2013 Urban Photographer of the Year competitios

The annual competition run by CBRE, the world’s largest property advisor, is now in its sixth year and is the largest global photography competition of its kind. This year’s competition received over 12,500 photos, a record number, with entrants hailing from 118 countries from the Chilean coast to the deserts of Saudi Arabia.

The theme for the competition is ‘Cities at Work’, challenging entrants to capture the essence of urban life at different times throughout the day. The main prize is a luxury photography safari from a range of destinations across the globe.  French’s winning entry depicts a solitary tram driver amongst a crowd of advertising, taken at 9am during Hong Kong’s rush hour.

The runner up for this year’s competition is British photographer Glenn Surtees, with his 7am photo of a worker inspecting the rooftop of a theatre in Singapore. The third prize went to Rui Pedro Moura Barbosa Dias, with his image of firefighters putting out a factory fire in his native Portugal. In addition, a number of hourly prizes are being awarded for the best image from each hour.

A student competition was run in parallel with the main competition, which attracted 1,236 entries from educational institutes around the world. The winner of this year’s student competition is Tom Pepper from Kings College London, with his picture ’Waiting for the train’ portraying the New York Subway.

Michael Strong, Executive Chairman, EMEA, CBRE said: “This year’s competition attracted a record amount of interest and number of high quality entries, making the judges’ jobs even more difficult. However everyone agreed that the winning image by British photographer Mark French is a stunning masterpiece. This competition is a unique one - showcasing the lives of city workers, whilst highlighting the diversity and beauty of cities across the world.”