The winning and shortlisted entries from the 2019 Portrait of Humanity award

9 May 2019
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Winning and shortlisted images have been announced for the 2019 Portrait of Humanity award, a new photography prize run by the British Journal of Photography and Magnum Photos intended to celebrate the diversity of human life.

The competition is open to photographers working at any level, anywhere in the world, with the winning portraits showing that there is more that brings us together than sets us apart.

Each of the 50 winning portraits will now be exhibited at galleries, museums and photography festivals across the world, embarking on a global tour from September, starting at the Organ Vida International Photography Festival in Croatia and finishing at the Louisiana State Museum as part of PhotoNOLA Festival in New Orleans.

The 200 shortlisted portraits will also be featured in the Portrait of Humanity book, published by Hoxton Mini Press and distributed worldwide. The Portrait of Humanity book is available for pre-order here.

You can see some of our favourite images from the finalists below. 

© Roland ‘Kilimanjaro’ Błazejewski, Family, Germany. I met this couple in Berlin. They were sitting together on the side of a street when I started a conversation with them. We talked for a long time and the man repeated, ‘We are a family, we are together, we are strong’ over and over. When I got up to leave I glanced back at them and took this photograph.
© Roland ‘Kilimanjaro’ Błazejewski, Family, Germany. I met this couple in Berlin. They were sitting together on the side of a street when I started a conversation with them. We talked for a long time and the man repeated, ‘We are a family, we are together, we are strong’ over and over. When I got up to leave I glanced back at them and took this photograph.
© Sebastián Delgado Caicedo. Keep Moving, Colombia. In 2008, the Giraldo family fled from danger in Colombia and lived in Venezuela for seven years until they were ordered to leave. They left behind the life they had built to face an uncertain future in their home country.
© Sebastián Delgado Caicedo. Keep Moving, Colombia. In 2008, the Giraldo family fled from danger in Colombia and lived in Venezuela for seven years until they were ordered to leave. They left behind the life they had built to face an uncertain future in their home country.
© Samuel Zuder, Face to Faith, Tibet. These two friends – pilgrims – were dressed almost identically and looked like twins to me. They had travelled thousands of kilometres to worship at the holy mountain.
© Samuel Zuder, Face to Faith, Tibet. These two friends – pilgrims – were dressed almost identically and looked like twins to me. They had travelled thousands of kilometres to worship at the holy mountain.
© Alexandros Tsiolis, My Family Portrait, Greece.
© Alexandros Tsiolis, My Family Portrait, Greece.
© Todd Antony, Junichi Tajima, Japan. The Japanese subculture of dekotora, meaning ‘decorated trucks’, stems from the 1970s Torakku Yaro ̄ (‘truck guys’) films. Junichi Tajima is the head of Utamaro Kai, a dekotora association. He said that with the right truck a driver can make even dark times feel bright.
© Todd Antony, Junichi Tajima, Japan. The Japanese subculture of dekotora, meaning ‘decorated trucks’, stems from the 1970s Torakku Yaro ̄ (‘truck guys’) films. Junichi Tajima is the head of Utamaro Kai, a dekotora association. He said that with the right truck a driver can make even dark times feel bright.
© Pieter de Vos. No Man’s Land, South Africa. Christopher has spent most of his life on the economic margins of South Africa despite his dogged pursuit of employment and stable housing. ‘I was a street kid,’ he said. ‘The kid that grows up on the street is in no man’s land.’
© Pieter de Vos. No Man’s Land, South Africa. Christopher has spent most of his life on the economic margins of South Africa despite his dogged pursuit of employment and stable housing. ‘I was a street kid,’ he said. ‘The kid that grows up on the street is in no man’s land.’
© Jørn Tomter. The Ghanaian Astronaut, UK. Wunnam is a pupil at Kingsmead Primary School in Hackney. The photo is part of a series of portraits of children dressed as astronauts. There is no more powerful fuel on the planet than a kid’s imagination.
© Jørn Tomter. The Ghanaian Astronaut, UK. Wunnam is a pupil at Kingsmead Primary School in Hackney. The photo is part of a series of portraits of children dressed as astronauts. There is no more powerful fuel on the planet than a kid’s imagination.
© Maureen Ruddy Burkhart. Moving the 10,000 Litre Water Tank, Kenya. The Kibera slum outside of Nairobi has no running water or plumbing for between 500,000 and 1 million residents. Toilets are limited to a few key areas served by these huge tanks. To get this tank to its destination many men were hired to roll the (empty) tank over flimsy metal rooftops.
© Maureen Ruddy Burkhart. Moving the 10,000 Litre Water Tank, Kenya. The Kibera slum outside of Nairobi has no running water or plumbing for between 500,000 and 1 million residents. Toilets are limited to a few key areas served by these huge tanks. To get this tank to its destination many men were hired to roll the (empty) tank over flimsy metal rooftops.
© Roman Shalenkin. Worker, Coal Factory, Russia. This is 28-year-old Alyona who works in a coal factory. When I spoke to her she said that everyone always asks why she works in such a dark, damp, dirty place. ‘It is necessary to have a vocation and this is mine,’ she said. ‘I do not imagine anything else.’
© Roman Shalenkin. Worker, Coal Factory, Russia. This is 28-year-old Alyona who works in a coal factory. When I spoke to her she said that everyone always asks why she works in such a dark, damp, dirty place. ‘It is necessary to have a vocation and this is mine,’ she said. ‘I do not imagine anything else.’
© Federico Redin, Beauty Centre, Uganda. A hairdresser works on the balcony of a commercial building while her clients relax. Competition for trading space in central Kampala is fierce.
© Federico Redin, Beauty Centre, Uganda. A hairdresser works on the balcony of a commercial building while her clients relax. Competition for trading space in central Kampala is fierce.
© Tajette O’Halloran, You Can Post This After I Die, USA. I took this photograph one evening while staying with my grandma. She was undressing from the day and I was about to hop into the shower. As I walked through her room to use her en-suite bathroom, she looked at me and said, ‘Oi vey, what a figure!’ She then stood next to me, shrugged, and lifted up her breasts to where they might have sat 58 years ago when she was my age. I laughed and laughed and Grandma giggled her infectious little giggle. She died on 11 March 2018 at the age of 94 and I can still hear her voice: ‘Put that damn camera away!’
© Tajette O’Halloran, You Can Post This After I Die, USA. I took this photograph one evening while staying with my grandma. She was undressing from the day and I was about to hop into the shower. As I walked through her room to use her en-suite bathroom, she looked at me and said, ‘Oi vey, what a figure!’ She then stood next to me, shrugged, and lifted up her breasts to where they might have sat 58 years ago when she was my age. I laughed and laughed and Grandma giggled her infectious little giggle. She died on 11 March 2018 at the age of 94 and I can still hear her voice: ‘Put that damn camera away!’
© Marie-Pascale Vandewalle, Together We Are Strong, Uganda. An African doctor and two Flemish doctors prepare a patient – a local Ugandan man – for surgery. It’s the first time the man has been cared for by professional doctors.
© Marie-Pascale Vandewalle, Together We Are Strong, Uganda. An African doctor and two Flemish doctors prepare a patient – a local Ugandan man – for surgery. It’s the first time the man has been cared for by professional doctors.
© Katinka Herbert, Luis Patterson Arboine, Cuban National Fencing Team, Cuba.
© Katinka Herbert, Luis Patterson Arboine, Cuban National Fencing Team, Cuba.
© Sandra Zarneshan. Next to Me, United Arab Emirates. This is my husband Fabrizio and our six-week-old son, Filippo. I took this photograph because I was exhausted and didn’t know what else to do. Having a baby shocked me in a way I never expected. I felt that neither my body nor my time belonged to me anymore. Taking the camera in my hands makes me feel like I am still the person I was before.
© Sandra Zarneshan. Next to Me, United Arab Emirates. This is my husband Fabrizio and our six-week-old son, Filippo. I took this photograph because I was exhausted and didn’t know what else to do. Having a baby shocked me in a way I never expected. I felt that neither my body nor my time belonged to me anymore. Taking the camera in my hands makes me feel like I am still the person I was before.
© Charlie Kwai, Captain America, Mexico. This Mexican boy dressed as Captain America walked unaccompanied down a street in Mexico City.
© Charlie Kwai, Captain America, Mexico. This Mexican boy dressed as Captain America walked unaccompanied down a street in Mexico City.
© Giulia Frigieri,Surfing Iran, Iran. Since 2013, Shahla Yasini has been challenging stereotypes of Middle Eastern women by pioneering the surfing scene in southeast Iran. She represents a new Iranian youth who are proud, courageous and ready to fight for their freedom.
© Giulia Frigieri,Surfing Iran, Iran. Since 2013, Shahla Yasini has been challenging stereotypes of Middle Eastern women by pioneering the surfing scene in southeast Iran. She represents a new Iranian youth who are proud, courageous and ready to fight for their freedom.
© Abbie Trayler-Smith, Fleeing Mosul, Iraq. After a nine-month battle, ISIS was expelled from Mosul in early 2017. I noticed Sara looking out of a window as the bus she was on pulled into the refugee camp. The look on her face summed up the global uncertainty that seemed to be everywhere. And yet, despite the death and destruction, the human spirit is resilient and lives on.
© Abbie Trayler-Smith, Fleeing Mosul, Iraq. After a nine-month battle, ISIS was expelled from Mosul in early 2017. I noticed Sara looking out of a window as the bus she was on pulled into the refugee camp. The look on her face summed up the global uncertainty that seemed to be everywhere. And yet, despite the death and destruction, the human spirit is resilient and lives on.
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