Editor’s Choice
Editor’s Choice is an editorial recognition presented by Vivek Verma, Chief-Editor of Creative Zyne magazine, . The selections highlight 3 underrated photographic work under each category that personally resonated with him, purely for its aesthetics and intrigue, beyond the technicalities.
This highly curated selection reflects his individual artistic perspective and is intended to celebrate the photographic voices that align strongly with the magazine’s editorial vision and philosophy.
Editor’s Choice is independent of the jury process and does not form part of the official awards hierarchy, rankings, or competitive evaluation.
Aerial
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- Timea Ambrus ( Hungary)
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- Pawel Zygmunt (Ireland)
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- Haris Shahzad (UK)
LAndscape
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- Olga Arune (Czech)
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- George Digalakis (Greece)
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- Mehdi Parsaeian (Iran)
MINIMALISM
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- Mostafa Nodeh (Iran)
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- Stefan Lenz (Austria)
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- Atul Saluja (United States)
ABSTRACT
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- Tomas Salac (Czech)
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- Mahdi Vaghari (Iran)
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- Himadri Bhuyan (India)
architecture
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- Stefan Lenz (Austria)
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- Anitha Mysore (India)
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- Bernd Gantert (Germany)
SPORTS & Adventure
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- Andre Magarao (Brazil)
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- Blatti Jeremy ( Switzerland)
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- Reza Danyanyan (Iran)
TRAVEL
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- Antonio Flores García (México)
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- Kirill Nikitin (UK)
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- Saurabh Sirohiya (India)
WILDLIFE & MACRO
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- Conor Moore (Australia)
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- Eman Abdelkader (Egypt)
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- Erfan Samanfar (Iran)
Street PORTRAIT
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- Kirill Nikitin (UK)
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- Radoslaw Kopczynski (Poland)
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- Cliff Mogere (Kenya)
PORTRAITURE
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- Hanan Elmahmoudy
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- Liling Cui (UK)
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- Monica Sperandio (France)
Self-portrait
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- Shabnam Maleki (Iran)
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- Parisa Motamedy (Iran)
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- Chim Oanh (Vietnam)
FASHION
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- Sajjad Rahimi (Iran)
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- Dr. Arunima Ghosh (India)
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- Laurenz Heymann (Sweden)
WEDDING
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- Pouya Shahjahany (Iran)
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- Samane Fakhar (Iran)
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- Majid Hojati (Iran)
DECISIVE MOMENT (STREET)
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- Shirkoo Mamagha (Iran)
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- Arnab Biswas (India)
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- Kirill Nikitin (UK)
Photojournalism
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- Ahmed Eleryan (Egypt)
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- Alsyed Alsadny (Egypt)
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- Abbas Valadi (Iran)
URBANSCAPE
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- Radoslaw Kopczynski (Poland)
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- Stefan Lenz (Austria)
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- Hosein Tahavori (Iran)
Conceptual Photography
Project Title:
Are we two strangers now?
Photographer: Rik Roos
Country: Netherlands
Are we two strangers now? explores the human consequences when intimacy and trust abruptly turns into distance. The series stems from the personal experience of being ghosted — the sudden, one-sided ending of all contact by a loved one — but expands to a broader reflection on the fragility of human bonds in a hyperconnected yet emotionally distant society. Are we two strangers now? captures moments of disorientation, shame, and isolation, showing how disconnection reverberates through the body, the domestic space, and everyday routines. The project examines how digital and social ties shape resilience, belonging, and the ability to navigate fragile interpersonal relationships.
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- Rik Roos (Netherlands)
Photographer: Rufai Ismaila
Country: Nigeria
As an editor of this magazine, I always look for aesthetics first—but that’s just where the eye starts, not where the heart stops. What I’m really hunting for is something I haven’t seen a hundred times before, something that steps outside the noise of trends and the comfort of the mainstream. I want to feel the artist in the work—their fingerprints, their refusal to follow the rules everyone else follows. ZIPA 2026 humbled me. It forced me to sit with beliefs I’d held for years without question, and take them apart. Every category made me look again at genres I thought I understood. The Editor’s Choice are simply the pieces that stayed with me—my favorites from more than 10,000 submissions across 65 countries. To everyone who submitted: thank you for trusting us with your work, and congratulations. It moved me.
Vivek Verma
Chief-Editor Creative Zyne | Founder, ZIPA