POTY, Grand prize. © Sebastiano Tomada

New York-based photographer Sebastiano Tomada has beaten thousands of other submissions to claim the grand prize of the tenth annual iPhone Photography Awards competition with a photo titled ‘Children of Qayyarah’.

Captured in Iraq, the shot shows children roaming the streets of Qayyarah near billowing columns of smoke created by Islamic State fighters burning oil wells. It was taken on an iPhone 6s.

Tomada is a respected photojournalist, having previously picked up a World Press Photographer of the Year award and the 2013 Humanitarian International Red Cross Visa d’or award. As Grand Prize winner, Tomada wins a brand new iPad Pro.

POTY, 1st place. © Brendan Ó Sé

POTY, 2nd place. © Yeow-Kwang Yeo

First, second and third place photographer of the year awards went to Brendan Ó Sé (Ireland), Yeow-Kwang Yeo (Singapore) and Kuanglong Zhang (China), respectively.

3rd place. © Kuanglong Zhang

Originally starting as a small competition, the iPhone Photography Award is, as the name implies, a competition for shots taken exclusively on iPhones. It was first set up in 2007 by Kenan Aktulun, who said: “We are amazed to see how the awards have grown from a small circle of people and friends of friends into a truly global audience with thousands of participants. In this time of political upheaval we feel very thankful to host such a truly diverse group of people and their view of the world.”

For the tenth anniversary of the competition, a special category was added: The America I Know, won by Juan Carlos Casteñeda of Astoria NY, USA. He wins an all-expenses paid trip to the 2017 Aspen Ideas Festival.

The America I Know, 1st place. © Juan Carlos Casteñeda

To see the all the winning images across 19 categories and learn more about the competition, visit www.ippawards.com. Below are some of our favourites.

Portrait, 1st place. © Gabriel Ribeiro

Nature, 1st place. © Aaron Sandberg

Animals, 1st place. © Francesca Tonegutti

Still Life, 1st place. © David Hayes

Floral, 1st place. © Sidney Po

People, 1st place. © Dina Alfasi

Landscape, 2nd place. © Sergey Pesterev

Lifestyle, 3rd place. © Chen Chung-Hung