Freedom 2020: Stunning images celebrating freedom reach final of photography competition

Voting open in contest that has seen nearly 20,000 entries

John Bett
Saturday 11 January 2020 13:24 GMT
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These incredible pictures show what freedom means to 50 top photographers from around the globe.

Free-to-use photography app Agora asked its 3.5 million users to take a photo which they thought would best illustrate the theme of 'freedom'.

After nearly 20,000 entries, 50 images have made it to the final and are now being voted on –​ competing to be crowned the 'World's Best photo of #Freedom2020'.

Voting is open now and the winner will be selected by 23 January, with the top photographer will win $1,000 (£765).

One of the images named 'Breaking Free', taken by British photographer Tom Bridges, show's a boat motoring through a thin gap in ice sheets.

'Free as a bird', by Netherlands snapper Tom Dewaart, shows a man standing on a rocky peak surrounded by mountains and clouds.

Another, 'Free jump' by Agora user@shibasishsaha, shows a child in jumping in the air after throwing a traditional umbrella above themselves in India.

The photographer said: “I was shooting a Buddhist school when I saw this little child returning home from school.

“The child was so happy that he threw his umbrella and jumped all of a sudden.

“With the hashtag #freedom2020 I wanted to relate that the childish mind has no boundary and can express one feeling freely.”

One photo taken by user @solomonjnr is titled 'Undefined', and shows the photographers cousin jumping into water in Ghana.

The photographer said: “After the rain, there was a puddle in the house and I saw my nephew playing -jumping and splashing the water all over.

“I quickly went inside and grabbed my camera to capture the moment.

“The joy, happiness and the freedom at which he did that. It's hard for grownups to freely express and enjoy themselves as they used to when they were kids.

“For fear of what society would say or how the world would react to our acts of freedom, we would rather suppress it all and be limited to the ways of society.”

Agora has a community of more than 3.5 million users from 193 countries where people create, vote and curate the best images made worldwide.

Octavi Royo, Agora's CEO and co-founder, said: “Agora is built between all: we want to empower people all over the world, because we believe that every point of view is important.

“We're creating a global democratic system where everyone can create, vote and enjoy the best creations of Humanity.”

SWNS

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