Winner. “I took this picture of a woman in traditional clothing in Cartagena, Colombia”. PAUL GOLDSTEIN, JUDGE: “The blaze of colour from every angle, the boldness of the picture, taken from behind, which gives it so much more allure and frankly a superb get up. Did I mention the colours? Oh, and that looks suspiciously like a Nokia”. (Photo by Stanislav Shmelev/The Guardian)

Raka Soko, a traditional healer and Poro society member is deep in prayer while holding a broom and a bottle filled with spiritual wine that is purified to show gratitude to the gods before a ceremony in Waterloo on November 26, 2018. Standing across the field from him another member, Amos Nicol, holds a statue of the spiritual god Sama Yorbu which is used to communicate directly to other gods for permission to perform. (Photo by Lynn Rossi/AFP Photo)

A child dressed as Radha, the consort of Hindu god Krishna, participates in celebrations to mark Janmashtami festival in Kolkata, India, Friday, August 19, 2022. Janmashtami celebrates the birth of Hindu god Krishna. (Photo by Bikas Das/AP Photo)

My name is Jakub and I’m a painter, illustrator & concept artist who lives and work in Poland. My speciality is dark fantasy, character design, concept art and portrait. Since several years I work and paint digitally, but I never gave up traditional drawing and painting. For me the most important in my work, is create unique atmosphere and tell some kind of story through my creations.

Lovely is the correct work to describe this beautiful paintings series by David Renshaw from “Ted n’ Doris – A Northern Romance”. “Deep down I always knew what I wanted to do for a living and in my school years I remember my father teaching me some basic elements of drawing and I dreamed of one day becoming an artist. Being only really interested in art I left school and studied Graphic Design, after which I started work at a local art gallery as a picture framer. I continued to paint alongside my job, mainly developing techniques and ideas and in 2005 decided it was time to follow my dreams and dedicate myself to painting full time. I always try to make my work feel atmospheric, and I like to pay particular attention to sky and cloud formations as I consider this element of my work to be extremely important to the mood of the finished painting, whether it be a dramatic sunset or a misty moonlit night.”

“This is a shot I have envisioned in my head for a while, and only possible to shoot today with the invention of the GoPro. Shot at a beach break near my home. The board broke on this wave, but the vision made it worthwhile. Shot with the GoPro Hero 3+ and a Gripstick Pro Mount”. (Photo and caption by Mike Coots)

Ismail Mustafa, seen in 2007. “I was collecting mushrooms on the hill near here. I didn’t see the mine. There was a huge explosion. When I woke up I saw that both my legs were gone; I thought my life was over. My brother and another guy were with me. They made a stretcher from sticks and tied it together with clothing. It took two hours to get off the mountain. ‘My daughter has also been injured. She found a shell and brought it into the house and put it on the fire. She didn’t know what she was doing at the time – she was only three. She is blind and has lost an arm”. (Photo by Sean Sutton for the Mines Advisory Group/The Guardian)

“I bought my first dlsr camera in 2009 may. The first part of my life is gone but the other i dedicate to photography. If i try to imagine myself, i saw someone on the road, who walking straight to the light. This kind of light is the photography and the post-processing in my life. My pictures express the feelings, moods what i felt under my trip in the last few years”. – Ildiko Neer

Photo: “Path to the shine”, 2011. (Photo by Ildiko Neer)