And the winners of the Smithsonian photo competition are...

Smithsonian has just announced the winners for their 14th annual photo contest, which includes the grand prize, readers’ choice and 7 category winners.

The contest which ran from March 22, 2016 to November 30, 2016 received over 48,000 submissions from photographers in 146 countries and territories.

Congratulations to all of the winners!

Please also see: The finalists of the Smithsonian annual contest

(CLICK ON THE IMAGES FOR LARGER VIEW)

Ramadan Prayers

Grand prize

Women praying inside Istiqlal Mosque during the month of Ramadan.

Photograph: ©Pradeep Raja Kannaiah/Smithsonian.com

Look me in the Eye

Natural World category winner

I am always looking for unique ways to showcase the beauty of elephants in the hope that it will make a difference in the way they are viewed and appreciated. This image was taken when a herd of elephants came down to the banks of the ChobeRiver in Botswana for an afternoon drink. The opportunity presented itself as the trunk of the elephant in the foreground framed the eye of the elephant in the background. I focused on the eye, and with some creative cropping, was very pleased with the final result.

Photograph: ©Prelena Soma Owen/Smithsonian.com

Individual Communication

Travel category winner

Commuters on the London Underground are communicating. They are not communicating with each other, but across the world from their cell-like positions on the platform.

Photograph: ©Peter Nutkins/Smithsonian.com

A Man Looks Out the Door

Sustainable travel winner

A man is looking out a door that just hours before led to his family’s bedroom. The tide was particularly high that day, and because of rising sea levels, the sea had risen high enough to chew away at the home. The back rooms crumbled into the sea while his family carried their belongings out the front door. Several homes fell into the sea that morning. In an overpopulated community like Guet Ndar, the fishing village in Saint Louis, Senegal, many families may live in one home. So the loss of a home is particularly impactful.

Photograph: ©Greta Rybus/Smithsonian.com

Step by Step

People category winner

I was surprised when I saw this old shoemaker shop with two workers, one of them a young woman doing a job usually done by older men. The look in her eyes is as strong and heavy as her work.

Photograph: ©João Borges/Smithsonian.com

Improvisation

Altered images category winner

Dance improvisation in the studio.

Surreal

Mobile category winner

A man bikes by a Peter Hazel sculpture at the Burning Man festival in Black Rock City, Nevada.

Resting in an NYC Laundry Room

Readers’ choice

This photograph is of a woman in an NYC laundry room. It seems like she’s recalling something that recently happened to her. The subject is defeated, hurt and exhausted from this cycle she is in, like the cycle of a washing machine.

Before the Portrait

American Experience category winner

Lila Chosa sits on the side porch of her house while her family and friend get ready for a portrait behind her. Lila’s grandmother, Heart Warrior, has spent years battling to keep custody of her grandchildren in Minnesota. It’s part of a long history of Native American removal and resistance.

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