Concrete In Life 2023: Winners Announced Of Unusual Global Photography Prize

26.03.2024 - 19:07 / forbes.com

Concrete is the single most widely used material in the world for constructing residential homes, roads, bridges, dams and skyscrapers. But we don’t tend to see this ubiquitous material as particularly interesting or attractive and as Thomas Guillot,Chief Executive of the GCCA (Global Cement and Concrete Association) says, “we don’t always appreciate it but if we didn’t have it, we’d certainly notice” and it does “offer the potential for beautiful design, as well as durability and strength.”

Concrete in Life, an annual global photography competition founded five years ago by the GCCA, shows just how essential concrete is to our lives and how beautiful it can be. And, this year for the first time, there’s an exhibition at the Brunswick Art Gallery in London, showing this year’s winners and over 100 shortlisted images from previous competitions.

A striking image of a boy flying a kite playing on the steps of the Teopanzolco Cultural Center in Mexico, has just been named Concrete in Life Photo of the Year. It was selected from a record 21,000 entries and has won the top prize of US$10,000. The winning photograph was taken by Saeed Rezvanian, at the triangular concrete building in Cuernavaca, which was architecturally designed to pay tribute to nearby Aztec pyramid-shaped ruined temples. Saeed Rezvanian said that his “photo shows how concrete develops both artistic and functional environments in our lives. I was captivated by the children playing amongst the beautiful structures.”

This year’s judges, Thomas Guillot of the GCCA, Chris George of Digital Camera World and Paul Makovsky, of Architect Magazine chose a shortlist of images from every continent that included striking images of skyscrapers and the modern urban world, as well as key infrastructure such as sea defences, dams and piers, irrigation channels, bridges, roads and walkways. There are also photos of more intimate human interaction in rice fields, sports centers, places of worship, playgrounds and skateparks, communities and homes.

New this year, was a special people’s vote prize chosen by the public, to mark five years of the competition. The $5,000 prize was won by Muhammad Nurudin, for his image of the Mandara Toll Road in Bali. Mr Nurudin explains that the road “connects the city of Denpasar, Ngurah Rai International Airport, and Nusa Dua in Bali. Under the toll ring road there are several plots of land planted with mangroves. Farmers routinely take care of them.” Four other category winners were announced, each receiving a prize of $2,500. Owen Davies was named category winner in the urban concrete section, for his photo of the Armstrong Rubber Building in New Haven, Connecticut, in the USA.

Andre Hidayat Arrasuli won the Concrete