Life Framer is delighted to present the results of the recent competition judged by conceptual documentary photographer Martin Roemers.
For this competition they asked to share images that say something about our urban existence – life in the cities, complex and ever-changing, that more than half of the world’s population now occupy. And from Lagos to London, New York to Yangon through candid and conceptual work touching on themes of regeneration, religion, play, lockdowns, homelessness and many more, the resulting selection of winning images paints a vivid picture of urban life today. Beauty, desolation, and everything in between.
First Place Winner is – Bas Losekoot
”This is an intriguing image of what appears to be men under an overpass. Their alert expressions, along with the forward motion in their postures (bending so as not to bump their heads) and the lightfall makes it feel like a still from a movie. It’s a great example of a decisive moment – perfect timing with everything falling into its right place.” – Martin Roemers
Photographer statement
From the series Out of Place. “In 2011, I started a photographic project based on the rise of the Urban Millennium. My aim was to capture the consequences of population density on the behaviour of city dwellers. By the end of 2018, I had photographed in New York, Sao Paulo, Seoul, Mumbai, Hong Kong, London, Lagos, Istanbul and Mexico City. In each of those cities I worked for at least one month – walking the streets every day from sunrise till sunset.
Its subject matter seems more relevant than ever: during a lockdown, cities are not attractive environments any more. Streets are no longer places of engagement and people seem even more alienated from each other. Passing a stranger in the street has become an awkward choreography. This crisis makes us rethink the city; considering new demographic possibilities. In many cities around the world, life has brought to a halt. Suddenly, the so called “progress” is set to pause-mode. The series emphasises this frozen movement with the use of flashlights in combination with fast shutter speeds.”
