Last Updated on 09/29/2016 by Chris Gampat
All images used with permission from Red Bull. Lead image by Lorenz Holder.
The winners of the 2016 Red Bull Illume Image Quest were announced with German photographer Lorenz Holder taking the top spot for the second time running. Holder was crowned Overall Winner in addtion to winning the Masterpiece by Yodobashi and Playground categories. His shot of athlete Senad Grosic riding his BMX across a bridge in Germany received the most votes from the panel of 53 judges. Lorenz’s image also took home the coveted Athlete’s Choice Award.
The Red Bull Illume also had winners in its 11 different categories. The winners are:
Close Up: Russian photographer, Denis Klero with his black and white shot of climber Rustam Gelmanov
Energy: Luke Shadbolt of Australia for his black and white image showing the power of nature with surfer Renan Faccini battling a wave.
Enhance: Dean Treml from New Zealand and his image of cliff diver Jonathan Paredes jumping from the 28 meter platform of the Copenhagen Opera House.
Lifestyle: Canadian photographer, Jody MacDonald’s, image of her brother Ken MacDonald sitting atop a train during their adventure through the Sahara Desert.
New Creativity: Italian photographer, Ale Di Lullo, for his shot of Aaran Chase riding his mountain bike on the windshield of a NYC cab.
Sequence by Sony: Daniel Vojtěch of Czech Republic with his shot of Flying Bulls pilots.
Spirit: Dean Treml from New Zealand for his image showing kayaker Josh Neilson being supported by fellow paddlers after a bad landing off Matze’s Drop, Storulfossen, Norway.
Wings: South African photographer Micky Wiswedel, with his shot of climber Jamie Smith mid-fall as he attempts a new rout on Table Mountain.
Mobile: Vegard Aasen of Norway and his black and white mountaineering image taken in Hakuba, Japan. This was the first year for the Mobile Category.
Playground: German photographer Lorenz Holder, showing BMXer Senad Grosic ride a rusted viewing platform in Senftenberg, Germany.
As the overall winner, Lorenz Holder received a €40.000 voucher from Yodobashi as a grand prize, a Sony a7RII and a Sony RX1RM2 with a full set of lenses, G-Technology G-Drive ev RaW SSD, and a Broncolor Siros Kit.
Following the announcement, the award-winning photographers were able to see their images displayed on illuminated 2x2m lightboxes at the opening of the Red Bull Illume Exhibit Tour 2016. The tour will stay in Chicago until October 9 and to showcase the imagery in a unique way, the exhibition will only be open after the sun goes down between the hours of 6:30PM and 10:30PM. This unique nighttime exhibition will travel to cultural hubs and hotspots around the world for the next two years with Toronto, CA, Yonkers, NY, and San Francisco, CA being the few stops.
The Top 55 finalists as well as Top 275 semifinalist images can be seen on redbullillume.com and the Red Bull Illume social channels. The Top 275 images have also been published in a sleek, limited edition Coffee Table Book that can be purchased at redbullillumebook.com.