschu lives in the heart of the French Alps, nearby Annecy. His photographs cover outdoor sports, aerial, landscapes, interiors, portraits and lifestyle. His pictures, rich in contrast, colors and extreme action brought him international recognition in magazines such as National Geographic, Courrier International, Paris Match, The Times, GQ, Chasseur d’images. At ease with natural light or flashes, Tristan has developed his own signature style, he is an ambassador for the brands Elinchrom, Fujifilm and PNY.

    • Tristan Lebeschu, Category Semi-Finalist 2019: RAW
    • Tristan Lebeschu, Category Semi-Finalist 2019: Energy
    • Tristan Lebeschu, Category Semi-Finalist 2019: Innovation by Sony
    • Tristan Lebeschu, Category finalist 2016: Sequence
  • kuba_konwent_015471.jpg
    Kuba Konwent
    kuba_konwent_015471.jpg
    Photographer

    Kuba Konwent

    Biography

    I’ve been doing photography for nine years. I was always fascinated by extreme sports and was the first one to try new things around my block. I live in a small village in the South of Poland, a few steps from Czech and German borders.

    I started with wheels, first bikes, then moto-related sports. In the meantime I tried freeride skiing and after years of intense practice became an instructor. Then I tried skydiving and fell in love with this sport. Each year when the season starts I get my gear, pack my van and join my skydiving family in Sky Camp. I am truly amazed by how man is able to fly using the body. All angles, all positions, individual air freestyle, group formations, endless possibilities.

    And why do we do extreme sports? For the thrill – the nanosecond moment of excitement. At some point I started to shoot what I see and discovered that those moments can last forever – in photography.

     

    • Kuba Konwent, Category finalist 2016: Energy
  • chad_k._uyeno_012646.jpg
    Chad K. Uyeno
    chad_k._uyeno_012646.jpg
    Photographer

    Chad K. Uyeno

    Biography

    I am a photojournalist working between Hawaii and Los Angeles. Being born and raised in Hawaii, the ocean has always been a big part of my life. I was taught at a young age to ‘mālama’ (to take care of) and to have respect for the ocean. It will always provide food when you are hungry and a peaceful place to relax with family and friends after a long day at work.

    My interest began when I first took a photography class in high school. I started taking photographs of my friends surfing and bodyboarding on the North Shore.

    Photography challenges me to be creative everyday and it motivates me. My objective is to tell people’s unique stories in a truthful and respectful manner. With iPhones, social media and the internet, I am able to share these stories around the world. I hope to engage and inspire people to follow their passions.

    My work has been published in the Los Angeles Times, Washington Post and the San Francisco Chronicle among others. I’m currently working on publishing a book documenting my travels with my iPhone.

     

    • Chad K. Uyeno, Category finalist 2016: Mobile
  • Jan_Pelikan_4116.jpg
    Jan Pelikán
    Jan_Pelikan_4116.jpg
    Photographer

    Jan Pelikán

    Biography

    Jan Pelikán is young photographer from Czech republic who is focused on working in the commercial sphere of photography. He has worked with known brands such as Pepsi, L ́Oréal, Reebok and many others. In his free work, he enjoys returning to his roots and other great passions of his, like adrenaline sports such as skateboarding and snowboarding.

    • Jan Pelikán, Category Semi-Finalist 2019: Creative by Skylum
    • Jan Pelikán, Category Semi-Finalist 2019: Emerging by Red Bull Photography
    • Jan Pelikán, Category finalist 2016: Sequence
  • bartek_wolinski_013454.jpg
    Bartek Woliński
    bartek_wolinski_013454.jpg
    Photographer

    Bartek Woliński

    Biography

    My name is Bartek Woliński but most of my friends call me ‘Wolis’. I am a sports action photographer based in Warsaw, Poland. My passion for mountain biking from day one was the reason to take up photography. Later I decided this is my path in life.

    I specialize in photo reports from events and sports competitions of any kind; commercial photos for companies, magazines and anything that looks interesting for me. Creating the most stunning and inspiring photographs is what I strive to do. That is why I always try to take my skills to the next level every time I pick up my camera.

    I think that staying open-minded made me who I am today, so I don’t fear anything life sets for me. If I am not following a downhill World Cup or a major freeride or slopestyle event, you will find me somewhere deep in the forest, having fun on a bike with friends!

     

    • Bartek Woliński, Category finalist 2016: Playground
    • Bartek Woliński, Category finalist 2016: Sequence
  • joe_gall_012476.jpg
    Joe Gall
    joe_gall_012476.jpg
    Photographer

    Joe Gall

    Biography

    I live just north of Detroit in Royal Oak, Michigan. I started photography when I was 13 years old, capturing friends riding BMX and playing in bands. Back then I was burning through roll after roll of film and had to get a job at a local shop building bikes to feed my photography obsession.

    One of my first gigs as a photographer was shooting concerts for Real Detroit Week-ly. This allowed me access to photograph thousands of bands over the years and really helped my networking. After a while I shifted my focus to the rebirth of Detroit. I started mixing the dramatic city landscapes with my action sports, BMX, and skate-boarding photography. Nowadays, I work as a freelance photographer under the name Camera Jesus and plan to travel the world.

     

    • Joe Gall, Category finalist 2016: Close Up
  • ryan_bregante_015303.jpg
    Ryan Bregante
    ryan_bregante_015303.jpg
    Photographer

    Ryan Bregante

    Biography

    I was born and raised in San Diego, California. I grew up near the beach spending my time surfing, skateboarding and in the mountains snowboarding. Action sports have always been my form of relaxation and outlet for my creativity.

    Once I completed culinary school in New York, I moved to Vail, Colorado, where my first camera became my way of meeting people and professionally networking. My camera went everywhere with me, and I was able to build my skills to a level that allowed me to work with professional athletes when I moved to Salt Lake City. These athletes put in the hard work with me, and it was this collaboration that made my photography transform and evolve.

    I am continuing to grow creatively and am currently exploring food, lifestyle and travel photography. I believe great photos capture a moment that inspires connection and invokes curiosity in the viewer. My photography with action sports created a foundation that has given me the confidence to continue to take creative risks, while capturing the beauty of something at its most perfect point.

     

    • Ryan Bregante, Category finalist 2016: New Creativity
  • Satchel_Cronk_2870.jpg
    Satchel Cronk
    Satchel_Cronk_2870.jpg
    Photographer

    Satchel Cronk

    Biography

    Born and raised in Northern California, Satchel started exploring the natural world around him by mountain bike in high school, and very shortly thereafter began saving moments from his adventures with a camera. Today, following light down the trail has led Satchel to the role of Photo & Video editor at Bike Magazine in San Diego, California.

    • Satchel Cronk, Category Semi-Finalist 2019: Emerging by Red Bull Photography
    • Satchel Cronk, Category finalist 2016: Mobile
  • wray_sinclair_015304.jpg
    Wray Sinclair
    wray_sinclair_015304.jpg
    Photographer

    Wray Sinclair

    Biography

    I wasn't born close to the mountains, but I lived just far enough away from them to know that they were a special place for me to escape to. Growing up in Northern Virginia put me just far enough away from them to escape on the weekends in the endless pursuit of fly fishing and mountain biking.

    That desire to become closer to the mountains led me to pack my bags and move out west for college to the University of Utah where I am currently a junior pursing a degree in marketing. I'm proud to call Salt Lake City my home, and the Wasatch Mountains my stomping ground.

    Photography became a part of my life in middle school when I took a film photography course. Ironically I never finished the class due to the teacher taking a leave of absence, but it ignited a fire in me that still burns today. When I was 15 I convinced my parents to pay for half of a DSLR for me to continue this passion. I ended up assisting my middle school photography teacher who was a full time professional at this time. He helped me craft my passion into what is now my full time job.

    I'm beyond lucky to live every free moment in the mountains pursuing and documenting athletes in their endless pursuit of their sports.

     

    • Wray Sinclair, Category finalist 2016: Energy
  • joey_schusler_015226.jpg
    Joey Schusler
    joey_schusler_015226.jpg
    Photographer

    Joey Schusler

    Biography

    I'm a 26-year-old professional adventure athlete, photographer and filmmaker who has been a passionate member of the outdoor industry for more than a decade. I started out as a professional mountain bike racer, and got my start in photography in 2012 when I decided to transition out of racing downhill on the UCI World Cup circuit and pursue more creative endeavors.

    Home since I was born has been Boulder, Colorado, but I spend nearly nine months of the year traveling to the far corners of the globe on expeditions with either skis or a bike – with camera gear always in tow.

    My work has been featured on the cover of Bike Magazine, with National Geographic Adventure, and in the pages of Outside Magazine. My award-winning adventure films have played in festivals such as Telluride Mountain Film, Banff World Tour, and 5 Point Film Festival. Last time around I was featured in Red Bull Illume as an athlete and this time I’m here as a photographer.

     

    • mov-232107-2940.youtube
      Joey Schusler, Category Finalist 2019
    • Joey Schusler, Category finalist 2016: Close Up
    • Joey Schusler, Category finalist 2016: Masterpiece
  • bligh_gillies_015740.jpg
    Bligh Gillies
    bligh_gillies_015740.jpg
    Photographer

    Bligh Gillies

    Biography

    I have always believed that the willingness to undertake adventure is a necessary part of living a happy life. Such adventures began in the early days of tromping around in the foothills of Colorado, surrounded by an abundance of rolling single track and large alpine walls, and my life outdoors was born.

    Fast forward to the years of banging my camera off rocks, drowning one in the ocean, and staying up with the stars to brush frost off my lens at midnight, my true passion was formed. Such experiences paired with a few years at a local photography lab learning photography post-production and media management, set me in the direction of never being able to put my camera down. Now I am one of the lucky ones, being able to make a living at what I love and I wouldn't trade it for the world.

     

    • Bligh Gillies, Category finalist 2016: Spirit
    • Bligh Gillies, Category finalist 2016: Mobile
  • armin_walcher_014445.jpg
    Armin Walcher
    armin_walcher_014445.jpg
    Photographer

    Armin Walcher

    Biography

    I’m a young and aspiring photographer based in Austria. What got me interested in photography in the first place is my time as an athlete. As a photographer I specialize in extreme sports, lifestyle, adventure and commercial photography. My projects have already taken me to many impressive places in this world and I am always up for new adventures, creative projects and travel.

    In our ever-changing and fast-moving world, I’d like to make people forget about their daily troubles and enjoy life, imagination and beauty instead. Photography is inspiration, it’s magic and I love to share that. Take in the beauty of sports and nature – recognize it, appreciate it, go out there and enjoy it.

    A photo is more than just one moment. It is a memory that lasts, that fires our imagination and fantasy. My photos are moments of peace, beauty and happiness. For me, photography is freedom, simplicity and beauty that brings people back town to earth.

     

    • Armin Walcher, Category finalist 2016: Spirit
  • erin_hogue_014296.jpg
    Erin Hogue
    erin_hogue_014296.jpg
    Photographer

    Erin Hogue

    Biography

    Born in Iowa and raised in Ontario, I did not grow up in the mountains and so they always seemed like a distant illusion portrayed solely in magazines and on TV. As a result, I started out by shooting photos of my friends skateboarding.

    Six years ago I took a chance and moved to Whistler with a backpack, a camera and the hopes of taking the photos I grew up admiring. The mountains and the people who explore them are my primary muse. Inspired by the vast landscape and unparalleled terrain my winters are spent mainly on a snowmobile in the backcountry accessing remote locations. In the summers, I head south and the ocean, desert and immense forests become my prominent backdrops.

    It is the challenges and adventure inherent in this type of photography that inspires and propels me forward. In a relatively short amount of time, I have had the opportunity to work with a number of the world’s top athletes as well as develop a wide client list including Oakley, Element, MTV – Music Entertainment, Absinthe Films, and been published worldwide in such publications as TransWorld Snowboarding, Snowboarder, ESPN.com, The Toronto Star, Pleasure Snowboard Magazine and Flare Fashion Magazine.

     

    • Erin Hogue, Category finalist 2016: Energy
  • kenny_martinez_015710.jpg
    Kenny Martinez
    kenny_martinez_015710.jpg
    Photographer

    Kenny Martinez

    Biography

    I’m a self-taught photographer living in Hawaii but originally from south Denver, Colorado. Sports were a huge focus in my home growing up so being the youngest of four it’s safe to say I was very competitive. I was an athlete all my life and left wrestling in college to pursue a career as a professional snowboarder.

    I spent most of my 20s traveling, competing, and filming video parts. During the off-season of what I would say was my best year snowboarding I was injured in a car accident. It was hard to bounce back right away and during my recovery I was offered a full-time job by my headphone sponsor Skullcandy. With my back injured and my future uncertain I accepted the position and I hit the road traveling 40 weeks a year. During a rare visit to the office I met our new graphic designer, Jessica. She would eventually become my fiancée.

    It was around this time I picked up a camera and began teaching myself photography. As my passion grew Jessica and I decided to leave our jobs and hatch a plan to move to Hawaii. Since then we've never looked back.

    My favorite days are spent traveling and shooting outside in nature. I spend so much time researching locations and conditions, so being prepared is very important to me. I love the challenge of trying to capture the perfect moment. It could be a beautiful landscape during sunset or a surfer catching a perfect wave, either way the moment is gone forever.

     

    • Kenny Martinez, Category finalist 2016: Energy
  • emil_sollie_015619.jpg
    Emil Sollie
    emil_sollie_015619.jpg
    Photographer

    Emil Sollie

    Biography

    I live in Oslo, Norway and started photography when I was 20 years old after breaking my collarbone and wasn’t able to snowboard for a while. I really enjoyed photography so it was not something I wanted to give up for riding.

    After a half year of shooting I got my first pictures printed in a Norwegian magazine. At that moment I was hooked and I started shooting skate, surf and other sports.

    The last years I’ve been working as a photographer and traveled the world shooting landscape and action sports.

     

    • Emil Sollie, Category Finalist 2019: Innovation by Sony
    • Emil Sollie, Category finalist 2016: Energy
  • severin_wegener_015842.jpg
    Severin Wegener
    severin_wegener_015842.jpg
    Photographer

    Severin Wegener

    Biography

    I am a photographer from Bavaria but based in Innsbruck, Austria. Over the years I’ve focused mainly on snowboard and ski action photography as well as some downhill mountain biking.

    I really enjoy being outdoors in the mountains and the woods. Like so many others I got injured a few years ago and picked up a camera to avoid getting bored. I soon realized that my point-and-shoot camera was a little under gunned and I switched over to a DSLR. This is where the whole story began: I began to bring my camera with me while snowboarding or skiing and tried to capture some shots of my friends going rad. Thanks to their patience I learned how to use a camera by trial and error.

    My personal aim as a photographer is the unique angle. This is my way to tell the whole story or to do justice to the action of the rider and scenery. I prefer to use available light as I like to react quickly, but I don’t mind using additional light to get the shot.

    Capturing the right moment with the right angle is like doing a massive powder turn with my snowboard; it keeps me motivated and stoked. Capturing action sports never gets old. Due to variable conditions, locations and different riders with different styles you have to adapt to their strengths and weaknesses. Those unpredictable parameters keep things interesting.

    For this reason it’s an on-going learning process for me. Despite all this, having a blast with my friends in the backcountry is what matters. Getting a couple of decent shots after a nice day riding is just an added bonus.

     

    • Severin Wegener, Category finalist 2016: Enhance
  • jean_louis_de_heeckeren_014389.jpg
    Jean Louis de Heeckeren
    jean_louis_de_heeckeren_014389.jpg
    Photographer

    Jean Louis de Heeckeren

    Biography

    I was born on Santiago, Chile in 1987 and now live at Pichilemu, one of the best surf breaks in Chile. For most of my life I have been practicing action sports and capturing images about them, mostly around Chile.

    I studied photography at the School of Photography in Universidad del Pacífico in Santiago, and since then have been trying to create epic images and enjoying every day at my work.

    I love to photograph sports around the mountain or the ocean, like skiing or surfing because of the beautiful places and nice people I get to know along the path. I could not imagine myself working in a normal office in a city.

    Nowadays, I am constantly moving around between the Andes Mountain range, the Chilean coast in winter when we have good snow and big waves. When it’s summer in Chile I like to travel to Hawaii to keep up the search for warm water, big waves and talented surfers to shoot.

     

    • Jean Louis de Heeckeren, Category finalist 2016: New Creativity
    • Jean Louis de Heeckeren, Category finalist 2016: Sequence
    • Jean Louis de Heeckeren, Category finalist 2016: Spirit
  • wayne_reiche_014527.jpg
    Wayne Reiche
    wayne_reiche_014527.jpg
    Photographer

    Wayne Reiche

    Biography

    Wayne is a self-taught photographer from Cape Town. He comes from a strong BMX background which lead him into photography and still loves searching for new spots to ride and shoot.  He is happiest in a Dirty Ditch, Mountain Top or Hanging out of a Heli Door.

    • Wayne Reiche, Category Semi-Finalist 2019: Masterpiece by EyeEm
    • Wayne Reiche, Category Semi-Finalist 2019: Wings
    • Wayne Reiche, Category finalist 2016: Playground
  • mikko_laitinen_015861.jpg
    Mikko Laitinen
    mikko_laitinen_015861.jpg
    Photographer

    Mikko Laitinen

    Biography

    My name is Mikko Laitinen and I am a freelance photographer and educator hailing from the buzzing metropolis of Kuopio, eastern Finland. I specialize in adventure sports and commercial photography.

    I didn't really think of myself as a creative person growing up until I picked up my first camera at age 16 and became obsessed with photography. Taking photos, for me, is a way to make sense of and interpret the world around me. I keep chasing that high you get from capturing that one great photo in a wide variety of creative endeavours, ranging from art and multimedia projects to street and travel photography. I also like to tinker and experiment and I'm always looking for new and creative ways to create stunning images.

    My biggest passion, though, has always been to document the outdoors. Hiking, skiing and snowkiting around Scandinavia and the world with my family and friends is a huge part of my life. Managing to freeze that energy and sense of place you feel at that moment to something lasting in a 1000th of a second is something indescribable. There's no feeling like it.

     

    • Mikko Laitinen, Category finalist 2016: New Creativity
  • jan_vincent_kleine_015880.jpg
    Jan Vincent Kleine
    jan_vincent_kleine_015880.jpg
    Photographer

    Jan Vincent Kleine

    Biography

    My interest in photography started when I was around 17. Intrigued by the idea of doing something really meaningful in life, I was aiming to become a war photographer at first. I refrained from doing so for a variety of reasons.

    Instead, I studied engineering and economics and assisted a couple of high profile commercial photographers to really learn the trade. I realized that I really have these two big passions in life, photography and the outdoors. So after graduation I decided to merge them and work full-time as a freelance photographer specializing in outdoor and adventure photography, which is what I do and love.

    What makes this so special for me – apart from often rather spectacular office views – is to be able to experience these athletes pursuing their passion and witnessing their dedication, their struggle and achievements. It is great to be surrounded by people who burn for what they do; to be surrounded by people that inspire you.

    I try my best to translate this into images that hopefully communicate the passion to the audience, inspiring them to explore, dream and discover.

     

    • Jan Vincent Kleine, Category finalist 2016: Spirit
    • Jan Vincent Kleine, Category finalist 2016: Spirit
  • george_marshall_010715.jpg
    George Marshall
    george_marshall_010715.jpg
    Photographer

    George Marshall

    Biography

    I grew up in the town of Nottingham, UK – the home of a thriving BMX community in the early 1990s. At the age of 13 I went to a BMX contest at a nearby skatepark. Local rider and nine-time X-Games gold medallist Jamie Bestwick was there doing backflips. The experience changed my life forever.

    Since that cloudy day in 1996 my life has been dedicated to riding and documenting BMX. Photography and BMX are a perfect marriage that I have moulded into a career. I started taking photography seriously at the of 25 and sent some photos to Ride UK BMX magazine. To my surprise the magazine used my photo for the cover, they paid me well and asked me to do more. I quit my office job and I have been a professional photographer ever since.

    In the past decade I have co-founded my own magazine, traveled to countless countries, I've survived rocket attacks in Israel, I've been pistol whipped in Argentina and become close friends with the world's top BMX riders. In recent years my photographic interests have shifted to other areas of cycling but BMX photography has been my apprenticeship; it has shaped my entire life and I hope to photograph BMX for years to come.

     

    • George Marshall, Category finalist 2016: Wings
  • elliott_bernhagen_011024.jpg
    Elliott Bernhagen
    elliott_bernhagen_011024.jpg
    Photographer

    Elliott Bernhagen

    Biography

    I got into photography through a great friend, Patrick Orton a finalist in the last Red Bull Illume. I had been an athlete in front of his lens for years, absorbing his knowledge and outlook during the many days we spent shooting together. We shared some incredible experiences until he suddenly passed away cliff jumping in his hometown.

    His parents graciously gave me his old camera and since then I have traveled the world, creating images with the worlds best athletes. Any success in the last three years is a direct reflection of Patrick’s incredible talent. I studied the technical aspects of the art furiously after his passing but his eye is an intangible gift that lives on in me.

    My images have appeared in the likes of Outside, Powder, ESPN. I’ve also worked with leading sports brands creating photos for advertisement campaigns and catalogs including Maui Jim, Oakley, and Spy Optics.

    As an athlete myself, I have skied new lines in the mountains of Alaska, Northern British Columbia and all over the Western US. I have climbed El Capitan five times as well as speed climbing The Nose in 15 hours, Mt. Watkins in a 20 hour push, Half Dome in nine hours – and countless other lines across North America. My comfort in the vertical world and snow covered ranges transfers directly to my photography, allowing me to capture candid moments without compromising speed or safety in the mountains.

     

    • Elliott Bernhagen, Category Semi-Finalist 2019: RAW
    • Elliott Bernhagen, Category finalist 2016: Wings
    • Elliott Bernhagen, Category finalist 2016: Masterpiece
  • xabier_eguino_014163.jpg
    Xabier Eguino
    xabier_eguino_014163.jpg
    Photographer

    Xabier Eguino

    Biography

    My name is Xabier Eguino and I live in the Basque Country, in northern Spain. I became interested in photography at the age of 11, when my father lent me his analogic reflex camera. In just a few years, what started out as a hobby ended up being my obsession.

    Extreme sports caught my eye while I was shooting some of my first photos. I started practicing trail biking at the age of 12 and moved on to skateboarding, BMX, and downhill. I’ve been riding my bike in local skate parks and other spots for over a decade now. During those years I developed my approach to photography based on what I feel while riding and trying to expose the skill involved in the tricks I picture.

    I didn’t study photography. For me, being self-taught makes all the progress more rewarding. I do have a degree in graphic design though, which helps a lot when it comes to image processing. Nowadays I work as a graphic designer and freelance photographer. I’ve taken part in several expos in the Basque Country and try to share my photography work through social media as much as I can.

     

    • Xabier Eguino, Category finalist 2016: Spirit
  • jan_kasl_015795.jpg
    Jan Kasl
    jan_kasl_015795.jpg
    Photographer

    Jan Kasl

    Biography

    The unrepeatable moments captured in well-advised compositions through the lens of Czech photographer. In his 30 years of age, Jan Kasl, based in Prague, works with well-known global brands and has produced many successful projects. There was a moment, back in the old days, when he realized the great potential of photography itself. That it's not only about perfect timing or capturing the single unique moment in epic weather and light conditions, but there’s way more! He has found out, that it’s the best way to show all of his creative ideas and present these moments differently, with no borders of imagination. For him, It‘s always fun to think conceptually, explore new and undiscovered techniques and push his skills to the next level. “My passion for action sports connected with photography has brought me into the world of professional athletes, breathtaking performances, inspiring people and amazing places all around the planet.”

    • Jan Kasl, Category Semi-Finalist 2019: Masterpiece by EyeEm
    • Jan Kasl, Category Semi-Finalist 2019: Wings
    • Jan Kasl, Category Finalist 2019: RAW
    • Jan Kasl, Category Semi-Finalist 2019: Energy
    • Jan Kasl, Category finalist 2016: Wings
    • Jan Kasl, Category finalist 2016: Enhance
  • hadrien_picard_015388.jpg
    Hadrien Picard
    hadrien_picard_015388.jpg
    Photographer

    Hadrien Picard

    Biography

    Photography and action sports have been my passion for 20 years. I guess that’s why, after a degree in Geography, I combined the two to make a living.

    In my opinion, this kind of photography is one of the best. Working with both sport and studio photography has helped me to master two important skills – timing and lighting.

    Since 2005 I have owned and shot for Soul BMX magazine and Live Skateboarding Media, the reference sites in France for BMX and Skateboarding. I have shot more than 40 covers over the last decade and opened myself up to a lot of different subjects.

    Since then I have naturally became more and more interested in filming. I'm happy to be equally confortable in photography and film now, working for brands like Red Bull, Microsoft, Nike, Vans, Tag Heuer, Renault and Audi.

     

    • Hadrien Picard, Category finalist 2016: Mobile
  • constantin_witt-doerring_015375.jpg
    Constantin Witt-Dörring
    constantin_witt-doerring_015375.jpg
    Photographer

    Constantin Witt-Dörring

    Biography

    I bought my first DSLR when I started college at 19. After a couple weeks using my Nikon D90, I got really bored and frustrated because I couldn’t find anything special about my images and the entire process of taking them.

    After I graduated from UCSB, I moved back to Austria where I am from originally. I was born and raised in Vienna, one of the most beautiful cities in the world. I took a job at a media production company and got the opportunity to travel the world and visit countries such as Qatar, Kuwait, Spain and Nicaragua. By chance, I brought my old D90, which I hadn’t used for years. After productions, I discovered night photography, which fascinated me because the extended exposure time forced me to plan and reflect upon my shots.

    Shortly after, I bought a cheap 50mm, 1.8 prime lens, started shooting in RAW and self-taught myself Lightroom through hundreds of YouTube tutorials. This and my dedication elevated my photography to the next level. Together with my passion for surfing and traveling I got hooked on discovering and telling gripping stories from interesting angles. I try to learn and improve every day by shooting and thinking about interesting concepts and projects. Most of all, I try to enjoy every day as much as possible by accepting the gift of life and love.

     

    • Constantin Witt-Dörring, Category finalist 2016: Spirit
  • john_dale_014657.jpg
    John Dale
    john_dale_014657.jpg
    Photographer

    John Dale

    Biography

    I grew up in the outdoorsman’s mecca of Houston, Texas. Yet, at an early age my father made it a point to get out of the city and into nature as much as possible. Whether through cycling, fishing, hiking, backpacking or canoe trips, we would create as many opportunities as possible to go outside and I used his 35mm film camera to document it all.

    I saved up for a year and bought my first DSLR during my freshman year of college. This was right when I started to step into being my own outdoorsman and the two passions grew side by side. Before I knew it, I was headed out as much as possible to capture my friends in the outdoors taking part in things that brought them true joy.

    I moved to Boulder, Colorado a few years back to continue to pursue these passions. Now, I’m working as a freelance photographer and filmmaker. Photography has al-lowed me to combine my loves in life into a creative outlet that gives me time in the wilderness with amazing people.

     

    • John Dale, Category finalist 2016: Spirit
  • arthur_ghilini_015234.jpg
    Arthur Ghilini
    arthur_ghilini_015234.jpg
    Photographer

    Arthur Ghilini

    Biography

    My name is Arthur Ghilini. I was born and live in the Chamonix Mont-Blanc valley. I'm basically a skier and ski instructor but I'm also shooting mountain sports for ten years now. In my valley you can practice so many activities and everything is radical. From running to BASE jumping, everything is steep and big. And with a camera there’s so much action for you.

    Here, every rider is an extreme rider. So before you can be a good photographer you have to be a good mountaineer and that takes a lot of time. I'm 32-years-old now and I still don't know if I'm a real outdoor photographer or just a rider with a camera.

    I like to shoot any kind of action but I prefer to work on what I like to do. It's always easier to take a ski picture when you are a skier and it’s the same when you are working with downhill bikers, you should always learn a sport before shooting it. So as I'm still learning to ride a different kind of ‘horse’ everyday, I'm still learning photography, even if sometimes I feel like a real photographer.

    Today I'm working as a freelance photographer. Here you can meet a lot of my kind and I can say I'm pretty lucky to be here because all this little world wants to get something from this valley, and you can get a lot.

     

    • Arthur Ghilini, Category finalist 2016: Sequence
    • Arthur Ghilini, Category finalist 2016: Mobile
  • jan_pirnat_015408.jpg
    Jan Pirnat
    jan_pirnat_015408.jpg
    Photographer

    Jan Pirnat

    Biography

    I’m a photographer from a small but beautiful country – Slovenia. Everything started at the end of elementary school, when I discovered my passion for taking photos and exploring the world. My passion has grown a lot over the years. For me, photography isn't just a hobby, it is a way of life.

    I cannot imagine my days without taking photos, because it’s what gives me meaning. I especially love to take photos of extreme sports, nature, people with interesting stories – in short, the world around me.

    I’m a photographer of a young generation and studied photography at high school. Now, I am working on personal projects and I also have experience with commercial and advertising photography but I’m always ready for new challenges.

    • Jan Pirnat, Category finalist 2016: Close Up
  • devin_feil_016012.jpg
    Devin Feil
    devin_feil_016012.jpg
    Photographer

    Devin Feil

    Biography

    I’m a native of Massachusetts and have spent the last 15 years traveling the world with my bike and a camera, documenting the sport I love. For a number of years my interest in BMX and photography remained separate, but as time went by and my grasp of photography grew, I tried my hand at capturing my friends riding. The challenge it provided and appreciation showed by the subjects instantly had me hooked.

    Gradually I made headway in the industry, which lead me to move across the country to Southern California, so that I would be able to immerse myself fully in that realm of work. Four years and countless photographs later, it's safe to say I picked a good place to be, and I anticipate many more unforgettable photographic adventures to come.

     

    • Devin Feil, Category finalist 2016: Sequence
  • ulysse_lefebvre_013753.jpg
    Ulysse Lefebvre
    ulysse_lefebvre_013753.jpg
    Photographer

    Ulysse Lefebvre

    Biography

    I live in the small village of Cruet, near a small city called Chambéry in the French Alps.

    I've always been interested in traveling, outdoor sports and storytelling. But I didn't imagine that one day I would be able to find a way to mix these passions in the same job.

    I first started to work as a geographer, trying to work outside as often as I could. Then I quit and decided to earn a living using my passions. I first learned photography by myself in low light conditions in concert halls. Then, when I used my humble skills in the mountains it was like a great game. I discovered up there the power and creativity of the light!

    I have been a pro-photographer at Montagnes Magazine for five years and chief-editor of this magazine for two and a half years. Working for this mountain outdoor sports magazine is the best way to meet adventurers, alpinists, climbers, and skiers in order to tell their stories with my words and photographs.

    On the other hand, I am also passionate about documentary and social photography. I did several photo reports on gypsies in Kosovo, young kids in the Bulgarian mountains and refugees in the north of France. I use a Leica M9 35mm for these reports, which is another way of shooting. This second passion is completely different, but this is also another adventure.

     

    • Ulysse Lefebvre, Category finalist 2016: Playground
  • richard_walch_016117.jpg
    Richard Walch
    richard_walch_016117.jpg
    Photographer

    Richard Walch

    Biography

    I’m German and started my career shooting snowboarding and skiing, and now specialize in dramatic action shots of snow and water sports. I’m a fan of anything fast-moving.

    At the age of 26 my best mountain journeys were published in a book called ‘Fascination Snowboarding’. Ten years later I published my second book, this time about ‘The German dream of the America’s Cup’. I was the official team photographer of the first German America’s Cup team – the most prestigious sailing regatta.

    I also shoot advertising and editorial work for companies such as Head, Elan, Oakley and Tommy Hilfiger as well as major brands such as Apple, Red Bull, Velux, Audi, BMW, and Quant. Since the launch of the Canon 5D camera series I have diversified from stills into shooting HD movie projects, including TV adverts and commercial projects. Today my work is a mixture of still and motion productions but always with a strong action element.

    I’m always on the move to find out what technology has to offer and how this can influence my photography and filming in a positive way.

     

    • Richard Walch, Category finalist 2016: Masterpiece
  • jan_eric_euler_016104.jpg
    Jan Eric Euler
    jan_eric_euler_016104.jpg
    Photographer

    Jan Eric Euler

    Biography

    I’m a photographer and film-maker specializing in outdoor, lifestyle, commercial and portrait photography. Born and raised in Germany, I’ve grown to be an accomplished photographer, an experienced traveler and passionate athlete with a love and dedication for everything outdoors.

    I’m currently based between Innsbruck and Munich, but I’m rarely home and love to travel a lot.

    I’m fascinated by the fleeting moments of honesty, spontaneity and confidence, by the way light moves and leaves traces inside of us and by the sheer pleasure of being alive, and I try to capture that with my photography.

    I mostly shoot outdoor and adventure sports lifestyle but I'm equally at home shooting commercial work or documenting culture. I also use a variety of modern digital as well as antique analog techniques from 35mm up to ultra large format and alternative processes.

     

    • Jan Eric Euler, Category finalist 2016: Lifestyle
  • Dasha_Nosova_000002-5.jpg
    Dasha Nosova
    Dasha_Nosova_000002-5.jpg
    Photographer

    Dasha Nosova

    Biography

    I’m from Moscow, Russia. At the age of 16, I discovered what snowboarding is about after a friend showed me a couple of snowboard magazines. I instantly fell in love with what I saw and kept an eye for what was going down in the industry.

    I started photography shortly after I got my first camera for the New Year. When I finally developed my style I started working freelance for Forum Snowboards in Russia and went on trips from time to time shooting their team riders. Soon after I started working for Nike SB. In the span of three years I got to visit all the major events, meet many insane riders, and on top of that made a lot of new friends. With some hard work and perseverance I started getting recognition from magazines and brands. Now I work for many different action sports companies and projects.

    I also try shooting skateboarding, BMX and surfing when the season is right. It gives me a lot of inspiration to try something new in something unfamiliar. In my spare time I take portraits of my friends and everything around us. What once was a hobby has now become a profession and I feel truthfully blessed to be able to do what I love for a living whether from Russia’s cold streets or California’s sunny mountains.

    • Dasha Nosova, Category Finalist 2019: Best of Instagram by SanDisk
    • Dasha Nosova, Category finalist 2016: Spirit