“The wild sea with hurricane-like and very cold winds, the whipping snow and the northern lights shimmering through for a short time represented a combination of situations that you will probably only experience very rarely and so you can’t resist to put it on sensor.”

That is how Deryk Baumgärtner describes the scene his captured in his photo “Sitting on the Dock of the Bay,” one of three images highlighted by judges of the American Photography Open 2022 competition in May. We feature the image today, along with Jatenipat Ketpredit’s finely-lit portrait of women of the Mursi tribe in south-western Ethiopia and Sabina Miklowitz’s flamboyant fashion image shot in front of the Nathan's Famous restaurant on Coney Island.

The contest is open to photographers at any level using any device. There are a number of ways to win. In addition to the Open prizes, our partner SanDisk’s ”Share Your World” competition is open for entries. To enter the SanDisk competition, select the “Share Your World” category and follow the instructions there. The SanDisk entries will also be eligible for the Open prizes so you only have to submit an image once. You can enter both competitions as many times as you wish.

The Open Grand Prize winner will receive $5,000 and prizes from our partner sponsors. Our finalists will also receive prizes from our sponsors, including a Tamron 35mm F/2.8 Di III OSD (Model F053) for Sony mirrorless $249 value or $150 credit towards any Tamron lens purchase (Note: credit for USA residents only), a SanDisk 128GB Extreme Pro SD card and a PhotoShelter 1 year standard account.

The deadline is August 31. Go here for more information on the prizes, judges, and information on how to enter. Meanwhile, check out the highlighted entries from May:
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Jatenipat “JKboy” Ketpradit: “Signs of Beauty”

Based in Bangkok, Thailand, Jatenipat “JKboy” Ketpradit is an inveterate traveler. “I love to visit people in remote places and spend time with them,” he says. “Most of my work is about exotic tribal culture and landscapes.” In January of 2020, Ketpradit was traveling through southwestern Ethiopia, on the border of Sudan, when he made the photograph above, a portrait of women from the Mursi tribe. “I spent a month traveling around the Omo Valley in Ethiopia, visiting the tribes with the son of a tribal leader. We brought gifts such as water bottles, medicine, and some foods to ensure our welcome,” he notes.

He shot the image with a Nikon D850 and a Nikon AF-S Nikkor 24-120mm f/4 lens. “The hardest aspect of making the picture was simply communication,” he says. “I had to use body language to show what I wanted the women in the photo to do.” Ketpradit says the photo is about perceptions of beauty.

“The Ethiopian tribes have a distinct view of beauty. Young women utilize their skin to express their creativity and beauty, getting tattoos and painting their bodies with flowers and greenery, while men scar their bodies,” he says. “We should not judge people by the scars. Stop limiting yourself with outdated notions.”

Go here to see more work by Jatenipat Ketpradit.
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Sabina  Miklowitz: “Boardwalk Empire”

“I was fortunate to be born into a very artistic family, so I did lots of different kinds of art when I was a kid,” says Brooklyn-based professional photographer Sabina Miklowitz. “My love of photography began at age 9 when I received a Nikon Fun Touch 6 camera for my birthday, My first subjects were landscapes and details like chipped paint or rusted objects in the rural areas around my hometown in California, but I discovered a passion for portraiture in high school. Portrait sessions with friends and local musicians gradually became more elaborate as I experimented with wardrobe styling and makeup, and in college, I narrowed my focus to fashion photography.”

It was her love of Coney Island that led Miklowitz to create her image “Boardwalk Empire.” The Brooklyn landmark, she says, “feels like something of an anachronism—the boardwalk and Nathan's Famous restaurant have remained unchanged for decades despite the world changing around them.” She collaborated with wardrobe stylist Angelina Scantlebury, makeup artist Remi Odunsi, and model Nyamuoch Girwath to bring the concept for the photo to life. “The flamboyant styling and glam makeup reflect the over-the-top nature of the setting—utterly unique, unfettered and unapologetic,” she says.

She shot the image in November of 2021 in front of Nathan's Famous with a Canon 5D Mark IV an 24-105mm lens. “I'd had a very specific vision for this shot—this vision was the inspiration for the entire rest of the shoot, and happily, it turned out nearly exactly as I'd imagined it,” she says.

Go here to see more of Sabina  Miklowitz’s work.
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Deryk Baumgärtner: “Sitting By the Dock of the Bay”

Cologne, Germany-based Deryk Baumgärtner describes himself as a serious photo enthusiast—“I have a normal 9-to-5 job," he notes—who came to photography through a childhood interest in art and drawing. “At the age of 12, I picked up a camera for the very first time when my grandfather gave me his old Kodak Instamatic,” he says. Baumgärtner was taking part in a photo workshop in Norway’s Lofoten Islands in February of 2022 when he captured the image above. He says he couldn’t pass up the opportunity.

“The wild sea with hurricane-like and very cold winds, the whipping snow and the northern lights shimmering through for a short time represented a combination of situations that you will probably only experience very rarely and so you can’t resist to put it on sensor,” he explains.

He made the photo with a Sony a7R II camera and a 20mm f/1.4 lens. “As you can clearly see, nature was the biggest challenge for this particular shot. Cold and strong winds at night show the photographer and his equipment where the limits are,” he notes.

Go here to see more of Deryk Baumgärtner’s work.