Tokyo, Japan—Nikon Corporation has hosted the Nikon Photo Contest—one of the world’s largest photo and film competitions—for more than 50 years. Moreover, the winners of the grand prize and other awards for each competition of the Nikon Photo Contest 2022-2023 were announced during an online awards ceremony.
Further, winners of the Grand Prize, Excellence Award and Special Encouragement Award were selected from approximately 70,000 entries. These entries were submitted by approximately 35,000 people from 180 countries and regions around the world.
Additionally, two works were recipients of the new General Public Award. This award, added for the 2022–2023 contest, was determined by public voting.
“I felt that the stories of the submitted films were particularly outstanding this year. Making a 40-second story is quite the challenge. 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. I had an excellent conversation about them with the other judges,” commented Sarah Leen, the contest’s lead judge.
“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.”
Nikon Photo Contest 2022-2023 Winners
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). The Grand Prize recipient for the Photo Competition was a work titled Tears in the rain, entered by Austin Garcia (Philippines).
Further, Nikon will release the archive video of the online awards ceremony on the Nikon Photo Contest website in October. In addition, Nikon plans to exhibit the award-winning projects, and screen them in street advertising, at events in several major cities and in Nikon facilities worldwide.
Following are the grand prize winners and what the photographers had to say about their works.
Grand Prize Winner: Short Film Competition
Title: Margaret Gallagher is real by Josh Spindler (UK)
Overview: In a speculative timeline where the climate crisis was forced to a tipping point, causing a planetary reaction that changed the way we see the world, Margaret Gallagher still lives “off-grid” like she has done her entire life. She talks of the Internet and the ever-worsening weather as we see a glimpse of the blueprint to a way of life that may save us from the end of the world.
Grand Prize Winner: Photo Competition
Title: Tears in the rain by Austin Garcia (Philippines)
Overview: During the well-known festival in Angono called the “Higantes Festival,” I was drawn to this subject wherein a child was clinging tight to his father. Around the child was chaos caused from the celebration of the festival. Water was splashing everywhere. And in this particular scene, you can see the amount of the water thrown into the crowd.
Exhibition and Screening of Winning Works
The Nikon Photo Contest 2022–2023 award winners will have their work showcased publicly in street advertising in major cities globally. They will also be displayed in Nikon facilities around the world. The winners will also exhibit at various events. These events begin with the Short Shorts Film Festival & Asia 2023 Screening in Autumn in Ebisu, Tokyo.
Visit the Nikon Photo Contest website for information on all the winning works. Nikon will also post information regarding exhibitions and screenings on the Nikon Photo Contest website as it becomes available.
