The Siena International Photo Awards (SIPA) announced the winners of its 2024 competition that it hosts with the goal of making Siena and the region an international capital for photography.
The photo competition is one of three such “Siena” branded awards, the others being the Drone Photo Awards and the Creative Photo Awards.
“The uniqueness of Siena Awards is the continuous attempt to be avant-garde and create, in the ideal place, strong positive and always new emotions, which are the ones that give joy, unite, and allow audiences and participants to overcome distances, and different cultures & goals. Siena Awards awaits you in Siena, the capital of the world of imagination,” the organization says.
This year, Ali Jadallah — a Palestinian photographer — was awarded the title of Photographer of the Year for his photo “Ireeplaceable” (above) which was captured in the midst of the conflict in Gaza.
“This powerful photograph conveys the heartbreaking reality of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, depicting a woman mourning beside the body of a loved one, wounded by an Israeli airstrike in the Ridwan neighborhood of Gaza City,” the competition writes.
Jadallah’s photo was entered into the Documentary and Photojournalism category of the competition, which joins eight other categories: Fascinating Faces and Characters, The Beauty of Nature, Animals in Their Environment, Sports in Action, Street Photography, Underwater Life, Journeys and Adventures, and Storyboard. The winners of these categories — including Documentary and Photojournalism, which honors a separate winner despite Jadallah’s Photographer of the Year win — are below:
Photo competitions typically see a similar group of entrants. For example, PetaPixel notes that two of these photos may look familiar. Karine Aigner won with a photo likely taken moments before or after her Siena Awards win this year two years ago in a separate competition. Second place in the category won first place in a different competition from this year.
A full list of prizes can be read on the Siena Awards website, but all category winners as well as second place, third place, and honorable mention are featured in the Siena Awards “Imagine all the People Sharing all the World” Exhibition. All honored photos can be seen on the Siena Awards 2024 results gallery.
Image credits: All photos are individually credited and were provided courtesy of the Siena Awards