/ 2026 / Portraiture / Children

• Prize
  Honorable Mention
• Photographer
  Joseph Voigts, United States
• Date of Photograph
  December 7, 2025
• Website
  https://www.joevoigts.com/photographer
• Instagram
  https://www.instagram.com/joe.voigts/

Local kids leapt from a nearby haystack to swing on vines hanging from the sacred banyan tree in Bodhgaya, India where Buddha is said to have resisted the temptations of Mara, my pilgrimage irresistibly converted to play by their boisterous energy.

Photographing the 80 countries I have visited has helped me instill empathy as a university English teacher in places like Bangladesh, South Korea, Israel, the U.S., Spain, and Morocco. Currently, I teach at a university in China, where I share the portraits and stories of the incredible people and places I have encountered around the world who have changed my life.