The international photo contest in the Italian city of Siena is one of the most prestigious of its kind, this year professional photographers and amateurs from 130 countries took part in it, and about 50 thousand photographs were submitted to the jury.
The photos show different aspects from the lives of people from different countries: India and China, Bangladesh and Turkey, Cuba and Bahrain. In the "travel" category, Leila Emektar took the first place for a magnificent shot of a strawberry picker going among the colorful Turkish greenhouses, and the best in the "open color" category was Danny Yen Xing Wong for a photograph of a Vietnamese woman doing a traditional fishing net. The works that took the first places could be seen at the festival of art photography devoted to travel, which was held in Siena.
We present you the best of the pictures selected by the jury of the contest, which represent the most diverse spheres of human life.
1. Creation of a fishing net, Vietnam (1st place in the "open color" category).
In a small village in the south of Vietnam, near the town of Fanrang-Thaptyam, a woman in a conical straw hat makes a fishing net in a traditional manner. Creating a network manually is still the usual pastime for Vietnamese women, whom they are engaged in while their husbands are fishing.
2. Smile (an honorable award in the category "people and portraits").
During Darma - the general gathering of monks - in the monastery of Labrang Lamaseri, because of heavy snowfall clothes were covered with a thick layer of snow. The photographer caught the moment when one of the young monks with a smile turned back.
3. Greenhouses for strawberries, Turkey (1 st place in the category of "travel").
The strawberry collector walks between rows of colorful greenhouses, which are located near the city of Nazilli in Aydin province.
4. Throwing the network (special award in the category of "open color").
5. The power of nature, Sicily (1 st place in the category "nature").
During the eruption of the volcano Etna in December 2015 tons of magma, ash and gas were ejected several kilometers up.
6. Mangroves, Cuba (honorary award in the category "nature").
Mangrove forests flooded during tides are an important ecosystem of the earth, and, as in any ecosystem, there are super-predators at the top of the food chain to regulate the life of the ocean. This picture is taken in the mangrove during the tide, where from an unusual perspective, the super-predator of this ecosystem is shot - an acute crocodile.
7. Floating market, Malaysia (3rd place in the "travel" category).
Water transport plays a decisive role in the daily life of the islanders.
8. Silhouettes and shadows, Vietnam (honorary award in the category of "open color").
This picture is taken on the sand dune of the resort Mui Ne in the south of Vietnam. Three girls go down the slope, dressed in traditional Vietnamese hats and light trouser suits. They go one behind the other and carry rockers with water, creating beautiful shadows on the sand.
9. Reflections, United Arab Emirates (2 nd place in the category "architecture").
Reflections in the water of two walking women have raised the architecture of Sheikh Zayed's mosque in Abu Dhabi, one of the largest in the world, to a new level.
10. Black Center, Bahrain (3rd place in the "open color" category).
A Muslim woman carries her little son in the arms during the funeral of Isa Radha, one of the Protestants killed during a martial law in the village of Sitra in South Manama in March 2011.
11. Way back, Iraq (honorary award in the category of "open color").
The most beautiful place in Iraq is the Al-Chibayish marshes in the south of the country, formed by numerous branches of the Euphrates River. Life here is sometimes too simple, and sometimes extremely difficult.
12. Narrator, China (an honorary award in the category of "travel").
In Sichuan province, tea houses still play an important role in everyday life. This picture shows the usual pastime in one of these houses.
13. Tibetan village (honorary award in the category "architecture").
This photo-artist saw this Tibetan village with the red houses of llamas and monks densely clinging to the mountain slope in the morning after a heavy snowfall, which lasted all night.
14. I am nothing (an honorable award in the category of "black and white photography").
The picture was taken in one of the temples in Pagan, the ancient capital of the eponymous kingdom, which was in the territory of modern Myanmar. The photographer caught a rare moment when the sunlight passes through a small window and shines right in the heart of the Buddha, while the monk wipes the statue.
15. Golden sunrise in Tuscany (special award in the category of "open color").
16. Waves of tea plantation, China (honorary award in the category of "travel").
The photograph shows the harvesting at a tea plantation in the village of Jinlu in the Chinese province of Zhejiang.
17. The pacification of art (an honorable award in the category of "architecture").
18. Indian family, Rajasthan (honorary award in the category of "travel").
A compositionally interesting snapshot of an ordinary Indian family from the city of Jodhpur.
19. Tree of Life (special award in the category of "open color").
20. Night illusions (special award in the category of "open color").
21. Big change (special award in the category of "black and white photography").
22. Children's games (special award in the category of "open color").
23. Kaaba, Mecca, Saudi Arabia (2nd place in the "open color" category).
A symbolic photograph, on which the black static Kaaba is the main shrine of Islam, is the center of the composition, and the circling crowd of pilgrims is intentionally blurred, thus the photographer noted the inviolability of eternal values and the frailty of being.
24. Kashmir (honorary award in the category of "people and portraits").
The sharp look and rough features of this nomad perfectly harmonize with the severe mountain peaks in the background surrounding the Kashmir valley.
25. Red haze in Piedmont (2nd place in the category "wine").
A look at the autumn vineyards in the hilly region of Lanier, the Italian province of Piedmont.
26. Typhoon (honorary award in the category of "open color").
Waves are like a volcanic eruption, covering fragile houses on the shore. The contrast between waves and houses shows strength and weakness, brightness and dullness, dynamics and statics, conveying the idea of human weakness in the face of nature.
27. Namaz on the road, Bangladesh (honorary award in the category of "travel").
The picture was taken during the Muslim prayer right in the middle of the busy highway on the first day of one of the main Islamic holidays.
28. Gondolier (3rd place in the category of "black and white photography").
The Malvasia Eccia bridge in Venice is one of the most photographed places in the world. The author caught the moment when the gondolier returns home with his dog after a long working day.
29. The morning of the Portuguese peasant (a special award in the category "people and portraits").
30. Equilibrists in the Dolomites (honorary award in the category of "travel").
In the photo - one of the participants of the international festival on highline (extreme sport, in which compete in walking on a nylon sling stretched between two peaks). The festival takes place in the Italian Dolomites on Mount Piana (2324 m) near the small town of Misrina. Monte Piana is popular among highlanders who use numerous supports, pulling lines between picturesque rocks, and then travel over the abyss.
31. Mosque on the side of the Taj Mahal (special award in the category "architecture").
32. Red Zone, China (honorary award in the category of "open color").
The photo was taken in Lijiang during a fascinating song and dance performance, demonstrating the traditions and way of life of the local ethnic group.
33. Harvesting (honorary award in the category of "open color").
In October, it's time to collect the red chili pepper: it is collected and dried in the sun. Dried chili peppers are easy to store and transport. This photo was taken from a bird's eye view during harvesting.
34. Happiness, fly! (honorary award in the category "sport").
The children's world is full of happiness, and this happiness has no boundaries, because the children are clean and serene. Our perishable, bustling life is the complete opposite of the world of children. That's why we sometimes so want to return to childhood. This picture will help you for a moment feel like children.
35. Morning fishing (honorary award in the category of "open color").
36. Echelon (special award in the category of "black and white photography").
37. Movement (special award in the category of "open color").
38. Childhood (honorary award in the category of "people and portraits").
Slum children play football in a dirty field in one of the districts of almost 10 million Dhaka - the capital of Bangladesh and the country's largest city. And although FIFA has put the national team of Bangladesh at 162nd place in the world, the country has a huge number of football fans supporting, including the national team.
39. Madness in the mud (honorary award in the category "people and portraits").
The mud park located on the island of Xushan in Zhoushan City is the first such theme park in China. In the picture - two visitors to the park, completely covered with mud, against the background of a completely dirty crowd. The author worked hard on chiaroscuro to convey almost childish delight and unrestrained fun.
40. Cockfighting, Indonesia (2 nd in the category "black and white photography").
In the photo from Jakarta, two men are imprinted, proudly watching the battle of their fighting cocks. Cockfighting is a traditional entertainment in some Indonesian cultures.
41. Three sisters in the desert (honorary award in the category of "open color").
At dawn, when the sun barely touches the sand of the Namama Desert, three Mongolian girls go for water. Their figures with buckets cast long, thin shadows.
42. Happiness (an honorable award in the category of "people and portraits").
Happy children with a laugh run after the bicycle tires. They play near a medical counseling center filled with their sick relatives. Sometimes the line between suffering and happiness is so elusive that it becomes scary.