Red Bull Illume 2016 winners announced

The best action and adventure sports photographers from around the globe were celebrated in Chicago on September 28 as the Red Bull Illume Image Quest 2016 Overall Winner, 11 Category Winners and Top 55 finalist images were unveiled.

Next to winning the Masterpiece by Yodobashi and Playground categories, German photographer Lorenz Holder also took the top spot for the second time running. His atmospheric shot of athlete Senad Grosic riding his BMX across a bridge in Germany received the most votes from the panel of 53 respected judges. In addition to the Overall Title, Lorenz’s winning image also took home the coveted Athletes’ Choice Award.

The Winner Award Ceremony was held at the Art Institute of Chicago and hosted by television personality Tina Dixon and snowboarder Louie Vito. It also celebrated the 10-year anniversary of the prestigious contest with many guests from the photography industry and sports scene, such as BMX athlete Senad Grosic, freeskier Johnny Collinson and Red Bull Illume founder Ulrich Grill. 

Following the announcement, the award-winning photographers were able to see their images displayed on illuminated 2x2m lightboxes at the opening of the Red Bull Illume Exhibit Tour 2016. This unique nighttime photo exhibition will travel to cultural hubs and hotspots around the world for the next two years.

The tour will stay in Chicago until October 9 where visitors can enjoy the world’s best action and adventure sports images for free. To showcase the amazing imagery in a unique way, the exhibition will only be open after the sun goes down, between the hours of 6:30pm and 10:30pm. After Chicago, the tour will head to Toronto, Canada, Yonkers, NY and San Francisco, CA. Further tour stops will be announced on redbullillume.com shortly. 

The exhibited photos are the Top 55 images which of course include the 11 Category Winners as well as the Overall Winner. The winners are:



Close Up: Denis Klero, Russia with his black and white shot of climber Rustam Gelmanov showing his chalk-covered hands in Fontainebleu, France.

Energy: Luke Shadbolt, Australia for his black and white image showing the power of nature. Surfer Renan Faccini is set against a huge swell in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil.


  
Enhance: Dean Treml, New Zealand and his image of cliff diver Jonathan Paredes jumping from the 28 meter platform on the roof of the Copenhagen Opera House during the Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series, 2013.

Lifestyle: Jody MacDonald, Canada with her mesmerizing image of her brother Ken MacDonald sitting atop a train during their adventure through the Sahara Desert. 


 
Masterpiece by Yodobashi: Lorenz Holder, Germany showing Senad Grosic ride his bike over a bridge in an autumnal Gablenz, Germany.

New Creativity: Ale Di Lullo, Italy for his fun shot of Aaron Chase riding his mountain bike on the windshield of a NYC cab.


 
Sequence by Sony: Daniel Vojtêch, Czech Republic with his shot of Flying Bulls pilots Miroslav Krejci, Jan Rudzinskyi, Stanislav Cejka and Jan Tvrdic in Jaromêř, Czech Republic.

Spirit: Dean Treml, New Zealand for his image showing kayaker Josh Neilson being supported by fellow paddlers Barnaby Prees, Sam Sutton, Tim Pickering, Ben Brown, Jamie Sutton and Jaren Seiler after a bad landing off Matze’s Drop, Storulfossen, Norway.


 
Wings: Micky Wiswedel, South Africa with his shot of climber Jamie Smith mid-fall as he attempts a new route on Table Mountain, Cape Town.

New for 2016 was the Mobile Category. It was won by Vegard Aasen, Norway for his black and white mountaineering image taken in Hakuba, Japan.

Playground: Lorenz Holder, Germany showing BMXer Senad Grosic ride a rusted viewing platform in Senftenberg, Germany.
 

As the Overall Winner, Lorenz Holder received a €40.000 voucher from Yodobashi as grand prize, a Sony α7R II and a Sony RX1RM2 camera with a full set of lenses, a G-Technology G-Drive ev RaW SSD and a Broncolor Siros Kit.
 
The Top 55 finalist as well as Top 275 semifinalist images can be seen on redbullillume.com and the Red Bull Illume social channels. The Top 275 images have also been published in a sleek, limited edition Coffee Table Book that can be purchased at redbullillumebook.com.
 
About Red Bull Illume:
Red Bull Illume is the world’s greatest international photography contest dedicated to action and adventure sports. It showcases the most creative and captivating photography on the planet as art and aims to bring the public closer to the world of action sports. Red Bull Illume Image Quest 2016 is the fourth edition of the contest after 2007, 2010 and 2013. New for the 2016 edition is the Mobile category.
The Red Bull Illume Image Quest 2016 saw 5.645 photographers from 120 countries submitting a record-breaking 34.624 images. A judging panel of 53 photo editors selected 55 finalists, 11 Category Winners and one Overall Winner, which were unveiled at the Red Bull Illume Winner Award Ceremony on September 28, 2016 in Chicago, USA. German photographer Lorenz Holder took the top spot for the second time running with his atmospheric shot of athlete Senad Grosic riding his BMX across a bridge in autumnal Germany.

All finalist images will travel across the world until mid 2018 as part of the Red Bull Illume Exhibit Tour - a unique nighttime outdoor photo exhibition. Official partners for the 2016 Image Quest include Japanese consumer electronics giant Sony, online retailer Yodobashi, external storage brand G-Technology and lighting experts broncolor.

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