Red Bull Illume Image Quest 2019 Winners
At the beginning of this month, 260 semi-finalists were selected out of nearly 60,000 entries for Red Bull Illume`s photography and videography contest. The 5 finalists for each category attended the Winner Award Ceremony hosted at the LUMEN - Museum of Mountain Photography on November 20th. The Overall Winner, 11 Category Winners, and Top 60 finalist images were revealed at the ceremony hosted by Italian sports journalist Zoran Filicic.
Ben Thouard was this year`s Overall Winner.
This year´s Overall Winner is Ben Thouard for his underwater image of surfer Ace Buchan riding a massive wave in Teahupo´o, Tahiti. Here is Thouard`s story behind his winning image: `I`ve dedicated the last few years to shooting underwater, looking for new angles and a new way to shoot surfing and waves. Shooting surfing from underwater is a whole new world and I love it! Tahiti has some of the clearest water in the world so it was easy for me to take advantage of it and explore it as much as I could. This photo was shot during a freesurf session right before the WCT event in Teahupo`o. This is Ace Buchan kicking out from the barrel through the wave, a technique to escape a close-out wave.´
He continues, `luckily I was right below, breathless with my [underwater housing] waiting for this moment and I was able to capture the whole sequence of it; this frame from the beginning of the sequence is the most powerful one because of the water around his face and body.` Thouard was a Red Bull Illume semi-finalist in 2013 and a finalist in 2016 before becoming the Overall Winner this year.
60 finalist images were on display outside the LUMEN.
Once all the winners and finalists were announced, attendees were able to view the 60 finalist photos illuminated with 2mx2m lightboxes outside the LUMEN. The winners for each category are:
Overall Winner 2019: Ben Thouard, French Polynesia
Category Winners 2 ...
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