Pink Lady® Food Photographer of the Year

Gulf photographers triumph in Pink Lady® Food Photographer of the Year

The best food photography of 2022 has been served up by Pink Lady® Food Photographer of the Year, the world’s leading celebration of the art of food photography and film.

Five photographers based in the United Arab Emirates were honoured in the competition. Ameyaa Akhil Vinayak was awarded Second place in the Young (10 and under) category for her image of fish in ice. Manju Jisto was Highly Commended in The Claire Aho Award for Women Photographers category with ‘Banana Blossom’, a beautiful shot of banana blossom gathered in Kerala, India.

‘Banana Blossom’ also won Pink Lady® Food Photographer of the Year (The Gulf), an exciting new award introduced this year to celebrate the most outstanding images in the competition by photographers based in The Gulf.

Second place in the new award was given to Shyjith Onden Cheriyath, UAE, for ‘Goat Attack’, an amusing image of a date farmer in Fujairah near Wadi Shees. Shyjith was also Highly Commended for ‘Bananas For Sale’. Third place was awarded to Thushara Kambil for his experimental shot, ‘New Life’.

Christopher de Castro Comeso, UAE, was Highly Commended for ‘Feast For Faith’, which captures preparations for Eid Al Adha. Jure Ursic, UAE, was Highly Commended for ‘Singing with the food’, an image of a waiter singing during the service of chicken souvlaki. ‘Soup and Croutons’ taken by Aws Bourahmah, Kuwait, was also Highly Commended.

The overall prize of Pink Lady® Food Photographer of the Year 2022 was won by an intimate image full of warmth and humanity, Kebabiyana, taken by Indian photographer Debdatta Chakraborty. All the winners were announced by globally acclaimed chef and co-presenter of UK Masterchef: The Professionals, Monica Galetti, in an exciting Awards ceremony that was live streamed on the competition’s YouTube channel on Tuesday 26 April 2022. It was watched by an audience across the globe, including celebrities from the food and photography world.

"As Pink Lady® Food Photographer of the Year enters its second decade, never has the importance of photography and food been so great," says Phil Turnbull, CEO of APAL, owner of Pink Lady®, and headline sponsor of the Awards since 2011. "Huge global events - war, famine, the end of lockdowns, the revival of the hospitality industry, the chance to celebrate with friends and family again - all these are recorded in the Awards, which show so vividly how food touches every aspect of our lives. The competition continues to be a truly global celebration of the art of food photography.”

This year’s global judging panel, tasked with assessing the thousands of entries submitted from over 60 countries across the world, was chaired by legendary food photographer, David Loftus, and included H.E. Ali Bin Thalith, Secretary General, HIPA, Fiona Shields, Head of Photography, Guardian News & Media, NA Risong, Art director and curator of Inter Art Center Gallery, Beijing, Nik Sharma, Cookbook author, Photographer, Columnist, Tasneem Alsultan, Investigative and National Geographic Photographer, George Mathew, Photographer & Founder, Grey Image and Rein Skullerud, Head of Photo Unit, World Food Programme.

The exhibition of the 2022 Finalists will be premiering at The Royal Photographic Society, one of the world’s oldest photographic societies, in Bristol, United Kingdom. The exhibition will run from 20 November - 12 December 2022. Entry is free.

To view the online gallery of all the 2022 finalists, please visit www.pinkladyfoodphotographeroftheyear.com

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