Europe’s biggest photo-printing company, CEWE, recently announced the winners of this year’s CEWE Photo Award, also hosting an event at the prestigious Photographers Gallery in Central London.
Hasan Baglar, 51, from Cyprus won the grand prize for Danlock, an incredible photograph of two praying mantises in a coordinated pose. He used a Canon EOS 5D Mark IV and a 100mm macro lens, from a distance of about 40cm, to capture his award-winning image, which was taken in 2023 in Nicosia, Cyprus.
The beautifully executed photograph also won the competition’s ‘Close Up and Macro’ category, and Hasan’s prizes include a trip worth €10,000 ($11,655), plus €5,000 ($5,827) in equipment and €2,500 ($2,913) in CEWE photo products.
‘In summer, I usually take early morning photos of butterflies near alfalfa fields around my town,’ Hasan explained. ‘Suddenly, I spotted the praying mantises on a branch and moved closer to have a better look.
When I tried to touch them, they attacked by spreading their wings and began to follow me. I didn’t want to miss it, so I quickly started taking pictures.
I could hardly believe my eyes, as I’m not familiar with the behaviour of praying mantises and had never seen this pose before… I hope it inspires others to enjoy the beauty of wildlife photography.’
A rare triumph for England in the World Cup
Another noteworthy winner was British photographer Mike Taylor, the first ever Brit to win the keenly contested Street Photography category with ‘The Beautiful Game.’
His image of excited football fans watching the 2018 World Cup in a pub beat nearly 50,000 other entries, and was taken on a Leica Q with a flashgun (28mm focal length, 1/60 seconds exposure).
‘The picture reflects the different approach I’d taken to photography at the time, just using a single camera and lens,’ Mike told AP. ‘Before this photograph was taken, I’d been struggling for a while to find my voice, so I made some big changes – giving myself a few rules and limitations, and developing a process I could use out in the field.
‘The Beautiful Game’ was the first image I captured that truly came from those changes, so it’s an image that holds a special place in my heart. People weren’t at all self conscious about being photographed in a pub, and this has since become something of a speciality for me. I ask the pub if it’s ok first – most are fine about it!’
Mike wins a €5,000 photo equipment voucher and a €2,500 CEWE photo products voucher.
‘This year’s competition marked a record-breaking year, with the highest number of entries in our history, and the first-ever category win for a UK photographer,’ noted Petra Felgen, Managing Director of CEWE UK.
‘Our grand prize winner Hasan, alongside our nine category winners, should be incredibly proud of their work. In a highly contested year, they have created a body of stand-out images that truly represent the power, value and joy of photography.’
Other CEWE Photo Award category winners
