Flickr announced the recipients of its inaugural 20 Under 20 earlier this week, a celebration of the twenty most talented young photographers on the photo hosting site. Although Flickr might not be the first place people would go to find surreal, artistic images, the website is actually a treasure trove of stunning work from artists from around the world. 20 Under 20 celebrates the young talent that uses this platform to share their work; it is a celebration of beautiful photos, and of the inspiring young artists who took them.
The 20 Under 20 honorees were selected from within Flickr’s international community by an esteemed panel. According to Mashable, “The 20 photographers were selected by a panel of influential Flickr photographers – Lou Noble, Cuba Gallery, and Rosie Hardy – and Vice President of Flickr, Bernardo Hernandez, based on creativity, technical talent and overall strength of portfolio,” of the judges and criteria used to select the honorees of the 20 Under 20. In addition to the attention they are being given on Flickr, selected photos will be curated by Vogue’s Ivan Shaw and put on display at New York’s Milk Studios in early October.
Photographs like this one by Katharina Jung are evocative of the immense artistic talent that young people possess. / Image: via Facebook.
Although now some of them are 21, all of the honorees were 20 years old or younger during the selection process in 2013. Some of these remarkable young photographers include Rachel Baran, a “fine art photographer whose work centers around conceptual self-portraits,” and Alex Benetel, a Sydney-based photographer whose photography “captures mysterious yet dreamlike worlds, filled with oddities that encompass aspects of reality,” according to Flickr. At just 15 years old, Zev Hoover is the youngest 20 Under 20 honoree, whose work “tries to capture the beauty in loneliness, the beauty of being a very small person in a very big place.” All of the featured artists have inspiring portfolios and represent a new generation of photographers that are leading the pack.
Flickr is now accepting nominees for next year’s 20 Under 20. Learn more about the program and 2014 honorees by visiting Flickr’s 20 Under 20 page.