On February 23, the winners of the 2017 World Photographic Cup (WPC) were announced in Yokohama, Japan, with Portugal placing first, the United States second, and Russia third.
Twenty-six teams from four continents competed in the Cup, entering images into six categories: portrait, wedding, commercial, illustrative/digital art, reportage/photojournalism, and nature.
Created in 2013 through a partnership between the Federation of European Photographers and Professional Photographers of America (PPA), the Cup allows professional photographers to have their work evaluated by a group of international judges and to compete against the best of the best from around the world.
As with the Olympic Games, individual photographers stand to earn gold, silver, and bronze medals in the various categories. Teams are then awarded points based on where their teammates placed in the top 10 of each photography category. The team with the highest score secures first place.
Gold: Eelena Malsheva, Russia
View a gallery of the top 10 images in Portrait.
Gold: Pepe Soho, Mexio
View a gallery of the top 10 images in Nature.
Gold: Antti Karppinen, Finland
View a gallery of the top 10 images in Illustrative.
Gold: Goh Wee Seng, Singapore
View a gallery of the top 10 images in Reportage.
Gold: Lee Howell, United Kingdom
View a gallery of the top 10 images in Wedding.
Gold: Dušan Holovej, Slovakia
View a gallery of the top 10 images in Commercial.