1ST PRIZE: EMILIANO CUADRADO

I chose this image for its intriguing visual complexity. Each time I revisit the photograph, I discover new elements I hadn’t noticed before. This process of constant discovery is what makes the image so captivating — it transforms me from a passive viewer into an active participant, inviting me to engage and “work” to unravel its meaning. There’s something powerful about peeling back the layers of a photograph, where the longer you look, the more subtle nuances you begin to uncover. The use of hands in the image is particularly clever—hands in motion, hands at work, hands that convey identity, and hands that exude grace and femininity. Each gesture adds depth and layers of meaning, enriching the overall experience. – ANGELA CONNOR

There is so much happening in this frame, so many layers to absorb, so many colors to take in, so many stories to listen to! The photograph captures the busyness and dizziness of the urban landscape in a very unusual yet appealing way. It mesmerizes the viewer, just like the city does. It creates the same mood and evokes the same emotions. A beautiful way to catch the city’s soul in one image. – LIFE FRAMER

Photographer statement – Malaga Fair.

2ND PRIZE: ALAIN SCHROEDER

This photograph of a street scene, with vibrant carpets spread across the ground and over a car, beautifully captures the intersection of cultural tradition and modern life. The streets of Ichan Kala, rich with history, are lined with narrow alleys that wind through ancient sandstone walls. In the foreground, a mother and her three children sit on traditional carpets—an enduring symbol of the region’s rich textile heritage, evoking warmth, craftsmanship, and community. This scene is poignantly contrasted by the plastic toys the children are playing with, which symbolize modernity, technological progress, consumerism, and globalization. The juxtaposition of age-old practices with contemporary elements creates a tension between past and present, highlighting the complexities of life in a rapidly changing world. There’s a quiet beauty in how this photograph captures a fleeting moment, where the ordinary becomes profound and speaks to the deeper layers of our evolving reality. – ANGELA CONNOR

The urban landscape is home to modern and traditional, our present and past. The photograph captures the colorful traditions that are an essential part of our lives. We take them wherever we go, bring them out in the streets, and teach our children to value them. The image is a beautiful representation of continuity. The message is sustained by the deep depth of field and thoughtful choice of camera angle, which create an environmental portrait instead of a simple street scene. – LIFE FRAMER

Photographer statement – Carpets. Uzbekistan, Khorezm province, Khiva, daily life in Ichan Kala which is the walled inner town of the city, since 1990 it has been listed as World Heritage by UNESCO.

LELAND BOBBÉ

This is what an ordinary day in the city looks like. People pass by, hurrying in different directions, and misplaced objects are forgotten by everyone. But the keen eye of the photographer notices them all and brings them back to life, sometimes in a sad manner, other times in a comical one. It’s the interesting perspective and the unique photographic style that shine through. The title – Black Swan – is perfect: speaking to both the shape of umbrella depicted, and the unpredictability of events that unfold on the street. – LIFE FRAMER

Photographer statement – Black Swan.

AZIM KHAN RONNIE

The photographer raises awareness of one of the main drawbacks of urban life: the powerful impact of a disaster. Most of the time, we are either unaware of it or choose to ignore it. This aerial shot brings us back to reality, and it’s not a simple one to swallow. We must acknowledge the risks of urban life as well as we acknowledge its benefits. This impactful composition with hoses acting as leading lines is eye-opening and terrifying. We’d love to know more about the location and the photographer’s relationship to the events depicted. – LIFE FRAMER

VENGADASALAM MURUGAM

What an interesting juxtaposition of skyscrapers and canopy! The border between the two main visual elements acts as a leading line, guiding the viewer from one to another. It’s not a separation line but a connection line that brings nature and humanmade structures together. The photograph relies on textures and contrast to tell its story and does so masterfully. Regardless of how advanced our technology becomes, we have an intrinsic need to stay in touch with nature. – LIFE FRAMER

Photographer statement – Hong Kong.

BASTIAN PETER

This photograph is a visual poem. One can feel the calmness of the solitary silhouette, the coolness of the snow, and the silence of the street. The composition is artful, with a curved natural leading line guiding the viewer toward the main subject. By reducing the contrast, the photographer emphasizes the atmosphere of the winter day and the harmony between nature and man. Beautifully done. – LIFE FRAMER

Photographer statement – Poems of the Passing is an ongoing street photography project capturing the quiet, fleeting moments of Basel’s city life. This series showcases the interplay of light, shadow, and color, revealing the ephemeral exchanges and solitary figures against the urban landscape. Each candid photograph offers a glimpse into the unscripted narratives of the streets, inviting viewers to appreciate the poetic subtleties of everyday moments. This project presents a unique, introspective view of Basel, highlighting the beauty and interest found in the mundane.

ROCKY XIONG

The streets are a testimony to humankind’s history, and the simplest of objects can speak about human progress and social changes. The photographer denotes a profound sensibility and an eye for detail. An old telephone booth decorated with fresh roses becomes the subject of a surreal still-life photograph, telling a story of connection, lost and retrieved. – LIFE FRAMER

Photographer statement – Hopeless romantic in Mexico City.

ROSETTA BONATTI

The photographer shows us a mostly unseen city angle, which is not an easy thing to do with so many photographers turning their lenses to cities. Seen from above, the city road network is a maze, a complex mix of concrete and metal completed with patches of green. The city may be a culmination of hard work and ingenuity, a necessity, a manner of connection, and a place for trade. It can be all of that and much more. It’s up to the photographer to come up with a fresh perspective. – LIFE FRAMER

Photographer statement – Modern arabesque – An elegant intersection of roads in downtown Dubai, seen from the top of Burj Khalifa, drawing an arabesque of our times.

JONAS DAHLSTRÖM

The industrial landscape takes almost the entire frame. However, the human silhouette is still the main focal point. The photographer uses light, space, and lines admirably. Working with just a handful of visual elements, the photographer captures essential aspects of urban life, creates an appealing contrast, and adds depth to both composition and story. – LIFE FRAMER

MURAT HARMANLIKLI

Most of us can see only one thing when walking through a city; a photographer can see all of them. It takes a trained eye to spot the contrasts that make a city, its strangeness, its oddness, and its beauty. This beautiful composition didn’t happen by accident but with a caring attitude and an open mind. The photographer’s engagement is sincere and profound. – LIFE FRAMER

Photographer statement – From the series Istanbul, in the flux of an all-embracing moment. It was to study at university that I first came to ?stanbul. I was very excited that I was going to discover the strangeness, chaos, and anarchy of Istanbul, which doesn’t fit into any classification or discipline. Wandering around the historical peninsula, the place that most reflects the melancholic spirit of the city stuck between the West and the East, caught between the past and the present was my greatest pleasure. I used to leave myself among the huge crowds and drag along from one place to another. I used to roam around the labyrinth-like narrow streets, watch people in the courtyards of historical mosques, look at the shop windows full of all kinds of bizarrenesses, and enter the musty and damp-smelling passages and bazaars with curiosity. Each corner of the city was making me feel like I was beyond time.

Now, years later, I am working on my long-term project about Istanbul. With my camera in my hands, I am walking in this hustle and bustle again step by step like a flaneur. I try to tell stories gathered from the embracing moments of Istanbul. Just like years ago, children are running after pigeons, the mannequins in front of the shops are looking into my eyes as if they are asking me for help, and the giant posters on the walls of the buildings are still watching me like Big Brother, For an instant, I lose my sense of time: Am I in the present or am I still that young man who came to Istanbul for the first time? Then, as the sound of the call to prayer from a nearby mosque mingles with the cacophony of the city, the verses of Ahmet Hamdi Tanp?nar, a Turkish author, silently passes through my mind: ” I am / not within time / Nor entirely beyond; But in the flux / Of an all-embracing, complete, indivisible moment.”

NOEL ROJO

This glimpse into urban life uniquely documents our lifestyle. Nowadays, we pay more attention to phones than to people and take them everywhere. We slightly panic when the phone is not within reach. By carefully curating the frame, the photographer creates two main focal points that keep the viewer engaged and raise questions. It’s whimsical and profound at the same time, which speaks volumes about the photographer’s storytelling skills. – LIFE FRAMER

Photographer statement – Can you hear me now? Oaxaca, Mexico.

CHRIS YAN

This is an impressive composition in which each visual element falls perfectly in place. It has all the characteristics of a good image: a strong focal point, a powerful color contrast, leading lines to the main subject, and a mysterious story. You want to know more about the person taking a selfie in an empty arena, who wouldn’t? The frame is infused with humour and playfulness, which make it even more memorable. – LIFE FRAMER

Photographer statement – Colorful Day, Beijing, China.

RUSS ROWLAND

Candid street photography is one of the most fascinating ways of depicting life in the city. This dynamic portrait of a mother and her child stirs up emotions and tells more than one story. The characters’ moods are perfectly conveyed but at the same time, the viewer can feel the rush of the city, its pulse, and its energy. The unusual camera angle adds depth and movement, creating a truly cinematic shot. – LIFE FRAMER

Photographer statement – Faces on Fifth, NYC.

AGATHE JACQUILLAT

Peeking through the curtains, watching a building entrance, keeping an eye on the children playing outside, spying on the neighbors, or just longing for a bit of escape are all part of urban life in crowded communities. We live so close to each other that we are intrinsically part of each other’s lives. The story is cleverly told through composition, using textures and patterns as a medium of expression and a way to build a strong focal point. – LIFE FRAMER

Photographer statement – Behind curtains, Budapest.

NOF SIMSOLO

The photograph has a very interesting subject matter, a parkour athlete in full jump, and reminds us that the urban landscape is often used as a playground by free spirits defying the conventional. The surreal composition includes both dynamic and static elements that create a dramatic contrast and leave the viewer breathless. The very good use of space and lines shows the photographer’s deep engagement with and appreciation of the subject. – LIFE FRAMER

Photographer statement – Leap of Faith. A black-and-white photograph capturing the raw essence of motion and freedom. A solitary figure is mid-air, suspended in a dynamic leap between urban rooftops. The stark contrast of the subject’s form against the overcast sky amplifies the tension and grace of the moment. The angular architecture and graffiti-covered surfaces provide a gritty, modern context, symbolizing the defiance of boundaries and the pursuit of courage in the dangerous urban jungle, many call home.

Raw essence of motion, freedom, defiance of boundaries and pursuit of courage. These are key aspects and reasons for parkour athletes to engage in this thrilling sport. These key aspects have created a strong and ever growing community of free souls who face unparalleled mental battles against fear and danger. A community of free souls who push the physical boundaries known to man.

BLANDINE SOULAGE

The photographer acknowledges the hectic life in the big cities and invites the viewer to slow down, take a break, and breathe. The photograph contrasts the regular shapes of the urban landscape with fluid body shapes, and the gray shades with colorful clothing and warm skin tones. The entire composition, from the subjects’ poses to color palette, to the use of space is intentional, denoting a photographer who knows what they want to say and how to go about saying it. – LIFE FRAMER

Photographer statement – My Deviation series displays bodies in unexpected postures that ‘deviate’ from the ordinary to the extra-ordinary. Unpredicted trajectories, misdirections, reversals of perspective disorganize reality, drawing their own poetic routes. These images feature anonymous characters whose various “body patterns” open up worlds of fictions. Created in camera, the series places movement potential at the service of imaginary narratives. Composed around the graphic and chromatic possibilities of minimalist architectures, they invite negative space as a breath within the frenetic rhythm of the city.

Deviation is meant to disrupt a few things, our spatial understanding, the daily commute, and the ingrained sense of our limitations. We take a detour from all of these fixed points for a minute of play, to interact with the built environment in strange ways It all happens in real time and space with real people, and not in post production.

KATHRIN VAZ

Black and white aesthetic brings out the most dramatic and confrontational part of urban life. The street landscape is both stationary and dynamic, and this photograph captures its depths perfectly. At the same time, there is quietness and noise, peace and struggle, a conservative air, and a playfulness that can’t be ignored. A beautiful shot with multiple layers of significance, all representative of life on the streets. The photographer’s statement is profound. – LIFE FRAMER

Photographer statement – Encounter with a ghost, New York City. The appearance of a ghost in broad daylight tells us something about what haunts our society.

CHRISTOPHE MOEC

The photograph acknowledges the spirit of entrepreneurship and hard work that made the foundations of our cities. The composition is straightforward, making the subject stand out and tell his story. Everything else is hidden in a grey and blurry background, emphasizing the determination and character of the model. This one story of urban life is touching and shows the photographer’s deep engagement with the subject. – LIFE FRAMER

Photographer statement – Portrait of a man working as a travelling tailor in the Surulere district of Lagos, the largest city in Nigeria (a West African country on the Gulf of Guinea) with more than 22 million inhabitants. He goes around all day with his sewing machine on the shoulder or on the head looking for customers who need a quick touch-up.

EDUARDO ORTIZ

The image digs deep into the darker side of the city. For many urban communities, this is the norm, scarcely broken by a few central areas and boulevards. There is monotony, repetitiveness, degradation, violation of privacy, tiredness, and many other aspects that can be identified in this shot. The symmetry of the composition and the wise use of patterns and geometry put everything in perspective. A story of the inexorable march of time. – LIFE FRAMER

Photographer statement – Tbilisi, Georgia.

JONATHAN BENSIMON

A twilight shot that captures the streets of Havana, this photograph has a layered composition that slowly reveals itself. The viewer is kept engaged, led from one part of the scene to another, and invited to breathe in the atmosphere of the city. The ambient lights make the focal points stand out naturally, leaving no trace of the photographer’s presence, which is specific for street photography but hard to achieve in practice. – LIFE FRAMER

Photographer statement – Havana, Cuba.