Revealing the extraordinary in the ordinary. Illuminating tiny yet telling details. Catching the spirit of a moment nearly lost forever.
Those are just a few of the exceptional elements of the winning images in the 2023 AAA World Photo Contest, themed A Picture Is Worth a Thousand Dollars. This year’s contest, our 24th annual, saw a record-breaking 7,000-plus entries, which the AAA World staff pored over to narrow the field to 25 semifinalists.
From this selection, you, our members, voted for your top picks in five categories. We then crowned the grand-prize winner, who received a $1,000 Visa gift card, and awarded placements to the four runners-up, who each garnered a $100 Visa gift card.
Here, we celebrate the talented photographers and their prized images that give voice to untold stories through the prism of the camera’s lens. And, we sincerely thank everyone who entered their photographs, leaving us humbled, wowed and, as always, ever so inspired.
GRAND-PRIZE WINNER
Susan Samuels of West Hartford, Connecticut, was on a group tour in central Greece last May when she and her family arranged to take a detour to Metéora, a collection of ancient monasteries perched on skyscraping cliffs. Hiring a driver and assisted by a local guide, they set out through the countryside and visited the Monastery of Great Metéoron, one of the country’s most historically significant and oldest monasteries, founded in 1340. It wasn’t the main monastery, however, but rather the neighboring Varlaám monastery that drew her photographer’s eye.
“The weather was bad the day of our tour, but when we came out of the monastery to wait for the van to pick us up, the clouds suddenly began to disperse,” says Samuels. “I was standing above the clouds, looking down on this architectural wonder.”
Using her iPhone, Samuels aimed to frame as much as she could of the vista as well as to convey perspective, including details like the cars and buses driving up the mountainside and people crossing a small bridge. The result: this beautifully ethereal image, which swept the Around the World category and the entire photo contest.
FIRST RUNNER-UP
Jenna Louderback of Claremore, Oklahoma, loves the outdoors and the beauty of landscapes, especially at sunset. So, a family adventure to Grand Canyon National Park and neighboring Glen Canyon National Recreation Area last March was the perfect gift to celebrate her birthday. As a highlight of the trip, she had her heart set on photographing Glen Canyon’s iconic Horseshoe Bend, where a 270-degree bend in the Colorado River embraces an ancient sandstone escarpment.
“When I walked to the top of the Horseshoe Bend Outlook—being really careful not to get too close to the edges!—the sun was setting just right and you could see the reflection of the clouds on the water. And if you look closely, you can see boats in the water, too,” she says.It’s these dramatic features that helped Louderback’s artful composition land the number-one spot in the Iconic America category.
SECOND RUNNER-UP
Brent Guiliano of Philadelphia enjoys photographing views of his hometown skyline from the South Street Bridge, which spans the Schuylkill River west of downtown. But when he arrived at the popular pedestrian bridge one morning last April to shoot the sunrise over the city, overcast skies threatened to spoil his plans.
“I thought the opportunity was lost, when suddenly, the skies began to clear—but only for about two minutes,” says Guiliano. “In that window, I was able to get this shot, with the glow of the sun, the images reflecting off the calm water and just enough traffic to get light trails coming off the cars.”
It turns out that the hardest part of getting this postcard-perfect shot—winner in the City Life category—was finding parking, jokes Guiliano.
THIRD RUNNER-UP
Darryl Holtman of Kent Island, Maryland, ventured on a small-group photography expedition in the wee hours of a frigid, foggy morning last New Year’s Day. Led by celebrated photographer Jay Fleming, the expedition took to the waters of the Chesapeake Bay, where the dual-span William Preston Lane Jr. Memorial Bridge (the Bay Bridge) stretches more than 4 miles, connecting Annapolis to Maryland’s Eastern Shore. “By the time we reached the bridge, the fog was lifting. I leaned over the side of the boat and began shooting—taking about 100 photos,” says Holtman, adding that his photos are raw images. “All the colors, reflections and water ripples in this photo—it’s all unedited.” Titled “First Light of 2023,” Holtman’s striking photo took the prize in the Great American Road Trip category.
FOURTH RUNNER UP
William Johnson of Philadelphia looks forward to his family’s summer vacations in Ocean City, New Jersey, every year. On his vacation last June, despite the cloudy skies, he and his 8-year-old granddaughter, Keeva, went to the beach.
“Keeva loves jumping over the waves. With the not-good weather, no one else was in the water, so she had the whole ocean to herself,” says Johnson. “Watching her jump, I noticed little streams of water coming off her toes and the beauty of the clouds overhead.”
A retired newspaper photographer, Johnson skillfully captured the frisson of joy and the drama of the landscape, earning him top honors in the People category.
