The Tokyo International Foto Awards 2020 Announces The Best Photos From Around The World (30 Pics)

What Are the Tokyo International Foto Awards?

TIFA is an international photography competition that recognizes winners across professional and non-professional/student divisions.
The 2020 competition spans a wide mix of categoriesthink advertising, architecture, editorial, events, fine art, nature, people,
portfolio/series, and scienceso it’s less “one vibe” and more “the whole planet, in many moods.”

Translation: the winners aren’t all dramatic landscapes or studio portraits. Some are quiet. Some are loud. Some are deeply human.
Some are the kind of image that makes you zoom in until your browser begs for mercy.

The Two Big Headliners of TIFA 2020

Photographer of the Year: Sebastian Copeland Antarctica: The Waking Giant

The top honor went to a photography book centered on Antarcticaan epic subject that can easily become “pretty ice”
if the photographer doesn’t bring intention. The point isn’t just beauty; it’s meaning. The kind that lingers.

Discovery of the Year: Diana Cheren Nygren When The Trees Are Gone

Discovery awards are where you often find work that feels freshless “I nailed the assignment” and more “I’m building a world.”
This series explores the tension between people and nature in the modern city, turning the everyday into a visual question mark.

One detail that stood out in 2020: the awards emphasized community support during the COVID-19 era, tying recognition to real-world impact.
It’s a reminder that photography isn’t only about winning; it’s also about what your work does once it leaves your camera.

30 Pics: Standout TIFA 2020 Winners and Highlights (With a Viewer’s Cheat Sheet)

You can view the full winners gallery on the official TIFA site. Below are 30 standout titles from the 2020 resultsplus a quick note on
what to look for as you browse (composition, story, tension, craft, and that hard-to-define “impact” judges love).

1. Pic #1: Antarctica: The Waking Giant Sebastian Copeland (Photographer of the Year)

   Look for scale, restraint, and visual storytelling that feels bigger than a single frame.

2. Pic #2: When The Trees Are Gone Diana Cheren Nygren (Discovery of the Year)

   Notice how a series can build an idearepetition, contrast, and a consistent visual “voice.”

3. Pic #3: Fresh Meat Sh Sadler (Professional, Advertising Winner)

   Advertising winners usually nail concept clarity: one glance, one message, no confusion.

4. Pic #4: Requiem Pour Pianos Romain Thiery (Professional, Architecture Winner)

   Architecture isn’t just buildingsit’s geometry, rhythm, and how light reveals structure.

5. Pic #5: Antarctica: The Waking Giant Sebastian Copeland (Professional, Book Winner)

   Photobooks win when sequencing is intentional: each image makes the next one stronger.

6. Pic #6: Women Protesting Over Abortion Ban in Poland Bartosz Mateńko (Professional, Editorial Winner)

   Editorial winners balance urgency and clarityemotion, context, and a readable moment.

7. Pic #7: Beneath The Surface of Competitive Freediving Kohei Ueno (Professional, Events Winner)

   Event photography shines when timing is everything: peak action, clean framing, real stakes.

8. Pic #8: Fishermen of The Mangroves Les Sharp (Professional, Fine Art Winner)

   Fine art winners often feel like poems: mood first, explanation second, lingering always.

9. Pic #9: A Sheep Claudia Guido (Professional, Nature Winner)

   Nature awards reward patience: gesture, light, and a composition that doesn’t fight itself.

10. Pic #10: A Painful Necessity Gabriele Micalizzi (Professional, People Winner)

    Portrait/people winners tend to deliver truthexpression, environment, and emotional honesty.

11. Pic #11: Butterflies in the Stomach Carlos Gamez de Fransisco (Professional, Portfolio Winner)

    Portfolios win by coherence: one theme, many angles, no filler, strong visual pacing.

12. Pic #12: Viveria Ela Kurowska (Professional, Science Winner)

    Science winners make the complex readable: detail, clarity, and a “how is this real?” factor.

13. Pic #13: New Faces and … In The Class, Automotive Class Marcin Majkowski (Student/Non-Pro, Advertising Winner)

    Student advertising winners often stand out by being bold without being messy.

14. Pic #14: Snake’S Zaha Roberto Corinaldesi (Student/Non-Pro, Architecture Winner)

    Watch for leading lines, symmetry, and framing choices that feel deliberatenot accidental.

15. Pic #15: The Consolation of Dew Joel Pulliam (Student/Non-Pro, Book Winner)

    Photobooks at this level often feel like a quiet conversation you don’t want to interrupt.

16. Pic #16: Hong Kong Conflict Wei Fu (Student/Non-Pro, Editorial Winner)

    Great editorial work captures tension while keeping the story legible in one frame.

17. Pic #17: Timoncap 2019 Sergio Ferreira Ruiz (Student/Non-Pro, Events Winner)

    Events winners make you feel presentlike you can hear the room just by looking.

18. Pic #18: Urban Tetris Mariyan Atanasov (Student/Non-Pro, Fine Art Winner)

    Look for visual patterninghow repetition and space create a “designed” feeling.

19. Pic #19: Ribbon Dance Richard Li (Student/Non-Pro, Nature Winner)

    Nature winners often turn motion into designgesture as composition, not chaos.

20. Pic #20: Promised Land Michal Konrad (Student/Non-Pro, People Winner)

    Strong people photography reads fast: face, posture, contextthen meaning.

21. Pic #21: When The Trees Are Gone Diana Cheren Nygren (Student/Non-Pro, Portfolio Winner)

    Series work wins by editing: only the strongest frames survive. Sentiment doesn’t.

22. Pic #22: Pathology Atlas Oltea Sampetrean (Student/Non-Pro, Science Winner)

    Science images score when they’re preciseand still visually compelling to non-experts.

23. Pic #23: Drive-In Concert Morten Rygaard (Events, Silver)

    Silver-level event work often nails timing and atmospherestory plus clean execution.

24. Pic #24: Cinema Portraits Matteo Chinellato (Events, 2nd Place)

    Notice how the best event portraits feel candid even when they look perfectly composed.

25. Pic #25: Soulfire Michael Simon (Fine Art, Gold)

    Gold fine art work usually commits hard to moodlighting, tone, and intentional ambiguity.

26. Pic #26: Ausentes Rodrigo Chapa (Fine Art, 2nd Place)

    Second-place fine art frequently wins with concept strength: one idea, beautifully carried.

27. Pic #27: Tied With A “Ribbon”.. Veronika K Ko (Architecture, Gold)

    Architecture golds love clean lines, depth, and a camera position that feels “earned.”

28. Pic #28: Derailed G.B. Smith (Architecture, Silver)

    Great architecture images make space feel dramaticwithout turning into visual clutter.

29. Pic #29: The Starlit Grand Tetons Bryony Richards (Nature, Gold)

    Nature golds often combine planning and patience: light, timing, and crisp composition.

30. Pic #30: Tree In Winter Hilda Champion (Nature, Gold)

    Minimal nature work can hit hardestsimple subject, strong placement, clean atmosphere.

How to Read Award-Winning Photography (Without Pretending You’re a Museum Wall Text)

1) Start with impact, not specs

Contest judging is famously subjective, but top images almost always create a reaction: curiosity, tension, empathy, wonder, discomfort,
laughter, awe. If you feel nothing, judges often feel nothing toono matter how sharp the pixels are.

2) Check the structure: where does your eye go first?

Composition is basically visual traffic control. A classic tool is the rule of thirds, but the bigger idea is this:
the frame should guide attention on purpose. Leading lines, negative space, and framing are the invisible hands.

3) Ask what the photo is saying

Especially in editorial, people, and portfolio categories, the strongest work has a point of view.
That can be social, personal, poetic, or documentarybut it should feel intentional, not accidental.

4) For series/portfolios: edit like you’re ruthless (because judges are busy)

A portfolio is a promise: “Stick with me and I’ll take you somewhere.” Repeats, near-duplicates, and “I just like this one” photos
can break the spell. Sequencing mattersstrong opening, strong ending, and no weak middle.

Experience (Extra ): How TIFA 2020 Feels When You Really Spend Time With It

Here’s a surprisingly effective way to experience the Tokyo International Foto Awards 2020 winners: treat the gallery like a virtual exhibition,
not like a doom-scroll buffet. Yes, you can absolutely blast through 30 images in two minutes. But the fun is in slowing down just enough to let
the photos do what they’re built to dopull you into their world.

Start with a “first pass” where you don’t analyze anything. Your only job is to notice what stops you. Which images make you pause?
Which ones make you lean closer to the screen (or, let’s be honest, zoom with two fingers like you’re trying to unlock a secret level)?
That pause is the whole game. It’s impactoften the first thing judges respond to, too.

Then do a “second pass” on your favorites and look for the mechanics. If it’s architecture, ask yourself why the lines feel satisfying:
is it symmetry, repetition, a strong vanishing point, or a bold angle? If it’s nature, look for patiencelight that clearly waited for the right
moment, or a composition that feels calm instead of crowded. If it’s people or editorial, pay attention to the emotional center:
expression, gesture, or the relationship between the subject and their environment.

Now the best part: the “third pass,” where you pretend you’re building a mini-show of your own. Pick five images that feel connected and write
one sentence about the theme that ties them together. (Themes can be simple: isolation, celebration, geometry, resilience, quiet beauty,
human conflict, the planet, the city, the body, the future.) This is how portfolios win: not because every frame is loud, but because the work
hangs together like it belongs together.

If you’re a photographer, this experience is weirdly useful. It teaches you what’s memorableand what’s merely “nice.”
You’ll also notice something comforting: award-winning photos aren’t all the same. Some are technically flashy; others are understated.
Some feel polished; others feel raw. The common thread isn’t a specific style. It’s intention. The picture knows what it’s trying to be.

And if you’re not a photographer, you still win: you get a tour of the world through someone else’s eyes.
That’s the real magic of TIFA 2020. It’s not just a collection of pretty imagesit’s a reminder that attention is a skill,
and photography is one of the best ways to practice it.