Production Paradise announces the winners of the Spotlight Awards 2024
alma RED - The winning image of the Advertising category and Grand Prize Winner(Image credit: Lucila Blumencweig)
Each year the Spotlight Awards by Production Paradise showcase the very best of commercial photography celebrating the very latest creative innovations. The 2024 award winners have now been announced with exceptional imagery and the power of AI on display.
Now in its seventh year, the Spotlight Awards observes the best advertising photography of today with over 60 judges from some of the most prestigious brands and publications in the world, choosing their favorite images and potential clients. With thousands of entries the 14 category winners have been chosen and one overall grand prize winner.
The winning image of the Cars category (Image credit: Anke Luckmann)
Taking the top spot and the title of the Spotlight Awards Photographer of the Year 2024 is Lucila Blumencweig from Argentina, earning a combination of prizes and valuable industry exposure.
Her work titled 'alma RED'provided a powerful message in addition to great imagery. Speaking about the work Blumencweig says, "This campaign was shot in natural light, doing a precise scouting and time frame of the sun hitting the spots just like we needed to portray and emphasize the struggle through Alzheimer's".
The winning image of the People & Lifestyle category (Image credit: James Pearson-Howes)
The other category winners can be found below:
Advertising & the Grand Prize: Lucila Blumencweig, Argentina
AI, Image Developing & creating: Sy Goldstein, Canada
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Architecture & Interiors: Ema Peter, Canada
Beauty: Christine Lutz, Germany
Cars: Anke Luckmann, Germany
Corporate & Industrial: Camilla Rutherford, New Zealand
Fashion: Dirk Bader, Germany
Food & Drink: Ben Cole, Australia
Kids: Matt Anderson, United States
People & Lifestyle: James Pearson-Howes, United Kingdom
Portrait & Celebrity: Sacha Stejko, New Zealand
Sport: Matthew McQuillan, United Kingdom
Still Life: Sabine Scheer, Germany
Travel, Documentary & Landscape: Per Schorn, Germany
The winning image of the AI Image Developing & Creating category (Image credit: Sy Goldstein)
While many competitions are trying their best to avoid the involvement of AI, the Spotlight Awards have embraced it, recognizing it as an undeniable option for modern creatives.
It is the second year that the category has been included and was won by Canadian photographer Sy Goldstein for his image Morning Commute, part of a series about finding a seat during a busy subway commute.
Mariela von Estorff, CEO of Production Paradise says, "Our Spotlight Awards have given an opportunity to talented photographers to be directly visible to more than 50 of some of the most influential creative decision-makers around the globe. That is exactly what Production Paradise is all about – great imagery in front of great creatives".
The Spotlight Awards are one of my favorite annual competitions as it provides an insight into the commercial photography zeitgeist. The winning images have been picked by some of the world's leading brands and publications, and the winners represent what they are looking for; a valuable insight for a photographer striving to make a living through this type of work.
The full list of winners and runners-up, along with the images, can be found on the Production Paradise Spotlight Awards website – I highly recommend checking them out for that hit of inspiration!
The winning image of the Beauty category (Image credit: Christine Lutz)
Kalum Carter is a photographer, photo editor and writer based in the UK, and for almost a decade he has worked with brands and publications to create, edit, and sequence imagery. Having recently graduated with a Master's Degree in Photography from the University of the West of England (UWE), Kalum joined Digital Camera World as a Staff Writer, covering news, reviews, and his biggest passion – photography books!
Kalum's photography has been published and exhibited around the world, and he continues to photograph on a project-by-project basis. He is currently working on a personal project capturing the people and landscape of Gower, South Wales. Currently untitled, this body of work will be exhibited for the National Trust later this year.
