• Lucian Perkins, photographer, USA (The Chairman of jury)
• Ruth Eichhorn, editor, GEO, Germany
• Jason Eskenazi, photographer, USA
• Victoria Ivleva, photographer, Russia
• Margot Klingsporn, Director, Focus Photo und Presseagentur, Germany
• Chiara Mariani, photoeditor, Corriera dela Sera Magazine, Italy
• Harald Menk, photoeditor, Stern, Germany
• Mark Rykoff, photoeditor, Time.com, USA
• Georgy Pinkhassov, photographer, Magnum, Russia/France
• Alexander Zemlianichenko, Chief of AP Russian bureau photodepartment, Russia

From this year’s entries we, the judges, saw a wide breadth of stories and photographic styles. We saw passion and persistence by photographers covering their stories. And we saw the risks taken by some of them to tell let viewer know what is going on around them.

We also saw the areas that will need to be improved next year. Many of the essays entered were poorly edited and tedious to look through. Not one story needed to be longer than 12 images. Next year every photographer would be wise to work closely with friends, colleagues and photo editors to edit their essays. We also saw some very weak categories. But that is one of the beauties of contests: It gives you the opportunity to evaluate your work and others, and then come up with a better story for that category next year.

Finally, I want to thank my fellow judges who spent countless hours carefully reviewing the images and coming up with a selection of winners.

I look forward to seeing next year’s entries and winners

Sincerely,

Lucian Perkins