The winners and finalists of the All About Photo The Mind's Eye Awards 2020 have been announced, and there are a number of fascinating takeaways from the results.
One of the big takeaways is that, while the majority of entries to the competition were color photographs, black-and-white photos accounted for four of the top five first-place images, which are awarded a $10,000 prize.
Also notable is that while photography is still a largely male-dominated art form, four of the top five prizes were won by female photographers – including the winning image. Indeed, the winning image 'Across the River, Burma' is a black-and-white photograph that was shot by a woman, Monica Denevan.
Additionally, two of the top five images featured female subjects, with one (the winner) depicting a male, an awe-inspiring aerial landscape and a stunning wildlife shot of stampeding wildebeest.
Another noteworthy point is that the panel of seven jurors were drawn towards more serene imagery, rather than some of the more aggressive images that are often successful in photographic competition.
"Unlike previous years, it also seems that the jurors were more attracted to beautiful and soothing images rather than violent and unsettling ones," notes All About Photo. "Perhaps a subconscious need has arisen in each one of us to escape the terrible events that are happening in the world right now."
The full list of winners, with winning images, can be seen at the All About Photo The Mind's Eye Awards 2020 page (opens in new tab). The top five photos, and a selection of our favorites, can be found below.
All-About-Photo.com The Mind’s Eye Awards 2020 Winner: Across the River, Burma (Monica Denevan) – www.all-about-photo.com (opens in new tab) via photopublicity.com (opens in new tab)(Image credit: Monica Denevan)
All-About-Photo.com The Mind’s Eye Awards 2020 Second Place Winner: Avery Skipalis (33), outside of her house, posing together with all the firearms she owns, Tampa, Florida (Gabriele Galimberti) – www.all-about-photo.com via photopublicity.com(Image credit: Gabriele Galimberti)
All-About-Photo.com The Mind’s Eye Awards 2020 Third Place Winner: Philomena (Rebecca Moseman) – www.all-about-photo.com via photopublicity.com(Image credit: Rebecca Moseman)
All-About-Photo.com The Mind’s Eye Awards 2020 Fourth Place Winner: Sustenance 4 (Nadia De Lange) – www.all-about-photo.com via photopublicity.com(Image credit: Nadia De Lange)
All-About-Photo.com The Mind’s Eye Awards 2020 Fifth Place Winner: Jump of the wildebeest (Nicole Cambre) – www.all-about-photo.com via photopublicity.com(Image credit: Nicole Cambre)
All-About-Photo.com The Mind’s Eye Awards 2020 Particular Merit Mention: Polarbearpet (Marcel van Balken) – www.all-about-photo.com via photopublicity.com(Image credit: Marcel van Balken)
All-About-Photo.com The Mind’s Eye Awards 2020 Particular Merit Mention: The Lost Swimmer (Elena Paraskeva) – www.all-about-photo.com via photopublicity.com(Image credit: Elena Paraskeva)
All-About-Photo.com The Mind’s Eye Awards 2020 Particular Merit Mention: The Grand Procession 2 (Lori Hawkins) – www.all-about-photo.com via photopublicity.com(Image credit: Lori Hawkins)
All-About-Photo.com The Mind’s Eye Awards 2020 Particular Merit Mention: Untitled - Cemetery (Tomas Neuwirth) – www.all-about-photo.com via photopublicity.com(Image credit: Tomas Neuwirth)
All-About-Photo.com The Mind’s Eye Awards 2020 Particular Merit Mention: Making soy sauce (Azim Khan Ronnie) – www.all-about-photo.com via photopublicity.com(Image credit: Azim Khan Ronnie)
All-About-Photo.com The Mind’s Eye Awards 2020 Particular Merit Mention: The Wall Frame, Arizona (Matthew Portch) – www.all-about-photo.com via photopublicity.com(Image credit: Matthew Portch)
The editor of Digital Camera World, James has 21 years experience as a magazine and web journalist and started working in the photographic industry in 2014 (as an assistant to Damian McGillicuddy, who succeeded David Bailey as Principal Photographer for Olympus). In this time he shot for clients as diverse as Aston Martin Racing, Elinchrom and L'Oréal, in addition to shooting campaigns and product testing for Olympus, and providing training for professionals. This has led him to being a go-to expert for camera and lens reviews, photographic and lighting tutorials, as well as industry analysis, news and rumors for publications such as Digital Camera Magazine (opens in new tab), PhotoPlus: The Canon Magazine (opens in new tab), N-Photo: The Nikon Magazine (opens in new tab), Digital Photographer (opens in new tab) and Professional Imagemaker, as well as hosting workshops and demonstrations at The Photography Show (opens in new tab). An Olympus and Canon shooter, he has a wealth of knowledge on cameras of all makes – and a fondness for vintage lenses and instant cameras.
