The Siena International Photo Awards (SIPAContest) is a photography competition for professional, amateur and student photographers from around the world. It is judged by an international panel of experts that includes renowned photographers, editors and photography collectors. First presented in 2015, by their second year the awards and the associated Siena Awards Festival in Siena, Italy, were considered prestigious.
According to the organizers, SIPA (Siena International Photo Awards) is part of a broader project of the Siena Awards. It represents an effort to bring people together from all around the world who are passionate not only about photography, but global connection, cultural exchange and art as a catalyst for change.
History
Siena International Photo Awards was created by Luca Venturi as part of the mission of the Art Photo Travel Association, a non-profit organization based in Siena, Italy. The awards were first presented on 30 October 2015.
Award ceremony
The awards ceremony takes place in Siena at the Teatro dei Rinnovati theatre. On the day of the ceremony, the Siena International Photographer of the Year and other award-winning images are announced. Following the awards ceremony, the "Imagine All the People Sharing All the World" photography exhibition honoring the winners opens its doors in Siena. A book featuring all prize-winning entries is published annually in two languages (Italian and English).
Contest
The winning images are selected by a professional jury (including photographers from National Geographic and the BBC) from among thousands of entries (2019: approximately 50,000, according to the SIPAContest team), received from all over the world.
The winners in each category will be awarded the Pangea Prize and will compete for the highest award as Photographer of the Year.
An exhibition of the winning and honorable mention images, named "Beyond The Lens," is located each year at the exhibition space of the former distillery "Lo Stellino." In 2019 the exhibition was entitled "Imagine all the people sharing all the world."
A book of winning entries and runners-up has been published each year since 2015.
Annual Ceremonies and Honorees
2022
The 2022 awards ceremony was celebrated at the Teatro dei Rinnovati on the 1st of October).
Siena International Photographer of the Year – Konstantinos Tsakalidis (Greece) Best Author – Peter Mather (Canada) Category Winners – Storyboard: Peter Mather (Canada), Documentary and Photojournalism: Fabrizio Maffei (Italy), Journeys and Adventures: Rahat Bin Mustafiz (Bangladesh), Fascinating Faces and Characters: Dan Winters (United States), The Beauty of Nature: Nadine Galandi (Germany), Animals in their Environment: Amos Nachoum (Israel), Architecture and Urban Spaces: Muhammad Almasri (Jordan), Sports in Action: Jonne Roriz (Brazil), Street Photography: Michael Kowalczyk (Germany), Under 20: Raffael Gunawan (Indonesia), Underwater Life: Francisco Javier Murcia Requena (Spain), Short Documentary: Ami Vitale (United States)
2021
The 2021 awards were presented as a virtual event on 23 October.
Siena International Photographer of the Year – Mehmet Aslan (Turkey) Best Author – Brent Stirton (South Africa) Category Winners – Storyboard: Brent Stirton (South Africa), Documentary and Photojournalism: Marcus Westberg (Germany), Journeys and Adventures: Sergey Savvi (Russia), Fascinating Faces and Characters: Selene Magnolia (Italy), The Beauty of Nature: Shirley Wung (Taiwan), Animals in their Environment: Ronan Donovan (United States), Architecture and Urban Spaces: Gustav Willeit (Italy), Sports in Action: Anupam Roy Chowdhury (India), Street Photography: Lopamudra Talukdar (India), Under 20: Ben Pulletz (United Kingdom), Short Documentary: Farida Alam (Bangladesh)
2020
The 2020 awards were presented as a virtual event on 25 October.
Siena International Photographer of the Year – Greg Lecouer (France) Best Author – Brent Stirton (South Africa) Category Winners – Storyboard: Brent Stirton (South Africa), Documentary and Photojournalism: Mohammad Sazid Hossain (Bangladesh), Journeys and Adventures: Amirmahdi Najafloo Shahpar (Iran), Fascinating Faces and Characters: Silvia Alessi (Italy), The Beauty of Nature: Tobias Friedrich (Germany), Animals in their Environment: Jonas Classon (Sweden), Architecture and Urban Spaces: Attila Balogh (Hungary), Sports in Action: Diogo Cancela (Great Britain), Street Photography: Olesia Kim (Russia), Under 20: Riccardo Marchegiani (Italy), Short Documentary: Nader Saadallah (Egypt)
2019
The 2019 awards ceremony was celebrated at the Teatro dei Rinnovati on 26 October.