Winners Announced for 14th Annual iPhone Photography Awards

The winners of the 14th annual iPhone Photography Awards were announced today following submissions from thousands of photographers from all over the world.

iphone photography awards 2021 1

"Transylvanian Shepherds" photo shot by Istvan Kerekes

The recipient of the "Photographer of the Year Award" went to photojournalist Istvan Kerekes from Hungary for his photo "Transylvanian Shepherds." In the photo, shot on an iPhone 7, two rugged shepherds are traversing a snowy industrial area in the Romanian city of Târgu Mureș, each while carrying a lamb.

Other top winners included Sharan Shetty from India for his photo "Bonding," where a man and his horse commune in an empty landscape, and Dan Liu from China for his "A Walk on Mars" photo of an astronaut traversing a desolate Martian-esque landscape. "Bonding" was shot with an iPhone X and "A Walk on Mars" was shot with an iPhone 11 Pro Max.

iphone photography awards 2021 2iphone photography awards 2021 3

"Bonding" (top) and "A Walk on Mars" (bottom) shot by Sharan Shetty and Dan Liu respectively

Top-three winners in an additional 17 categories were awarded to photographers from almost every corner of the world, including Australia, Austria, Bangladesh, China, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Israel, the Netherlands, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

We've highlighted a few of the winning photos here and the full gallery can be viewed on the iPhone Photography Awards website.

Popular Stories

2024 iPhone Boxes Feature

Apple Changes Trade-In Values for iPhones, iPads, Macs, and More

Thursday January 16, 2025 6:45 am PST by
Apple today adjusted estimated trade-in values for select iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple Watch models in the U.S., according to its website. Some values increased, while others decreased. The changes were not too significant, with most values rising or dropping by $5 to $50. We have outlined some examples below: Device New Value Old Value iPhone 15 Pro Max Up to $630 U ...
Generic iOS 19 Feature Mock Light

iOS 19 Leak Reveals All-New Design

Friday January 17, 2025 2:42 pm PST by
iOS 19 is still around six months away from being announced, but a new leak has allegedly revealed a completely redesigned Camera app. Based on footage it obtained, YouTube channel Front Page Tech shared a video showing what the new Camera app will apparently look like, with the key change being translucent menus for camera controls. Overall, the design of these menus looks similar to...
Generic iOS 18

Everything New in iOS 18.3 Beta 3

Thursday January 16, 2025 12:39 pm PST by
Apple provided the third beta of iOS 18.3 to developers today, and while the betas have so far been light on new features, the third beta makes some major changes to Notification Summaries and also tweaks a few other features. Notification Summary Changes Apple made multiple changes to Notification Summaries in response to complaints about inaccurate summaries of news headlines. For...
2024 App Store Awards

Apple Explains Why It Removed TikTok From the App Store in the U.S.

Sunday January 19, 2025 6:58 am PST by
Apple on late Saturday removed TikTok from the App Store in the U.S., and it has now explained why it was required to take this action. Last year, the U.S. passed a law that required Chinese company ByteDance to divest its ownership of TikTok due to potential national security risks, or else the platform would be banned. That law went into effect today, and companies like Apple and Google...
iPhone 17 Slim Feature Single Camera 1 Redux

'iPhone 17 Air' Launching Later This Year With These 10 New Features

Wednesday January 15, 2025 7:16 am PST by
While the so-called "iPhone 17 Air" is not expected to launch until September, there are already plenty of rumors about the "ultra-thin" device. Overall, the "iPhone 17 Air" is shaping up to be a mixed bag. Due to its thinness, the device is expected to have some limited specifications compared to the iPhone 17 Pro models, including only a single rear camera, only a single speaker, no SIM...
iPad Pro vs iPhone 17 Air Feature

Here's How Thin the iPhone 17 Air Might Be

Friday January 17, 2025 3:38 pm PST by
For the last several months, we've been hearing rumors about a redesigned version of the iPhone 17 that Apple might call the iPhone 17 "Air," or something along those lines. It's going to replace the iPhone 17 Plus as Apple's fourth iPhone option, and it will be offered alongside the iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro, and iPhone 17 Pro Max. We know the iPhone 17 Air is going to be super slim, but...
HomePod mini and Apple TV

Apple Expected to Launch 20+ Products This Year: Here's the Full List

Friday January 17, 2025 5:30 am PST by
2025 promises to be quite a big year for Apple, with the company rumored to be planning more than 20 product announcements this year. Apple's rumored smart home hub will be its second all-new product to launch in as many years, following the Apple Vision Pro headset last year. And of course, we will get several new iPhone and Apple Watch models, like every year. Beyond that, Apple could...
iPhone 17 Pro Dual Tone Horizontal Single Feature

iPhone 17 Rumored to Feature Major Thermal Design Upgrade

Friday January 17, 2025 4:33 am PST by
The iPhone 17 lineup will feature a vapor chamber heatsink to improve thermal performance, according to a new report. The news comes from Chinese tech news site MyDrivers, which claims that the entire iPhone 17 lineup, consisting of the iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Air, iPhone 17 Pro, and iPhone 17 Pro Max, will adopt the improved thermal heat spreader. Vapor chamber technology is already used...

Top Rated Comments

maxolson Avatar
46 months ago
Proving yet again that your years old phone is more than capable of producing evocative images. We're inundated with media telling us we need the latest and greatest: sharper lenses, higher megapixel count etc. When it all just comes down to composition, light, subject and editing– just like it always has. What a great collection of images.
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
JWiLL1988 Avatar
46 months ago

To be honest, those are three boring photos. I’m at a loss to understand how they won anything. Maybe the people who voted for them have no clue about photography are what makes a good award winning photograph. They are all boring and dull.
You could’ve been explained your photography ignorance in less words.
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
citysnaps Avatar
46 months ago

Proving yet again that your years old phone is more than capable of producing evocative images. We're inundated with media telling us we need the latest and greatest: sharper lenses, higher megapixel count etc. When it all just comes down to composition, light, subject and editing– just like it always has. What a great collection of images.
Amen to that! I have images from an iPhone 5s and 6+ that still stand up.

Images that are powerful and release evocative narratives have little to do with the camera/device that recorded them. The first two photos up above are outstanding examples of that.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
maxolson Avatar
46 months ago
With such hard-hitting criticism as 'they are boring and dull', I doubt you'd make much of a judge.


To be honest, those are three boring photos. I’m at a loss to understand how they won anything. Maybe the people who voted for them have no clue about photography are what makes a good award winning photograph. They are all boring and dull.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Spacetime Anomaly Avatar
46 months ago
Transylvanian Shepherds are my favourite death metal band.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
tedwill Avatar
46 months ago
As much as I try to capture great images on my Leica, I get more "keepers" from the camera that's with me and that tends to be my iPhone. These are all great photos by the way. But yes, iPhones are limited by the tiny sensors compared to full frame and medium format cameras, but it's hard to fit a Hasselblad in my back pocket! ?
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)