Winners of the first annual Aerial Photography Awards revealed

22 October 2020

The winner of the first annual Aerial Photography Awards has been named as Sebastien Nagy, from Belgium, who took out the title of Aerial Photographer of the Year 2020. Nagy also won the Architecture category, as well as being recognised in a number of other categories. The focus of his winning images has been aerial photography of the rooftops of the city of Brussels. This is the first photographic competition that Nagy has entered.

© Bachir Moukarzel. Construction - 1st place. The Frame.

Receiving thousands of entries from photographers from 65 countries, entrants were invited to submit their best images captured using drones, helicopters, kites, balloons, or airplanes, in the hope of taking sharing in the US$10,000 prize pool. The overall winner took home US$2,000. The jury awarded 106 photos in 22 categories and 11 photographers in the six master categories.

Australian photogapher Brad Walls won the Sport category and placed second in the People category.

© Sebastien Nagy. Aerial Photographer of the Year 2020, Winner Man-made. Lost in the desert.

The jury

The awarded photos were selected through a 10-day vote by the members of the Jury. In order to elect the "Aerial Photographer of the Year 2020", the photographer was selected on the average of the overall scores and the number of winning photos per photographer in different categories.

The Jury includes Jeffrey Milstein who has exhibited in many museums and galleries around the world, Daniel Beltrá, winner of numerous prestigious photography awards, Dirk Dallas, seen as an early leader of the drone movement, Alex MacLean, author/co-author of thirteen books, Benjamin Grant, creator of the popular Instagram feed Daily Overview, Peter Essick, named Named one of the 40 most influential nature photographers in the world, Florian Ledoux, whose work is recognized by international conservation organisms, Hulia Boz, Aussie photographer who has recently held an exhibition in New York, Abstract Aerial Art, two brothers dedicated to taking bizarre aerial images around the world, Noura Al Murr Al Neyadi, who started photography at the age of 11, Costas Spathis, a Greek aerial photographer widely followed on Instagram as well as Elena Buenrostro, pilot, trainer and leader of the Women Who Drone movement.

© Azim Khan Ronnie. Aerial Photographer of the Year 2020, 2nd place | Editorial. Eid Congregation. South Asia's largest Eid-ul-Fitr Congregation held in Gor-e-Shahid Boro Math, Dinajpur, Bangladesh. According to the organizers’ claim, over 600,000 devotees participated in this Eid congregation. The prayers began at 8:30 am with devotees coming from different parts of the region. Eid-ul-Fitr is a Muslim festival of happiness celebrated all over the world.

© Brad Walls. Aerial Photographer of the Year 2020, 2nd place | People. Ball up. The physical motions of a tennis player against the clean abstract lineage of the court created a harmonious effect to the eye.

© Cassio Vasconcellos. Aerial Photographer of the Year 2020, 2nd place | Fine art. Collectives series.

© Cédric Houmadi. Aerial Photographer of the Year 2020, 2nd place | Real estate.

© Dimitar Karanikolov. Aerial Photographer of the Year 2020 | Fine art.

© Reginald Van de Velde. Aerial Photographer of the Year 2020 | Editorial. The Wreck. The wreck of a British WW1 minesweeper that ran aground the French coast. Buried under the sand for many years, this wreck has only been visible in recent years due to the rapid decline of the coastal line caused by marine erosion.

© Sebastian Müller. Aerial Photographer of the Year 2020 | Nature. Skyggnisvatn. The Highlands of Iceland.

© Sebastien Nagy. Aerial Photographer of the Year 2020, Real estate winner. Chromata.

© Thien Nguyen. Aerial Photographer of the Year 2020 | People. Anchovy catching. Soft light of the new day illuminating the long smoke from fishing boat engine & the shape of green nets moving underneath the water surface when local fishermen pulling their nets. Many local fisherman families along the coastline of Phu Yen province will follow the near-shore currents to catch the anchovy during peak season. Salted anchovy is the most important raw material to create traditional fish sauce - the spirit of Vietnamese cuisine.

© Duy-Sinh. Daily life - 1st place. The Lady of Sea.

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