Feature image: Nassos Triantafyllou | other photography as credited
The 2020 Mark Gunter Photographer of the Year Awards closed a few days ago.
This year the theme was hope — and we have seen and read hundreds of stories of what life in 2020 was like — how cycling helped, how we managed isolation, and how so much time apart from our loved ones gave us clarity about what — and who — is important to us.
The Awards are a way for talented photographers to showcase their artistry, but they have another other important purpose – raising money for cancer research via Tour de Cure.
Now that entries are closed, it’s over to our panel of judges —Tim Bardsley-Smith, Kristof Ramon, and Jered Gruber & Ashley Gruber — to decide who’s going to be awarded the Mark Gunter Photographer of the Year Awards. Plus Graham Watson returns as our honorary judge to select his top ten in the Amateur category.
Each of the judges have gone through the difficult task of shortlisting their top ten images from each of the categories. From these shortlists, the judges will deliberate on the top three of each category in the coming days – with final winners to be announced on January 12, 2021.
“I was really impressed with all the images from this years Awards. After personally taking a bit of a year off and enjoying a much needed break and not shooting a whole lot, it’s really motivated me to get back out and start making photographs again.
It was an extremely difficult task to pick a winner for me, there was a lot of quality images in both categories.
Considering the year that was, it was nice to see so many people making the most of their surroundings and situations no matter the limitations.”
Tim Bardsley-Smith is an experienced cycling photographer, based in Australia, focusing on road and mountain bike racing.
Tim was the winner of the 2017 Photographer of the Year — Professional category — with his stunning image of switchbacks in Tibet. We welcome him to the Judging panel this year.
“It was a cold snowy day in February; Back when the calendar was full of possibilities. I was in my favourite place in the world: Hood River-Mosier, Oregon. There was a light dusting of snow. I decided to head up to Rowena Crest. As luck would have it, three Eagles were circling that day and a lone cyclist pedalled up the icy climb. If “hope” is the theme, this is an image I think about often: in spite of the conditions – keep pedalling.” Drew Coleman @dcmediahaus
“First Giro Stage of Last year. Chrono Monreale-Palermo. Took that shots and then saw the boy shouting hardly!! Caption “Support your Heroes.” Gabriele Facciotti @gabrielefacciotti
“Olympic and World Champion Elinor Barker of Great Britain in action during the inaugural UCI Cycling eSports World Championships from her home in Manchester, England.” Alex Whitehead @alex_swpix
“Looking for details in the mud after the last race of the world championship’s weekend in Dubendorf, Switzerland.” Nassos Triantafyllou @nassostphoto
“Daniel Felipe Martinez of EF Pro Cycling in action during the time trial from Lure to La Planche des Belles Filles on stage 20 of the Tour de France.” Alex Whitehead @alex_swpix
“One of the most iconic images of 2020 were the helicopter shots from the UCI World Road Race Championships in Imola, Italy, of riders racing across a ridge line, after seeing the footage on TV I had to shoot there. With only the mens race remaining I had to find that spot. Shooting from the adjacent field silhouetting the riders against the sky, with eventual race winner, Julian Allaphilippe demonstrating his descending prowess in the super tuck position.” Chris Auld @cauldphoto
“As we all know this year has been quite difficult for everyone, luckily the Giro managed to arrive on its last stage in Milan. Here is Simon Guglielmi riding through the empty streets of the Italian city with two carabinieri wearing masks as only spectators.” Eloise Mavian @eloisemavian
“The perfect line. Mathieu van der Poel is truly an exceptional rider with outstanding bike skills. To see him finding the perfect line is an impressive show. At the World Championship 2020 in Duebendorf (Switzerland) i aimed for this minimalistic shot from a bridge, reduced on Mathieu van der Poel and these lines in the mud. For me this image represents the beauty and demands of this sport, combined with maybe the best rider in the world.” Marcel Hilger @marcelhilger
“I took this at this years Australian National Championships. The elite men started their TT at 6pm in the evening so the light was stunning. I took advantage of a pedestrian bridge that ran above the road and shot this of Rohan Dennis as he passed under me on his first lap. I was stoked to be able to pull this off as I’d been picturing a shot like this since the first riders had started at 10am that morning.” Zac Williams @z_w_photography
“For me, this year has been all about local isolation and exploration. This picture was taken in Schladming (Austria), which is one hour away from my home. the 2020 lockdowns made me discover more deeply the beautiful country where I live in. I hope people appreciate more the treasures we all have around the corner. 2020 has undoubtedly helped to do so.” Javi Lozano @javi_lozded
“One siliver lining to the otherwise bleak 2020 road cycling season in Colorado was that the highest paved road in North America — to the summit of Mount Evans (14,271-feet -4,350 m- in altitude) — was closed to cars, making it perfect for cyclists attempting to accomplish a pesonal milestone. This image was taken on Father’s Day, June 21, as I and my two adult children attempted to reach the top on bicycles, despite the few inches of snow remaining from a storm a few days before.” Reid Neureiter @reidnewphoto
“New bridges vs old ones. I never thought I’d get that photo of my friend cycling that classic loop around home. I always strive to improve my photo skills… but that day it was about finding that new angle. That’s how I spotted that beautiful old bridge just parallel to the modern one. Old or new they both were constructed to reach new places and in that sense to get further for every future generation.”Ricard Calmet Calveras @erreka
“After we abandoned our Project Pedal Further venture early 2020 due to the pandemic, I was discouraged. The past 7 months had been full of adventures and now we were stuck in Switzerland, which sometimes seemed too familiar and therefore not too worth discovering. How wrong I was: When we went on a bikepacking trip in mid-November, I found my adventurous spirit again and drew hope: Not only that I live in a beautiful country, but also that somewhere – whether near or far – surprises await me.” Sara Bukies @projectpedalfurther
“Everyone loves a happy ending, especially during these difficult times. My submission last year was of Marion Norbert-Riberolle in tears at the finish line of the Cyclocross World Championships as she had an untimely mechanical and lost in the final lap. In 2020 she stormed away to victory to win the U23 World Championships by a mile. Embracing her family, draped in a French flag, it was a moment of true happiness, one of hope, and this year without despair.” Anthony Leutenegger @anthonyleutenegger
“During lock down the local bunches ceased, and there was plenty of solo rides and riders. As things settled, racing started again. This image is taken on a hot Sunday morning at the local, purpose built crit track in Noosa. It is a break gone early, emerging from the dark bridge & tunnel and into the light, solo, with the pack chasing. It’s lonely out there, as it has been in in periods of 2020. The bunch ultimately caught up and a pack formed, together again, as we hope for in 2021.” Glen Bucklar @gbvisi0n
“My new favourite color is H O P E! I met a dear friend of mine who came from Berlin to visit me. We went cycling and had a great time together. A few houses before coming back to the rented house we passed this green gate. His favourite number is 13, my new favourite color is green. I had to take this picture here (or let him take it) because it represents our relationship. And green stands for hope. Hopefully this relationship will carry on.” Angela Zapp @rennradlerin
“2020 threw a lot of shade. But there can only shadows with light. And this is the year light fought back the darkness with stories of communities rising up for one another. This moment was captured alone while training for a solo Everesting fundraiser that generated over $4,500 for student homelessness affected by COVID-19.” Sean de Luna @de.Luna.Shoots
“Photo of my friend Emils as he prepares for his first year in World Tour. We raced together from childhood and he was always amazing, but not so easy to move up ranks from here… so finally at age 28 he is in WT and kicking ass! Just like in picture – finally he is in light out of shadows.” Andzs Flaksis @flaksis_a
“This year was unprecedented and tried to break us. But our spirit persevered through creative use of social media, networking, and even some rule-bending. We didn’t think outside the box. We zoomed above it to stay connected, achieve wellness and build strength as a community.” Sean de Luna @de.Luna.Shoots
Thank you Tim Bardsley-Smith for your insightful choices.
To catchup on all the Showcases visit Mark Gunter Photography. and here to see Kristof Ramon’s shortlist and Jered & Ashley Gruber’s shortlist.
For more information on the #markgunterphotoawards2020 check out CyclingTips.