For this particular award, photographers are judged against others from their country of origin, regardless of which of the 10 categories the photo was submitted to. This creates competition across various "open" categories, including portraits, architecture, nature, still life, and travel. Ultimately, the panel of judges must choose the best photo from each country, regardless of its subject matter.

Rounding the list of other first-place winners of this year’s National Award include AlešKomovec from Slovenia,

Alessandra Meniconzi from Switzerland,

Jian Seng Soh from Malaysia, 

Polpich Komson from Thailand,

Peter Svoboda from Slovakia

Khalid Alsabt from Saudi Arabia

Alexander Vinogradov from Russia

Andreas Hemb from Sweden

Kyaw Win Hlaing from Myanmar

Shabir Mian from Pakistan

Deveni Nishantha Manjula from Sri Lanka

Julian Walkner from Austria

Firos Syed from Quatar

Zani Arkadina from Ukraine

and Josselin Cornou from France