Award-winning works will be exhibited in several major cities around the world

TOKYO – Nikon Corporation (Nikon) has been proud to host the Nikon Photo Contest — one of the world's largest photo and film competitions — for over 50 years, since its inception in 1969. The winners of the Grand Prize and other awards for each competition of the Nikon Photo Contest 2022-2023 were announced at the online awards ceremony held on September 16, 2023.

Winners of the Grand Prize, Excellence Award, and Special Encouragement Award were selected from approximately 70,000 entries received from approximately 35,000 people from 180 countries and regions around the world. Additionally, two works were recipients of the new General Public Award, added for the 2022-2023 Contest and determined with public voting.

The Grand Prize winners were selected from among the Excellence Award winners of each competition. The recipient of the Grand Prize for the Short Film Competition was a work in the Super Short Film Category titled "Margaret Gallagher is real", entered by Josh Spindler (UK), while the Grand Prize recipient for the Photo Competition was a work titled “Tears in the rain”, entered by Austin Garcia (Philippines). The archive video of the online awards ceremony will be released on the Nikon Photo Contest website at the beginning of October.

In addition, the exhibition and screening of award winners in street advertising and at events in several major cities, as well as Nikon facilities around the world is planned. Please visit the Nikon Photo Contest website for details to be posted at a later date.

”Margaret Gallagher is real” by Josh Spindler (UK)

*Images are captured from a part of the film

The theme of this work is liberation from the various constrictions of society, while also touching upon the subjects of feminism, race, and nationality. The COVID-19 pandemic brought about drastic changes to everyone’s lives. People found themselves unable to count on what was previously taken for granted, and what was previously believed to be unwavering became increasingly uncertain. This film was created based on the notion that perhaps, liberation exists in the transformation of, or escape from, the colossal systems that have been built into place.

“Tears in the rain” by Austin Garcia (Philippines)

During the well-known festival here in Angono called the ”Higantes Festival” I was drawn to this subject wherein a child was clinging tightly to his father, while around the child was chaos caused by the celebration of the festival. Water was splashing everywhere and in this particular scene you can see the amount of the water being thrown into the crowd.

I felt that the stories of the submitted films were particularly outstanding this year. Making a 40-second story is quite the challenge, and the films from this year’s winners were really well done. The films that were submitted under this category displayed more than just storytelling prowess. They showed consideration toward the beauty inherent in editing and film, and I had an excellent conversation about them with the other judges.

There were some especially strong submissions in the photo competition. You’d look at the pictures and you could get a sense of what the photographers were trying to express, as well as the affection and compassion that people had for their family, their children, their animals, and nature.

Another good point of this year’s competition was the global diversity we had in our judging panel. Depending on where you are from and what your culture is like, you would see something differently than somebody else. I thought that was excellent and really special. It was really important for us to be thinking about the ways that other people see a photograph.

Nikon Photo Contest 2022-2023 award winners will be showcased by being publicly displayed in street advertising and Nikon facilities in major cities around the world, and viewable at various events beginning with the Short Shorts Film Festival & Asia 2023 Screening in Autumn to be held in Ebisu, Tokyo. Please take these opportunities to view the imaging works of creators from around the world in person.

Date/time: November 24–27, 2023

Venue: Inaribashi Square, Shibuya Stream (Tokyo)

Date: October 19-22, 2023

Venue: Tokyo Photographic Art Museum (Tokyo)

https://www.shortshorts.org/content/news_en/event/filmfestival/autumn2023/

Information regarding other exhibitions and screenings will be posted on the Nikon Photo Contest website as it becomes available.

Visit the Nikon Photo Contest website for further information on winning works.

https://www.nikon-photocontest.com/en/