LensCulture Street Photography 2018 Awards WINNERS & FINALISTS

All images are from https://www.lensculture.com/2018-lensculture-street-photography-award-winners

SURPRISING NEW STREET PHOTOGRAPHY

We’re excited to present the winners of this year’s LensCulture Street Photography Awards—39 photographers who are reinvigorating and redefining the genre of street photography today. This was a record-breaking year for our Street Photography Awards—we received work from photographers in more than 170 countries all over the world. The settings ranged from futuristic urban scenes in Tokyo to intimate black-and-white moments in Berlin. We discovered makeshift urban dwellings in India and France and scenes of almost pure abstraction from cool remote corners of the world. It was truly inspiring to see such a wide survey of life on the street in cultures and countries all over the globe.

How do we define street photography? For those with a tendency toward classical photography, the romantic black-and-white photographs of Henri Cartier-Bresson may come to mind. And yet, the genre of street photography has opened up quite a bit in this global age—photography is at the center of our “always-on,” interconnected lives. To that end, our esteemed jury panel had healthy discussions about how to define street photography in 2018. As one juror put it, “It was great to see that, even now, there are still new ways to approach image-making and dynamic ways to tell old stories.”

Many of these scenes may seem alien and unfamiliar, while other photographs offer a sharp jolt of recognition from far-flung locations across the globe. We hope you find some work that delights you.

Congratulations to all of the photographers presented here, and thanks to everyone who participated.

Lens Culture

SERIES WINNERS

1ST PLACE SERIES
SOWRAV DAS
Bangladesh
Floating Heroes

Floating Heroes 8. Mir Hossain, 35. He sleeps in the van by wrapping himself in a shawl or a blanket. He can guard the van, and at the same time, he also saves money on rent. © Sowrav Das. 1st place, Series, LensCulture Street Photography Awards 2018.

Floating Heroes 1. Amena, 20. She has grown up on footpaths since childhood, and she used to pass time at night in different parks throughout the city. But now she cannot sleep in parks due to a government prohibition. So, she either sleeps on road dividers or in roundabouts. This photo was taken in the Love Lane area of Chattogram. © Sowrav Das. 1st place, Series, LensCulture Street Photography Awards 2018.

Floating Heroes 6. Money is delivered to the Chittagong branch of Bangladesh Bank by trucks every day. Khokon, 31, maintains his livelihood by carrying sacks of money to the bank from the trucks, but there is no place for him to take shelter. He passes the time at night by either sleeping on a road divider or in a roundabout. This photo was taken at Laldighi in Chittagong. © Sowrav Das. 1st place, Series, LensCulture Street Photography Awards 2018.

2ND PLACE SERIES
İLKER KARAMAN
Turkey
In Pursuit of Myself