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The Mark Gunter Photo Awards are back!

Celebrating the best cycling photography of 2023

wade wallace
by wade wallace 11.12.2023 More from wade +

As 2023 draws to a close, it’s time for one of the highlights of our year to take place – the Mark Gunter Photographer of the Year Awards (MGPA).

The MGPA’s are an annual event held in honour of Mark Gunter (June 10, 1974 – November 29, 2015). Mark was a widely respected and popular photographer in the cycling community who tragically died of oesophageal cancer, leaving behind a wife and young son, as well as a portfolio of amazing work.

Mark Gunter in his element

In partnership with Mark’s wife, Leeanne Gatien, we want to continue to honour Mark and let his name live on through an award that would grow in prestige every year – a way of commemorating Mark’s contribution to the community and to shine a spotlight on the best cycling photographs of each year.

Past editions of the awards have been an outstanding success, with thousands of amazing submissions, and the past seven years that the awards continue to built on that legacy. This year marks the eighth running of the MGPA, and we can’t wait to see what 2023 has in store.

There are two categories that photographers can enter, giving everyone a chance to take part – Professional and Amateur. The only requirement is that the photo has a connection with cycling. However, we exclude the disciplines that fall under the umbrella of gravity mountain biking (downhill and enduro), as there are competitions better suited for those photographers out there. Please see submission guidelines here.

The Awards this year will be judged by a panel of professional photographers who will determine the winners in each of the categories.

In the Professional category, there’s both prestige and the perpetual trophy to compete for. Meanwhile, the Amateur category will be in the running for some fantastic prizes from our generous sponsor Wahoo. We thank them for their ongoing support in donating these prizes for this competition.

Of course, the prizes are just one reason to get involved in the Mark Gunter Photographer of the Year Awards. There’s a greater good at the core of the competition – funds raised from entry fees ($16USD/$25AUD/£13/€15 per entry) will be donated towards cancer research through Tour de Cure, and financially help promising young cyclists through Young Cyclist Assistance Award – a cause close to Mark’s heart.

For the first week of the competition, we’ll be running an early-bird promotion, allowing you to enter five images per entry (instead of three). We’ll be featuring posts on Instagram under the hashtag #markgunterphotoawards2023, and will publish a couple of galleries on the site showcasing our favourites throughout the competition.

Entries are open now, and will close at midnight on January 6th (ADST), with winners to be announced on January 13th. We look forward to seeing your photos!

***To encourage early entries, for the first week entrants can submit 5 photos into the competition. After the first 7 days 3 photos can be submitted per entrant. ***

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Prizes

Amateur prizes:

Thanks to the ongoing generosity of Wahoo who have provided amateur category prizes for this competition in many past editions, they have volunteered again to support the amateur category.

1st place: KICKR MOVE and KICKR CLIMB. The MOVE is the bike trainer allows your bike to move naturally for a more comfortable and realistic riding experience than ever before. The CLIMB which physically adjusts bike position to mimic real roads and mountain climbs up to 20%.
2nd place: Speedplay POWRLINK Pedals. Built on the iconic Speedplay Pedal System, POWRLINK ZERO power pedal delivers reliably accurate power and cadence data in convenient pedal system.
3rd place: ELEMNT ROAM. The new ELEMNT ROAM, Wahoo’s best GPS cycling computer that is packed with features that turn any ride into an adventure. With a 64 color display and a long lasting battery make it easier than ever to stay on course longer and explore further.

Professional prizes:

We celebrate and recognise Professional photographers with the Mark Gunter perpetual trophy and medallions. 

1st Place  The Mark Gunter Photographer of the Year Award perpetual trophy + gold medallion

2nd Place The Mark Gunter Photographer of the Year Award silver medallion

3rd Place  The Mark Gunter Photographer of the Year Award bronze medallion

Every year the trophy gets passed onto the Winner, and your name will forever be a part of the Awards.

The winners honour roll:

2022: Bram Berkien

2021     Sean Hardy (United Kingdom)
2020     Chris Auld (United Kingdom)
2019     Alex Broadway (United Kingdom)
2018     Dario Belingheri (Italy)
2017     Tim Bardsley-Smith (Australia)
2016     Wouter Roosenboom (Netherlands)

Judges

Each year we are fortunate to have some of the best photographic eyes in the world be the ones who chose the best submitted photographs of 2023. This year they are:

Rupert Hartley: Rupert’s photography has featured on the front of every major print news outlet in the UK and many around the world, from the New York Times to Newsweek. He has been recognised and exhibited by the UK Picture Editors Guild, and had his work was requested by the late Queen of England for a private family collection.  These days he is the cofounder the British cycling brand Albion where much of his work can be found.
Jeff Curtes: Jeff was at at the forefront of the snowboarding industry’s imagery since his first published images back in 1992. A legend of a man and in the snowboarding world, he was Burton Snowboards’ Principal Photographer until 2012, and will always be a keen cyclist.
Alex Broadway: Alex is an awarded sports photographer, heralding from London, and a citizen of the globe. Alex can be seen at the side of the road of every cycling event, camera in hand of course. Alex was recently awarded the Winner of the Specialist Portfolio in the British Sports Journalism Awards and the winner of the L’Equipe Prix Richard Martin award in 2022. Alex won the Mark Gunter Photo Awards in 2019 and we welcome him to the judging panel in 2023.
Russ Ellis: Russ is among the top World Tour cycling photographers, and his images are on the cutting edge of cycling photography. He is well known by cyclists, and fans alike. Russ two hobbies are cycling and photography, so combining them are a dream come true for Russ. He’s from the UK but during the racing season he packs up and goes where the races go.
Bram Berkien: Bram was last year’s competition winner in the professional category with this magnificent photo. Ben is not exclusively a cycling photographer, but better described as an active lifestyle photographer. Some of his clients include PSV Eindhoven, ING, adidas, Team Jumbo-Visma, Nationale Nederlanden and other brands and sports magazines. 
Gem Atkinson: Gem is a fabulous addition to our judging panel. She’s a current Photo Editor for Bloomberg, previously worked for Getty Images, and will have poured over millions of photos throughout her career. Gem is also a keen cyclist (riding a bit less these days but enjoys her city riding), was one of Rapha’s original ambassadors, and it’s wonderful to reconnect with her in this competition.
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Submission guidelines and rules

You can find the rules here.

Young Cyclist Assistance Award

It’s a part of the MPGA that we’re really proud of. We give up to two young cyclists the chance to be awarded AUD$1,000 to help them in their cycling career.

Past nominees such as Luke Plapp, Sarah Gigante and Maeve Plouff have gone on to successful World Tour careers.

Helping youngsters live their dreams was one of Mark’s passions and this is our way of keeping that alive.

You can submit your nomination for the Young Cyclist Assistance award here!

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