The Best Extreme Sports Photographers Duke It Out
If you’re an extreme sports photographer there’s one big competition you should aspire to dominate, and that’s the Red Bull Illume, the world’s largest imagery contest that celebrates adventure and action sports. The competition has run for 17 years now and welcomes everything from skaters to spelunkers.
An international body of judges take the images and judge them within ten categories. They don’t have the names or individual stories that made each image happen. They judge it purely on its artistry. The winners this year feature ice climbers, kayakers, surfers, bikers, skaters and other athletes in some of the world’s wildest environments. The grand prize this year went to Australian photographer Krystle Wright who convinced the Red Bull Illume Judging Panel consisting of more than 50 renowned judges with her shot of climber Angela VanWiemeersch illuminated in a crack, deep within Long Canyon, Utah, United States.
Her response is indicative of how under-celebrated this particular craft has been. “This is incredible. I wanted to earn my place in this industry and my work to get recognized. Red Bull Illume is the only platform that truly recognizes what we do.”
Lorenz Holder, a two-time overall winner of Red Bull Illume, won the Masterpiece by Sölden category after teaming up with the BMX rider Senad Grosic in a brightly colored post-modern apartment complex. Emerging with Canon, the category for 2 / 3 young talents, was won by Gonzalo Robert Parraguez for his shot of kayaker Kilian Ivelic Astorga. The renowned surf photographer Ted Grambeau won Energy for his shot of Jimmy McKean at the base of a giant Southern Ocean swell.
Every photographer who entered is a winner in my book. Cause they’re all photographing what they love.
For those that want to support the competition further there is the limited edition Red Bull Illume 2023 Photobook. It showcases the top 250 images alongside the stories and biographies of the top 50 finalists. That includes Ydwer van der Heide, and incredible photographer who was made quadriplegic after a nasty foil surf session accident. Being paralysed from the chest down and being wheelchair dependent hasn’t stopped his drive to find and capture amazing shots.
The book is a super limited run of just 2,500 items individually numbered and stamped, so don’t be surprised if they’re already all gone.
Available at store.cooph.com
