Controlled Silence
Steffen Reichardt, Germany
Fine Art winner
My series, Controlled Silence, explores the quiet tension between human presence and industrial control. Monumental cooling towers dominate the landscape, while a small chapel introduce a fragile human reference point. Through reduction, shadow, and scale, the series transforms a real place into a psychological space by stillness, mass and restraint. The images move from overview toward increasing reduction, where structure slowly dissolves into pure relationships of form, silence and presence.
Lines and Light in Antelope Canyon
Lucia Cooper, USA
Abstract winner
The curved parallel lines and the light glancing off the edges of the rocks is what drew me to Antelope Canyon.
Prism of Perception
Vlada de Nooij, Netherlands
Conceptual winner
The project explores how transformation of a recognisable image gradually shifts our perception through light, shadow and the geometry of line, revealing how unstable and subjective perception can be – shaped by experience, emotion, and perspective. The photographs were printed and manually folded to obtain this transformation effect.
The Quiet Desert
Andrew Mielzynski, Canada
Landscape, second place
The Mesquite Dunes in Death Valley, California, offer extraordinary photographic opportunities. I was fortunate to spend time there at the end of January 2026. The ever-shifting sands and the interplay of light and shadow create simple, minimalistic and highly graphic compositions. Over the course of several days, I assembled a series of images that reflect the sense of calm, solitude, and peace that I experienced while wandering alone through this tranquil landscape.
The Void
Nina Papiorek, Germany
Street, second place
A small person, the right moment, the seclusion of the scene, and a clear visual language through minimalism and contrast are, for me, what make a street shot a well-thought-out photograph that captivates the viewer.
Pfahlwerk
Rainer Lüdecke, Germany
Long Exposure, second place
Pfahlwerk is a series of minimalist black & white photographs of piles and small structures in water. Long exposures render the surface soft and still – leaving only a few forms, ample negative space, and a sense of time and transience.
In the Rain
Rolandas Urbonavicius, Germany
Night Photography, second place
The beautiful Étretat coast in France. A sudden heavy rain and a lone fishing boat sailing along the coast – all that was needed for this minimalist work.
Between Shadows
Andrea Rosin, Germany
Landscape, third place
A minimalist black & white landscape captured during a journey through the Peruvian Andes. A delicate crescent moon hangs above Mount Salkantay, mirroring in its glow the bright, snow-covered massive ridge of the mountain, which emerges from the shadows between the dark silhouettes of the foreground peaks. The contrast between light and darkness evoked in me a feeling of stillness, timeless grandeur, and humility.
Guggenheim Museum, Bilbao, Spain
Martin Santbergen, Austria
Architecture, third place