Where the Umbrella Waits

Photographer

Marcel van Beek

Category

Black & White Photography - Symbolic

Company

Submission Group

Professional

Year

2026

Country / Region:

Germany

Where the Umbrella Waits follows a closed garden umbrella through five states of presence, from quiet neglect to charged activation. Seen first through the misted surface of a bathroom window, the umbrella appears as a dormant figure suspended between inside and outside, shelter and abandonment. As the sequence moves outward, its form becomes clearer, rougher and more unsettled, as if weather, time and disuse had gradually altered it from object into sentient presence. Loosely drawing on the Japanese figure of the umbrella spirit, the series imagines the neglected umbrella not simply as a symbol, but as a being that suffers, gathers tension and prepares to awaken. Tonal inversion marks the turning point: the image world shifts, unease intensifies, and the umbrella seems to pass from waiting into activation. In the final work, released from the narrow space of the terrace and set against an open sky, it emerges as a luminous, fully charged apparition — no longer forgotten, but ready.

More Honourable Mentions Winners
Professional
2026

Galeries Lafayette Ceiling

Photographer / Company

Glenn Goldman

Category

Architecture Photography - Symmetry

Country / Region

United States

Professional
2026

Tree of Endurance

Photographer / Company

Peter Lik

Category

Fine Art Photography - Landscape

Country / Region

United States

Professional
2026

A Colorful Afternoon

Photographer / Company

Emily Buzon

Category

Commercial Photography - Food & Beverage

Country / Region

United States

Professional
2026

Shared Gaze

Photographer / Company

Huiyi Yin

Category

Fine Art Photography - Abstract

Country / Region

China