The year 2021 is already history but many of the things that happened will remain in our retinas forever. That is why it is a good time to look back and see what his 365 days in the field of photography gave of themselves. As we usually do, for this compilation of the images of the year we have based mainly on the winning photos from the 2021 contests, but we have also included others that were very significant.
In order for you to understand it quickly, you just have to say one word: “Filomena“, the snowstorm that at the beginning of 2021 devastated a good part of Spain, including the Spanish capital where it left totally unpublished pictures. Like those that Juanma Jmse and Inma Flores showed us about the streets of Madrid completely covered and how its inhabitants came out to the streets, in many cases with their skis, to enjoy the snowfall.
That snowfall was the “picturesque” beginning of a year in which we all hoped to finally forget about the happy COVID-19, thanks to the fact that vaccination had already begun, but in which we still had to be very aware of the pandemic. That is why many of the images that won in the contests that were revealed throughout 2021 had some relationship with it. For example, the photo that you have seen on the cover, and with which Emilio Morenatti won the Pulitzer Prize for journalism 2021 in the category ‘Feature Photography‘, for his “moving series of photographs that takes viewers into the lives of the elderly in Spain struggling during the COVID-19 pandemic.“
Also the tender portrait that you see below and with which Mireia Vilaplana It was the winner of the national category in the 2021 Sony World Photography Awards that we showed you in February, as a preview of one of the main competitions on the international scene.
Of course there were also contests in which the coronavirus didn’t have much of a place, as in the underwater photo Underwater Photographer of the Year 2021 or the Travel Photographer of the Year (TPOTY), dedicated to travel photography and where a young Spaniard was awarded as “Young Travel Photographer of the Year 2020“.
On the other hand, the pandemic has only aggravated other problems that this world has; This is how the Royal Photographic Society’s Science Photographer of the Year contest reminded us, which left us shocking images (like the one below) that show us the importance of what is happening on the planet because of climate change.
Closely related to this at the 2020 World Nature Photography Awards the winning image was that of an endangered Bornean orangutan climbing a tree. Of course nature photography contests there were a few during 2021, of course the one that is surely the most important: the Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2021.
In this prestigious British contest we had two aspiring absolute winner of the year but, finally, the award went to the French Laurent Ballesta for an image of the frantic mating ceremony of some groupers in French Polynesia (although there were three Spaniards who were raised with some prize).
Continuing with the prizes dedicated to nature, we cannot forget the MontPhoto 2021, where the British Will Burrard-Lucas won for a “ghost” photo of a Kenyan leopard, nor the European Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2021 where the Spanish Ángel Fitor won. with a suggestive photo of jellyfish in the Mar Menor, a natural space that by the way made the news in 2021 after thousands of dead fish and crustaceans appeared floating on its waters.
Finally, in terms of nature photos, very recently we showed you the winning photos of the Nature Photographer of the Year 2021 contest, where the Norwegian Terje Kolaas won with a photograph that shows the migration of a flock of thousands of geese. This curious photo was the winner twice as it also won the Drone Photo Awards 2021 contest.
And speaking of photos taken with dronesIn March we showed you the winning photos of the SkyPixel 6th Aerial Photo & Video Contest. Of course, drones are in fashion mobiles are even more so. That is why this compilation could not miss talking about the winners of the Mobile Photo Awards, the oldest mobile photo contest, who come to silence the mouths of those who think that you cannot take good photos with a phone.
And also dedicated to mobiles, in July we showed you the winning images of the iPhone Photography Awards (IPPAWARDS), the other important contest dedicated to smartphones (although it is exclusive for iPhone users) and where a Hungarian photographer won with photos like this:
Other contests that they left us images to remember this 2021 could well be the Astronomy Photographer of the Year 13, the Ocean Photography Awards 2021, the The Epson International Pano Awards 2021 or the Close-up Photographer of the Year 2021. But if we talk about “photons” perhaps the one that most caught us the attention was the World Sports Photography Awards 2021, which left us images like this one of Rafa Nadal:
Speaking of the photos that marked last year, it would not be fair not to mention Luis Tato, a Spanish photojournalist based in Kenya whose image ‘Fighting Locust Invasion in East Africa‘made him an aspiring “photographer of the year” at the 2021 Sony World Photography Awards and also a finalist for the Wolrd Press Photo 2021. Finally, he did not win in either of the two competitions, but his photos remain:
And since we have mentioned these two contests, which would pass for being the most important of the yearLet’s see who the winners were. Starting with the 2021 Sony World Photography Awards, which as always were revealed little by little. In mid-March we learned that two Spaniards won each category of the Open competition and in mid-April the final winners were revealed.
As for the World Press Photo 2021, the 64th edition of the contest that usually chooses the most striking photographs of the year ended with the victory of Mads Nissen with a photo dedicated, of course, to the coronavirus pandemic.
This photo titled ‘The First Embrace‘(“The first hug”) is titled “The World Press Photo of the Year”And it could well have been our cover image for this article (as we have done in other years). But in the case of an image about the pandemic, we have preferred Morenatti’s that we have already spoken about.
We are already finishing but we do not want to do it without mentioning other contests that we are talking about this year, such as the fun Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards 2021 and Animal Friends Comedy Pet Photo Awards 2021, which show us the funniest face of animals.
We must also mention awards such as the International Wedding Photographer of The Year 2021, the Red Bull Illume 2021 or the Weather Photographer of the Year 2021 or the All About Photo Awards 2021 – The Mind’s Eye, where there were three Spanish winners.
Without forgetting, to finish, the Leica Oskar Barnack Awards 2021, the prestigious award of the German brand whose awards ceremony we had the opportunity to attend (and visit the facilities of Leica’s Leitz Park).
Surely, as 2022 begins, we will see more results of contests that will collect photos taken in the year 2021 and that would also have deserved to appear in this article. That is why we, as always, will continue to show you the most interesting photos of the moment. For now, happy new year to all and we hope May 2022 be the year in which we finally forget about the happy virus and it brings us new and very interesting images To remember.
Cover photo | Agustina Cañamero, 81, kisses and hugs her husband Pascual Pérez, 84, through plastic to avoid contagion of the coronavirus in a residence in Barcelona and after having been separated for 102 days. Spain, June 22, 2020 © AP Photo / Emilio Morenatti. 2021 Pulitzer Prize Winning Photo