The Societies of Photographers have announced the overall winners of their Monthly Image Competition with James Musselwhite FSWPP awarded the coveted Photographer of the Year 2021 title.

In total the 2021 Monthly Image Competition had 6,636 images submitted in 29 categories, the inspirational imagery represents a broad selection of photographic subjects from our talented membership.

Each of the categories from the Monthly Image Competition had nominees which were chosen from the Gold Award winning images from throughout 2021.

The judges’ comments

Musselwhite’s overall winning image also won the In-camera Artistry category of the annual awards.

The judges of the competition described it as, ‘An incredible and haunting, RAW capture.’

The judges were said to be ‘in total awe’ of this image during the judging process and said, ‘If that’s straight out of camera, then that’s phenomenal.’

The overall winning image in the Societies of Photographers competition as shot by James Musselwhite

The overall winning image in the Societies of Photographers competition as shot by James Musselwhite

The competition is a truly international success with entrants from around the world entering monthly.

James Musselwhite commented, ‘Thank you if you ever liked, shared, collaborated, paid money for, or ever said something nice about our work. I bloody love being a photographer.’

Phil Jones (left), The Societies of Photographers’ Director, presents James Musselwhite FSWPP (left) with the Photographer of the Year 2021 Award

Phil Jones (left), The Societies of Photographers’ Director, presents James Musselwhite FSWPP (left) with the Photographer of the Year 2021 Award

Second place in the overall Photographer of the Year 2021 competition was awarded to Pedro Luis Ajuriaguerra from Vizcaya, Spain, for his macro shot that also won the Macro and Close Up category.

The Macro and Close Up category was described as ‘very, very competitive category.’

The judges described this image as, ‘”very, flippin’ good” and they would put it on their wall. It has tonnes of impact and that extra wow factor that’s needed when up against a very high standard of work. Just phenomenal.’

Pedro Luis Ajuriaguerra came second in the overall Photographer of the Year and also won the Macro and Close Up category with this stunning image

Pedro Luis Ajuriaguerra came second in the overall The Societies of Photographers’ Photographer of the Year 2021 awards and also won the Macro and Close Up category with this stunning image

Third place went to Terry Donnelly from Lancashire, England, for his image of New York that also won the Travel category.

The judges said of his award, ‘An unusual perspective that is incredibly captivating. The way it pulls your eye from the foreground into the image to the New York skyline… it makes you want to go there and see it in person.’

Terry Donnelly came third in the The Societies of Photographers' Photographer of the Year 2021 awards

Terry Donnelly came third in the The Societies of Photographers’ Photographer of the Year 2021 awards

The Societies of Photographers commented, ‘2021 was an interesting year for us all, but here at The Societies of Photographers’ we continued to work tirelessly behind the scenes to support our members through another difficult year. We would like to thank everyone that supported us, it is really appreciated.’

Find out more…

To see more winning images from dozens of categories and discover full details on The Societies’ Photographer of the Year Awards, please check out the website The Societies Photographer of the Year 2021.


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