A photo of a street food vendor working at a smoke-covered oven has won a major food photography award.
Debdatta Chakraborty was named as the overall winner of Pink Lady Food Photographer of the Year 2022 for an image titled Kebabiyana, which was taken in Srinagar, in Indian-administered Kashmir.
The Indian photographer took the picture on a busy street at night, as vendors fired up charcoal ovens to prepare wazwan kebabs and other street food.
“In today’s world, more than ever, we feel the need for comfort, for love,” says awards founder and director Caroline Kenyon.
“There is so much to reassure us here – the beautifully captured billowing embrace of the smoke, the golden light, the subject’s expression as he prepares the food for sharing.
“Sparks fly from the skewers, whose roasting we can almost smell. We imagine the warm, delicious aroma.
“This image, gentle but powerful, nourishes our soul.”
Thousands of entries were submitted from more than 60 countries across the world, and the winners were announced online via a livestreamed event.
Here are some of the competition category winners, with descriptions by the photographers.
Champagne Taittinger Food for Celebration: Traditional Skill, by Chen Ying, China
Food at the Table: Putting On The Ritz, by John Carey, UK
Fujifilm Award for Innovation: Central Park, by Yuliy Vasilev, Bulgaria
The Claire Aho Award for Women Photographers: At The Table, by Marguerite Oelofse, South Africa
On the Phone: Drying Stockfish, by Kasia Ciesielska-Faber, UK
Politics of Food: Where Dreams Fly Away, by K M Asad, Bangladesh
Food Stylist Award: Summer Veg Tart, by Carolin Strothe, Germany
Young (10 and under): Processing Fish, by Rupkotha Roy Barai, Bangladesh
Errazuriz Wine Photographer of the Year – Overall Winner: Gathering Prunings on Corton Hill, by Jon Wyand, UK
One Vision Imaging Cream of the Crop: Carrot Field Forever, by Paolo Grinza and Silvia Vaulà, Italy
Pink Lady Food Photographer of the Year (South East Asia): Anchovy Catching, by Thien Nguyen Ngoc, Vietnam
All photographs courtesy Pink Lady Food Photographer of the Year 2022. An exhibition of the finalists will be be held at The Royal Photographic Society, in Bristol, from 20 November – 12 December 2022.
