The winners of Red Bull Illume, the world's largest
action sports photography contest have been announced.
German photographer Lorenz Holder has won the overall prize
in the 2013 Red Bull Illume sports action photography competition for his image
of a snowboarder beside a giant satellite dish.
“The quality of the images in
the Top 50 was amazing, so for me it’s a great honour to be voted number one.
It’s so unreal. It will take a few days for the news to sink in," said Holder.
"There
are talented photographers and then there are gifted photographers," said Jym Wilson,
senior photo editor at USA Today and one of 50 Red Bull Illume judges. "I saw a
lot of talent, but I also saw some truly gifted photographers. These are not just
action photographers, but people with great technical and artistic skills."
As the
overall winner, Holder received a Leica S camera, a broncolor Move Outdoor kit
and Sun-Sniper gear — a prize worth over €30,000. He also won the Experimental
category. Other category winners included Scott Serf (Illumination), Daniel
Vojtech (New Creativity), Romina Amato (Energy), Chris Burkard (Spirit), Morgan
Maassen (Lifestyle by Leica), Jeroen Nieuwhuis (Close Up), Zakary Noyle (Sequence)
and Samo Vidic (Wings). All category winners received a Leica X2, a broncolor
Para 88 P Kit and Sun-Sniper gear.
The Athletes’ choice, as voted by Red Bull
athletes, went to Morgan Maassen for his underwater shot of surfers chatting in
between sets of waves. After the awards ceremony the 50 images were unveiled on
2m x 2m life-size lightboxes along Hong Kong's
famous Avenue of Stars, where they were to remain for three weeks as a free
public exhibition.
Red Bull Illume will then go to the US before travelling
around the world's capitals and cultural hubs for the next two years as a night
exhibition. Red Bull Illume claims to be the world’s premier international
photography competition dedicated to action and adventure sports. It aims to
showcase exciting and creative action sports photography as art.
The 2013 Red
Bull Illume Image Quest is the third edition of the competition after events in
2007 and 2010. A total of 28,257 shots were submitted by 6,417 photographers
from 124 countries.
Red Bull Illume overall winning image. Photo by Lorenz Holder.
'Close Up' category winner. Photo by Jeroen Nieuwhuis.
'New Creativity' winner. Photo by Daniel Vojtech.