/ 2025 / Portraiture / Culture

• Prize
  Honorable Mention
• Photographer
  Athanasios Maloukos, Greece
• Website
  https://maloukos.com/
• Instagram
  @a.maloukos

Rooted in Konya, spiritual heart of Anatolia and home to Rumi’s tomb, the Sema ceremony remains a living expression of Sufism. Dervishes whirl not for spectacle, but as a sacred act of remembrance — a disciplined journey toward divine unity.

The Şeyh, spiritual guide and representative of Allah, serves as the ceremonial axis — the grounding presence around which the ritual unfolds. Each phase holds meaning: the bow of initiation, the whirl of transcendence, and the stillness of prayer.

Although a Civil Engineer by profession, he turned out to be an amateur travel photographer having traveled to numerous countries around the world such as Ethiopia, India, Burkina Faso, Indonesia, Cote d'Ivoire, China, Democratic Republic of Congo, Bolivia, Brazil, Papua New Guinea, Mali, Benin, Haiti, Cuba etc. His main goal is to capture the uniqueness of the local cultures and the life of the people in the most remote places of our world. Recently graduated Anthropology of Religions at UCLA.

Awards His pictures have been awarded multiple awards in many prestigious photo competitions and have been published in many books and magazines.
Best New Talent of the Year, PX3
Portraiture Photographer of the Year PX3
1st place, IPA awards
Discovery of the Year, Finalist, IPA awards
1st place, Chromatic Awards
Travel Photographer of the Year, Judges Choice
Numerous Honorable Mentions, IPA awards
Masters Cup, Honorable Mentions, Nominee
Exposure Awards, Finalist
Photographer’s Forum Magazine, Finalist
ND Awards, Honorable Mention
Global Photo Travel Contest, Honorable Mentions