“I was born in 1977 in Warsaw, Poland. I had graduated from the High School of Art in Warsaw. My journey into the world of photography began in the early 90's, but at that time my biggest passion was painting. Painting helped me develop vision that was hard to create. Unfortunately I had to leave the paintbrush and canvas. A few years ago, I opened “the door” to my own world with help of a different key”... – Michal Karcz. Photo: “Last Outpost”. (Photo by Michal Karcz)

“My children are not only my little darlings but off-shoots of myself. When I look at them, I have a strange feeling – as if I am watching myself re-living my life. What I want to show is their “living form”. – Hideaki Hamada. Photo: “Rainy days and mondays #1”. (Photo and caption by Hideaki Hamada)

My name is Chris Kapono and I am a self-taught artist living in Missouri. I have been drawing and painting ever since I can remember and art has been a big part of my life. My love of animals and nature is reflected in my art and sometimes interesting things I find on walks in the woods will find their way into some of my pieces!

“Start your day with a good breakfast together”, 2009. “There was this trend of eating sushi from a woman’s naked body. So when I found the perfect papaya, I knew exactly how to shoot it”. (Photo by Pixy Liao/The Guardian)

“7584 Fish”. On a windy day right after a Cyclone passed the far northern Great Barrier Reef i took some friends out to the reef. Never before i saw that many glass fish on this particular coral “bommie”. Just when i setup my camera, this Napoleon Wrasse swam right through the school of fish building a living frame. Photo location: Cairns, Great Barrier Reef, Flynn Reef, Australia. (Photo and caption by Christian Miller/National Geographic Photo Contest)

Professional conceptual category winner. Greetings from Mars, by Julien Mauve, France. Mauve says: “I have always wondered what it would be like to discover a totally different world ... and to photograph it for the first time as if I was Ansel Adams. So I came up with this project, which is about space exploration and discovery. But it’s also about our behavior in front of landscapes and how we create pictures that will share our personal story with the world”. (Photo by Julien Mauve)