Street photography is all about catching real life as it happens, and few collections prove it better than this one: ten candid shots that took top honors in a prestigious international photo contest.
These winning images come from The Independent Photographer’s contest dedicated to the theme of street photography, and we are showcasing the very best of them below.
In February 2021, The Independent Photographer organized its monthly photo contest around the theme “Street Photography.” On this occasion, the renowned photographer Martin Parr was a judge in choosing the best photos.
Martin Parr is one of the most iconic contemporary photographers. A true chronicler of our age, he is known for his iconic photographic projects that take an intimate, satirical, and anthropological look at aspects of modern life, in particular documenting the social classes of England, and more broadly the wealth of the Western world.
Parr has been a member of Magnum Photos since 1994 and was President from 2013–2017. He has had around 40 solo photobooks published and has been featured in around 80 exhibitions worldwide. Parr also acts as a curator and editor. He has curated two photography festivals and was invited as artistic director of the 2004 edition of the Rencontres d’Arles.
Congratulations to the Winners & Finalists of this photography contest!
Joseph-Philippe Bevillard—2nd Prize
“After Church Wedding”—Wexford, Ireland, 2019.
Women and girls from the Irish traveling community get together after church. Girls as young as 3 wear high heels, false tan, eyelashes, make-up, and colorful dresses as part of their ritual.
Prize: $600.
Feedback from Martin Parr:
“This image taken at a traveller’s wedding in Wexford in Ireland really catches the atmosphere of such an event, with everyone in the right place. The woman on the left, adjusting her daughter’s dress, with a cigarette in the mouth is exceptional, and this with the layers of pink dresses makes an exceptional image. It is a co-incident that the 2 winners both distilled a complicated real life situation into beautifully balanced images. You will see with my runners up, you often get a strong image with a lot more simplicity, but for me, the real challenge of street photography is to make order out of chaos.”