Places Honorable Mention
In Japan, ancestral spirits come back to their families in mid-August every year. People gives repose to the ancestors’ spirits for three days and send them back to where they came from by putting them on lanterns to drift down river. Ms. Setsuko Sugino took this picture of a small girl praying for ancestral spirits and lanterns waiting to be set adrift into foggy river in Shikoku, Japan.
by Setsuko Sugino, Japan
People Winner
Old women in Mozambique – by Ilvy Njiokiktjien, Netherlands
Judges’ Comments
“This is one of those wonderful moments when everything comes together visually,” says freelance photojournalist Maggie Steber. “There is a musical rhythm to the image.” National Geographic design editor Darren Smith agrees: “The composition is intriguing with the mirroring of the womens bodies. I find it to be very harmonious and soothing. There is something reassuring in the play between the colors, shadows, and light. It appears simple at first but gets more complicated the more you look at it.”
Check out winners from the 2008 International Photography Contest along with honorable mentions from each category at National Geographic 2008 International Photography Contest Winners.
