Portrait Awards 2026 – Deadline February 18, 2026Enter Today

Announcing the Winners and Finalists

Wow! Here are 31 unique points of view from 31 great photographers across the world! This remarkable group was selected by an international jury who reviewed work from 118 countries. Six continents and 18 countries are represented, making this a snapshot of some of the best contemporary photography on the planet. Each of the photo series demonstrates photography's continuing ability to show us the important, strange, sad and wondrous out in the world (and in our imaginations), while the single images underscore the power that can be captured in just one frame. Enjoy!

“I’m very impressed by the high caliber of work. Will certainly be keeping an eye on many of these photographers and their future projects.”

– Sarah Leen, National Geographic

Series Winners

1st Place: Series

Danila Tkachenko
Russia
Restricted Areas
© Danila Tkachenko
© Danila Tkachenko
© Danila Tkachenko

2nd Place: Series

Ioana Cirlig
Romania
Post-Industrial Romania
© Ioana Cirlig
© Ioana Cirlig
© Ioana Cirlig

3rd Place: Series

Franky Verdickt
Belgium
South Street Village
© Franky Verdickt
© Franky Verdickt
© Franky Verdickt

Single Image Winners

1st Place Single Image

Raina Stinson
USA
Alluring
© Raina Stinson

2nd Place Single Image

Marcin Ryczek
Poland
A Man Feeding Swans in the Snow
© Marcin Ryczek

3rd Place Single Image

Pierre Terdjman
France
La Boutique du Peuple
© Pierre Terdjman

Finalists

Finalists, Single Image Category

Karen Lunney

Karen Lunney Australia

Dante's Inferno
Andrea Schuh

Andrea Schuh Germany

Man vs. Light
Agnieszka Rembacz

Agnieszka Rembacz Poland

Separately
Maxim Korotchenko

Maxim Korotchenko Russia

Diving
Vo Anh Kiet

Vo Anh Kiet Vietnam

My Balloon
Annika Haas

Annika Haas Estonia

Kaido

exposure awards 2014 international jury

Sarah Leen
Director of Photography<br> <strong>National Geographic Magazine</strong><br> Worldwide<br> www.nationalgeographic.com
more about Sarah
<p> Sarah Leen is the Director of Photography for National Geographic magazine. For nearly 20 years prior she worked as a freelance photographer publishing 16 stories in the magazine. She joined the staff in 2004 as a Senior Photo Editor. <br> Leen graduated with a BA in Fine Arts in 1974 from the University of Missouri, Columbia and continued with graduate studies at the Missouri School of Journalism. Leen was the College Photographer of the Year in 1979 and worked as a staff photographer for both the Topeka Capital Journal and the Philadelphia Inquirer until 1982. She published 16 stories in National Geographic magazine as a photographer. <br> Leen has won numerous awards for her photography in the Pictures of the Year (POYi) and the World Press Photos competition. In 2007 and 2008 she won first place Magazine Picture Editing Portfolio from POYi and second place in 2011. <br> In 2010 Leen was the curator of National Geographic magazine’s Water is Life exhibit at the Annenberg Space for Photography in Los Angeles, the Beyond the Photograph exhibit at the National Geographic Society headquarters in 2011 and in 2013 curated exhibit at the Annenberg Space, The Power of Photography: National Geographic 125 Years. </p>
Xavier Soule
Président <br> <strong> Agence VU’ &<br> Galerie VU’ </strong><br> Paris, France<br> www.agencevu.com
more about Xavier
Xavier Soule is the president and director of Agence VU’, one of the most renowned agencies and galleries for photographers in France and Europe. Galerie VU’ presents six exhibits a year. The aim is to affirm, on the walls, the diversity of contemporary stylistic photographic approaches, and to compare and contrast current viewpoints, so they can dialogue with their differences. Galerie VU' works like any other commercial gallery: it is simultaneously a space for exhibiting and selling collectors' editions, offering monograph approaches, authors' dialogues, group or thematic approaches.
Karin Bareman
Assistant Curator<br> <strong>Foam</strong><br> Amsterdam,<br> The Netherlands<br> www.foam.org
more about Karin
Karin Bareman (b. 1982, the Netherlands) studied Anthropology and Visual Anthropology in Amsterdam and Manchester, focusing on the relationship between audiovisual culture and memories especially in relation to the former USSR. She has worked as Assistant Curator at Foam since 2010, and she regularly writes about photography. Her articles have appeared amongst others in Foam Magazine, Unseen Magazine, Off the Afternoon, on American Suburb X and on her online platform karinbareman.blogspot.nl. She lives and works in Amsterdam.
Darius Himes
International Head of Photographs<br> <strong>Christie's</strong><br> New York/Paris/London<br> www.christies.com
more about Darius
Darius Himes is the first International Head of Photographs for Christie's, joining in November 2014. Prior to that, he was Director of Fraenkel Gallery in San Francisco (2011-2014). In his curatorial career, he has collaborated with a wide range of photographers, from Lee Friedlander to Alec Soth and Katy Grannan. He has also worked with some of the top institutions across the United States: The Art Institute of Chicago, David Zwirner Gallery and the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Himes has contributed writing to Aperture, American Photo, Blind Spot, Bookforum, BOMB, PDN, and Lay Flat. He also co-authored the title, "Publish Your Photography Book," a popular guide (now in its second edition) to the illustrated book publishing industry.
Anna G. Dickson
Photography Director<br> <strong>Huffington Post/AOL</strong><br> New York, NY<br> www.huffingtonpost.com
more about Anna
Anna Dickson is the Director of Photography for the Huffington Post. Her career spans 10 years working in the industry for both print publications as well as online. Anna started her photo editing career at Netscape in 2004, moving a year later to New York City to pursue a career in print. She worked at publications such as Guitar World, Revolver, Future Music, Rolling Stone and Popular Photography prior to heading back to the digital world for iHeartRadio where she oversaw 850 websites and large scale events including the iHeartRadio Music festival. In 2012, Anna helped launch Huffington, the iPad Magazine before moving to Photography Director for the organization.
Eder Chiodetto
Curator of Photography<br> <strong>Museum of Modern Art of São Paulo </strong><br> São Paulo, Brazil<br> mam.org.br
more about Eder
Eder Chiodetto is a curator, writer, editor and teacher. He has been the curator of photography of the Museum of Modern Art of São Paulo (MAM-SP) since 2006. In his career as a curator he has held important exhibitions in Brazil and abroad, including major shows in Tokyo and Paris. Chiodetto is the author of the book The Writer's Place and has also worked as an editorial curator on many different photography-related volumes. As a teacher, he is currently guiding the work of over 60 contemporary photographers.
Mutsuko Ota
Editorial Director<br> <strong>IMA Magazine</strong><br> Tokyo, Japan<br> imaonline.jp
more about Mutsuko
Mutsuko Ota is the Editorial Director of IMA magazine in Tokyo. Besides IMA magazine, she also produced the IMA CONCEPT STORE, a space for popularizing art photography in Japan. She curates photography exhibitions regularly for the IMA Gallery. She began her career as an editor at Marie Claire and then worked for several other magazines such as Esquire and GQ.
Sam Barzilay
Creative Director<br> <strong> United Photo Industries & Photoville </strong><br> New York, NY<br> UnitedPhotoIndustries.com
Photovillenyc.org
more about Sam
Serving as United Photo Industries’ Creative Director, Sam Barzilay is also the co-founder of Photoville, a modular venue built out of re-purposed shipping containers in Brooklyn Bridge Park, on the waterfront of New York City. <br> Prior to founding United Photo Industries and launching the United Photo Industries Gallery, he was the Director of the New York Photo Festival. In his dual capacity as curator and festival organizer, he has had the pleasure and privilege of curating photo exhibitions and lecturing on current trends in contemporary photography as far afield as China, Greece, USA, and Japan. <br> Over the past few years, he has served as juror, nominator, and reviewer for the Prix Pictet, Les Rencontres d’Arles, Houston FotoFest, the New York Photo Awards, Artists Wanted, the Google Photography Prize, the SilverEye Fellowship, and the FotoVisura Grant, among many others.
Jim Casper
Editor & Publisher<br> <strong>LensCulture</strong><br> Paris, France<br> lensculture.com
more about Jim
Jim Casper is the founding editor and publisher of LensCulture, one of the leading destinations for contemporary photography from around the world. As an active member in the contemporary photography world, Casper organizes annual international photography portfolio review events, curates arts exhibitions, writes about photography and culture, lectures, conducts workshops, serves as an international juror and nominator for key awards, and is an advisor to arts and education organizations. He serves on the board of directors at SPE, the Society for Photographic Education, the world’s largest association of photography educators.

Exhibition at Photo London

The Winners & Finalists of the 2014 Exposure Awards will be exhibited at <br><span class='semi-bold'>Somerset House</span> during <span class='semi-bold'>Photo London</span> – <em>London’s New Premier Photography Fair!</em>

Somerset House, London
May 21 - 24, 2015

Exhibition space at Somerset House generously provided by Candlestar.
Exhibition prints generously provided by Genesis Imaging.