The shortlist for this year’s world’s best creative photography has been chosen, featuring five nominees in each of the seven categories. The five winners of the Creative Photo Awards will be announced at a ceremony in Siena, Italy on 28 September 2024.
![bears](https://specials-images.forbesimg.com/imageserve/66a125b426009281b34b4f60/960x0.jpg?fit=scale)
The annual competition is open to professional and amateur photographers and is judged by a jury of six international professional photographers, filmmakers and curators. This year’s all-female jury includes: Gina Williams, a writer and visual artist based in Portland, Oregon; Naya Poultidou, Photo Editor of Vogue Greece; Lydia Schreibikus (Suslova), a photographer and screenwriter; photographers Monica Silva and Marianna Santon; and Guo Jing, President of Global Photographic Union, China.
![waves](https://specials-images.forbesimg.com/imageserve/66a1261126009281b34b4f64/960x0.jpg?fit=scale)
The 35 nominees in each of the seven categories in this fine art photography contest were selected from among the images submitted by 4,193 participants from 135 countries. Winners of the Drone Photo Awards and the Siena International Photo Awards, the competition that initiated the Siena Awards a decade ago will also be announced that evening. The awards will also kick off a series of seven art exhibitions around the city and throughout Tuscany. The award winning images will be on display at the Artistic High School in Siena from September 28 until November 24, 2024.
The Creative Photo Awards aims to recognize and reward visionary artists using photographic processes and images. It’s searching for photos born out of the passion and from the author’s deep sensitivity: the result from a need to express feelings through the image, a unique view of the surrounding reality. The seven categories in this year’s world’s best creative photography include: Animals, Architecture, Fine Art, People, Nature and Landscape, and Series. A highlight from each category is shown below.
Animals
![monkey](https://specials-images.forbesimg.com/imageserve/66a11f399821af6e67dfb258/960x0.jpg?fit=scale)
“A tranquil moment” by Hikkaduwa Liyanage Prasantha Vinod (Sri Lanka) shows an infant toque macaque nursing from its mother, displaying such contentment that it appeared on the verge of falling asleep. This heartwarming scene unfolded at Wilpattu National Park in Sri Lanka, during the photographer’s April 2023 visit.
Architecture
![man in tunnel](https://specials-images.forbesimg.com/imageserve/66a124957812acaf4b11a455/960x0.jpg?fit=scale)
Photography featuring architecture in an artistic way: abstract, bridges, buildings, cityscapes, historic, industrial, or interior. Other finalists in Architecture include: Rafael Garcia Luna (Spain), Antonio Simone Verde (Italy), Anna Wacker (Greece) and Ursula Reinke (Germany).
Fine Art
![woman in burnt buildings](https://specials-images.forbesimg.com/imageserve/66a12253a536a7504a601021/960x0.jpg?fit=scale)
Images where the intention is aesthetic, revealing the subjective, creative vision of the artist, photos that express an idea, a message, or an emotion. Other finalists in this category include: Natalya Nova (USA), Hardijanto Budiman (Indonesia), Anna König (Russia), and Elena Paraskeva (Cyprus).
Nature and Landscape
![man with lake](https://specials-images.forbesimg.com/imageserve/66a122f9fc3013a70dc431a2/960x0.jpg?fit=scale)
Photography featuring environment and landscapes in an artistic way, often enhanced, showing scenes in nature through the creative eye and techniques of the photographer. Other nature finalists include: Himadri Bhuyan (India), Kirill Uyutnov (Russia), Taranjot Singh (Australia) and Dileep Ss (India).
Open Theme
![tennis player](https://specials-images.forbesimg.com/imageserve/66a1236cf1c5f257d2fc6c98/960x0.jpg?fit=scale)
“Over The Top” by Hardijanto Budiman (INDONESIA)
Fine art photography that does not fall under any of the other categories such as still life, sport and music. Other finalists include: Tonya Wilhelm (USA), Pepe Manzanilla (Mexico), Antonio Bernardino Coelho (Portugal) and Sohel Ahmed (Bangladesh).
People
![naked woman](https://specials-images.forbesimg.com/imageserve/66a123f526009281b34b4f5c/960x0.jpg?fit=scale)
“fitting in” by Agnieszka Ostrowska (POLAND)
Artistic images of a person or group of people, capturing the personality of the subject by use of lighting, backdrops, or poses. Shortlisted photographers include: Andrea Zvadova (Slovakia), Irina Jomir (Moldova), Chulin Zhang (China) and Marcel Mellema (The Netherlands).
Series
![series of people](https://specials-images.forbesimg.com/imageserve/66a124656583b5423efb7116/960x0.jpg?fit=scale)
“Kukerland” by Ivo Danchev (BULGARIA)
Other finalists in the Series category include: Bing Zhu (China), Jairo Alvarez (Argentina), Marcin Bawiec (Poland) and Andres Gallego Bellido (Spain).
This article first appeared on forbes.com.
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