Suri Tribe by Sarah Wouters

10 Fascinating Student and Amateur Photos from the Moscow International Foto Awards in 2020

September 30, 2020
Every year, we receive thousands of entries from brave non-professional photographers, showing a unique vision in photography. Looking back on 2020, we were impressed by the quality of works we received: here are 10 fascinating student and amateur photos from Moscow International Foto Awards.

A Surreal Dream by F. Dilek Uyar – Second Place in Advertising

This mesmerising shot was taken at Lake Tuz in Ankara. The lake takes on a pink color in some seasons for very short periods . What gives the Lake Tuz its pink color is a kind of seaweed called “dunaliella salina”, one thousandth the size of a pinnacle. For the photographer, Lake Tuz was like a surreal dream with its pink color.

A Surreal Dream by F. Dilek Uyar
A Surreal Dream by F. Dilek Uyar
Light In The Dark City by Maik Koerhuis
Light In The Dark City by Maik Koerhuis

Light In The Dark City by Maik Koerhuis – First Place in Architecture

In this series, the photographer’s aim was to highlight forms of special buildings in big cities of Europe. By studying miscellaneous techniques around photography and picture editing in the last few years he has to a greater extent specialized in minimalistic images in black and white.

The Most Beautiful Bookstore In China by Chin-Fa Tzeng – Silver in Architecture

This bookstore was chosen as the most beautiful bookstore in China. The design of the bookstore’s space is based on Sichuan local elements such as bamboo forests, pandas and terraces, with red brick, wood, and mirror glass and other materials and poetry calligraphy floating on glass. It brings people a warm and pristine culture and ample feelings and carries the cultural flavor and geographical characteristics of the city of poetry.

The Most Beautiful Bookstore In China by Chin-Fa Tzeng
The Most Beautiful Bookstore In China by Chin-Fa Tzeng
Maze of Metamorphosis by Silvia Alessi
Maze of Metamorphosis by Silvia Alessi

Maze of Metamorphosis by Silvia Alessi – Gold in Book

The photographer’s main goal was to describe social issues in Japan through photography. This has proved difficult, more than anywhere else, due to seriousness and privacy typical of Japanese people, and to the high standards that permeate every aspect of life.

Hair Net Creative Makeup by Chin-Fa Tzeng – Gold in Editorial

Normally, hair net is generally used to fix real hair when wearing a wig. However, there can be other creative methods of wearing it, which can modify the face and make it longer and firmer. This way, there is no interference from hair, the makeup on the face is cooler, more luxurious, and more three-dimensional.

Hair Net Creative Makeup by Chin-Fa Tzeng
Hair Net Creative Makeup by Chin-Fa Tzeng
Rural Basement Grind by Jake Whalen
Rural Basement Grind by Jake Whalen

Rural Basement Grind by Jake Whalen – Bronze in Event

In the dark and cold, the basement show is in a house that sits just off the top of a hill. A quiet calm landscape encapsulating the grinding fuzzed out, freak out noises of the Grindcore band Corrupt Bargain playing to a sizable circling brew of unhinged limbs and bodies mashing wildly.

Ode to Classics by Rodislav Driben – Second Place in Fine Art

According to the artist, the noble and beautiful Fine Art Nudes Genre is like classical music: it will always remain a great source of admiration and inspiration. The paintings are generous gifts from the painters and deriving from them photographs is a humbling affair.

Ode to Classics by Rodislav Driben
Ode to Classics by Rodislav Driben
Artisan Spring by Anne Neiwand
Artisan Spring by Anne Neiwand

Artisan Spring by Anne Neiwand – Silver in Nature

Lake Eyre in the Australian Outback experiences one flood each 10 years. After the rare and extraordinary occurrence, this artisan spring has been left behind in the salt flats and makes a unique image.

Suri Tribe by Sarah Wouters – Silver in People

The Suri tribe of Ethiopia are living in southwestern Ethiopia, near the border of South Sudan, and successfully surviving through a combination of livestock hearding (cattle, goats and sheep), some hunting and gathering, rain-fed cultivation of a variety of field crops like millet, corn, and sorghum, and the garden cultivation of legumes, spice plants, peas and beans. The Suri women pride themselves on their scars and lip plate and some paint themselves with mineral colour on their body and face.

Suri Tribe by Sarah Wouters
Suri Tribe by Sarah Wouters
Watercolor by Tatiana Polyakova
Watercolor by Tatiana Polyakova

Watercolor by Tatiana Polyakova – Silver in Nature

The photographer fell head over heels for this cat. To her it is a sad thing ú that many people consider this breed ugly. Because of this, she tried to catch and show this tender and touching beauty, to help the audience open the admired eyes onto the beauty I see with my heart.

Inspire yourself with nature! See our top ten nature photographers at MIFA. Click here.