It’s back! Can you believe it’s already been three years since we wrote about Red Bull Illume, the world’s biggest photography contest for action and adventure sports? (Remember the incredible winners?)
Beginning in June, Red Bull has been slowly leaking its top 250 finalists, and today we’re happy to announce that the gallery has been complete! We just spent the last few hours looking over each image and all we can say is “Wow!”
Similar to last time, there are 10 different categories in this contest: Close Up, Creativity, Energy, Experimental, Illumination, Lifestyle, Playground, Sequence, Spirit and Wings. From tens of thousands of entries, 50 finalists will be announced and invited to attend a grand ceremony in the city of Hong Kong, where the winners will be unveiled. Although you’ll have to wait for August 29 for all that, you can enjoy our top 20 right here. We love how each of these is either inspiring (in terms of travel and extreme sports) or artistic (check out the cool shadows and unique perspectives)!
Tallinn, Estonia. Photographer: Jaanus Ree. Athlete: Gard Hvaara.
Zakynthos, Greece. Photographer: Dimitrios Kontizas. Athletes: Hubert Schober, Kedley Oliveti.
Saas-Fee, Wallis, Switzerland. Photographer: Willi Nothers. Athlete: Teddy Berr.
Aniak, AK, USA. Photographer: Scott Serfas. Athlete: John Jackson.
Helmcken Falls, Wells Grey Provincial Park, BC, Canada. Photographer: Christian Pondella. Athlete: Will Gadd, Tim Emmett.
Peniche, Portugal. Photographer: Miguel Nunes. Athlete: Hugo Pinheiro.
Kiroro, Hokkaido, Japan. Photographer: Yves Suter. Athlete: Dominik Betschart.
Frejus, France. Photographer: Sebastian. Athlete: Unknown.
White Sea, Arctic Circle, Russian Federation. Photographer: George Karbus. Athlete: Katerina Hamsikova.
Margalef, Spain. Photographer: Bernardo Gimenez. Athlete: Olivier Favresse.
Are, Sweden. Photographer: Elias Kunosson. Athlete: Fredrik Berggren.
Dehab, Egypt. Photographer: Rafal Meszka. Athlete: Emilia Biala.
Spirit Falls, Little White Salmon River, WA, USA. Photographer: Mike Leeds. Athlete: Rush Sturges.
Tamokdalen, Norway. Photographer: Rami Hanafi. Athlete: Miikka Hast.
Manitowish Waters, WI, USA. Photographer: Ryan Taylor. Athlete: Ben Horan.
Vila Franca do Campo, Azores, Portugal. Photographer: Romina Amato. Athlete: Todor Spasov.
Tuamotus, French Polynesia. Photographer: Ben Thouard. Athlete: Manu Bouvet.
Ljubljana, Slovenia. Photographer: Miha Godec. Athlete: Timotej Lampe Ignjic.
Oahu, HI, USA. Photographer: Zakary Noyle. Athlete: Gabriel Medina.
Isn’t Zakary Noyle’s beautifully crafted sequence of Brazilian surfer Gabriel Medina just amazing (immediately above)?
This post originally appeared on My Modern Metropolis.