The Red Bull Illume contest gathers the cream of action sports photographers together for an exhibition and awards ceremony. Over the past year, nearly 23,000 images were submitted for consideration, the top 50 of which can now be seen at a special gallery at Trinity College in Dublin. But if you can’t make it over to Ireland, check them out here…!

Fifty-three judges from around the world voted to find the photos that stood out most for their composition, creativity and artistic flair. The judges voted for ten category winners and one overall winner. American lensman Chris Burkard was awarded the overall prize for his incredible landscape surf shot (the featured image above) taking away a Leica S2 camera and lenses that in his words is “probably worth more than my house!” (the body alone costs £20,000).

The open-air exhibition runs until September 11 and is free to the public. “Why Illume?” I hear you ask. The top 50 images are mounted on lightboxes and were revealed at the ceremony under cover of darkness (pretty cool eh?). And every evening after sunset, the images illuminate the front square of the university.

Category Winners:

Experimental – Daniel Grund (GER)
New Creativity – Eric Berger (CAN)
SanDisk Sequence – Miguel Lopez-Virgen (MEX)
Energy – Stuart Gibson (AUS)
Illumination – Chris Burkhard (USA)
Playground – Tim Korbmacher (GER)
Culture – Vincent Perraud (FRA)
Spirit – Adam Kokot (POL)
Wings – Marcel Lämmerhirt (GER)
Close up – Nathan Smith (AUS)

Overall Winner: Chris Burkhard (USA)