iPhone Photography Awards 2021: Winners from 140 Countries

The Washington Post, 2021

Each year, and ever since the introduction 14 years ago of the iPhone, thousands of photographers have sent their best images for a chance to be recognized in the iPhone Photography Awards.

This year, the winners were selected from entries originating from 140 countries, receiving prizes across 17 categories.

Photographer of the Year — Istvan Kerekes

Istvan Kerekes of Hungary received the top prize — Photographer of the Year — for his image of two Transylvanian shepherds photographed in Targu Mures.

"I have been following the lives of shepherds for several years in the historical region of Transylvania in Central Romania," he told In Sight. "When walking in some parts of Transylvania one would often feel that you have traveled back in time. There is hardly any sign of modern technology here, it is as if time had stopped, while beauty and nature are preserved. Sheep farming has been a tradition in this region for centuries."

"This picture shows Alexandru and Peter, who are shepherds near Targu Mures locality," he added. "They graze their animals near the Mures river."

Other Top Winners

Kerekes is followed by Indian photographer Sharan Shetty, who received first place in the Photographer of the Year category, with Dan Liu of China receiving second place and Jeff Rayner of the U.S. in third.

The list of winners across categories such as Nature, Abstract, City Life, Portrait and People, among many others, paints the picture of a colorful world where hints of the pandemic can only be seen through the absence of crowds and a focus on the intimate and the personal.

Other featured photographers include Glenn Homann, Matteo Lava, Elizabeth Burns, Yuexiang Wang, Yayun Liu, Liz Huang, Anne Ghory Goodman, Einat Shteckler, Lizhi Wang, Keith Brofsky, Valerie Helbich Poschacher, Marton Tordai, Zerry Song, Christian Horgan, Erin Brooks, Dina Alfasi, Haibao Tong, Kunkun Liu, Hexiang Zhou, Yi Liao, Enhua Ni, and Alessandra Manzotti.

View the full interactive feature on washingtonpost.com.