35 Incredible Finalist Photos from the Agora Awards 2019

Long exposure sunset shot in the District in the city of Groningen, Netherlands (Anskar Lenzen/AGORA images)

Free social app AGORA helps connect photographers around the world. By participating in weekly photo contests, more than 3.5 million users share their love of making incredible imagery. Both amateur and professional photographers make use of the platform, which empowers them to show their work to the world. Now, after 9 months of competition and over 130,000 submissions, the finalists for the AGORA Awards 2019 have been announced.

It's the app's most important contest of the year, with the winner taking home $25,000 and a trip to Barcelona for the awards ceremony. The top 50 finalists have been selected and now it's up to the public to decide who will win. In keeping with the democratic nature of the app, all users can vote on their favorite photograph and have a say in who takes home the ultimate prize.

Unlike many contests, the AGORA Awards 2019 doesn't have categories. Instead, photographers are encouraged to submit their single best photograph. As such, the entries are varied and include haunting portraits, stunning landscapes, and incredible pieces of photojournalism. AGORA's international nature is apparent in the makeup of the finalists, which touch all corners of the globe. The United States, Ghana, Indonesia, Vietnam, Spain, the United Kingdom, and Uruguay are just some of the countries represented by the top 50.

“The AGORA Awards 2019 is an international show that anyone, anywhere, can join in,” shares AGORA CEO and founder Octavi Royo. “We're proposing something completely new and unseen; we want everyone to participate in this creative revolution because we believe everyone's point of view is important. Watching, participating, voting: together we can change the course of photography.”

View all of the top 50 finalists for the AGORA Awards 2019 on the AGORA blog. Voting is open until September 30, 2019 and can be done via the app, which is available for download on iOS and Android. The winner will be announced on November 6, 2019, via a live-streamed ceremony.

Check out some of the top 50 finalists from the AGORA Awards 2019.

Young monks having fun in Hsinbyume Pagoda (Ling Ling/AGORA images)

A woman makes traditional umbrellas at a factory in Mandalay, Myanmar. The production of a traditional umbrella cannot be done by a single person or within a day: there is a division of labor in the making of a single umbrella. Each worker is responsible for different parts to finish one umbrella. (Aung ThuYa/AGORA images)

The professional wildlife photographer took this photo in Antarctica, where crabeater seals use the ice to rest after their meals. (Florian Ledoux/AGORA images)

In Vietnam, incense is known to connect living people with ancestors and gods. When you burn incense, you're communicating with the gods. (Khánh Phan/AGORA images)

Shot taken at the Madrid safari. (Sara Pinto Marin/AGORA images)

The photographer wanted to display the cordial relationship between a man and a beast (Clement Eastwood/AGORA images)

The photographer wanted to portray the equality between two human beings (Diego Campomar/AGORA images)

More than a photo – an unspoken struggle for freedom and belonging. (Michael Aboya/AGORA images)

The shot was taken from a high dune in Morocco, where Nomads are moving through the Sahara desert.(Carles Alonso/AGORA images)

Winter shot from Mongolia (Zay Yar Lin/AGORA images)

Vertical panorama of Paris' Arc de Triomphe, where 12 avenues come together (Henry Do/AGORA images)

More than 2-hour wait for this photographer to capture this photo at the Tenerife zoo (Santiago López/AGORA images)

Batik making in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. Batik is a technique of wax-resist dyeing applied to whole cloth. The lady pictured has been mastering this art for the past 35 years. With this picture, the photographer hopes to keep this tradition alive. (Bimo Pradityo/AGORA images)