Red Bull Illume


Red Bull Illume is an international photography contest for adventure and action sports. It showcases the most creative and captivating photography on the planet and aims to bring the public closer to the world of adventure and action sports. In 2019, its fifth year, Red Bull Illume added two new categories: Best of Instagram, sponsored by SanDisk, and a Moving Image category. 59,551 images were submitted by thousands of photographers with entries from all around the world.
A judging panel of 50 photo editors and digital experts selected 60 Finalists, 11 Category Winners and 1 Overall Winner, which were unveiled at the Winner Award Ceremony at the LUMEN - Museum of Mountain Photography, Plan de Corones, Italy on November 20, 2019. The Overall Winner was Ben Thouard. The next Red Bull Illume Image Quest will take place in 2021.

Quotes on Red Bull Illume

This is the most incredible collection I have ever seen assembled in one place and it is one of the most phenomenal experiences I have had in my 17 years of photo editing.
– Anne Telford, Photo Editor of Communication
I think we all felt, finally, that our work was recognized as an art form thanks to the way Red Bull Illume showcased our images.
– Brian Bielmann, Photographer
Commitment, passion and daring are qualities necessary to persevere in action and adventure sports—they are also the required elements to effectively capture the action on film. The Red Bull Illume Image Quest spotlights the individual behind the camera, praising the triumphs achieved in action and adventure sports photography.
- Rangefinder Magazine

Red Bull Illume Image Quest 2019

The Image Quest 2019 was the fifth edition and has evolved with two exciting new categories; Best of Instagram by SanDisk and the Moving Image category. The Best of Instagram by SanDisk submissions closed on June 14, 2019, and the five monthly winners have already been announced; while entries for the Moving Image category and the other nine categories of the main contest were open until July 31, 2019. Photographers could all submit their best images on redbullillume.com.
In 2019, a record-breaking 59,551 images were submitted by thousands of photographers with entries from all around the world. A judging panel of 50 photo editors and digital experts have selected the 60 Finalists, 11 Category Winners and 1 Overall Winner, which were unveiled at the Winner Award Ceremony at the LUMEN - Museum of Mountain Photography, Plan de Corones, Italy on November 20, 2019. After the unveiling, all finalist images travel to capitals and cultural hubs on three continents in parallel on the Red Bull Illume Exhibit Tour – an unprecedented level of exposure. Presented on 2x2m T-shaped lightboxes provided by CCS digital_fabric.
Official partners for the 2019 Image Quest included Japanese consumer electronics giant Sony, storage specialists SanDisk, award-winning photo software company Skylum, makers of Luminar 4 photo editing suite and COOPH, photography apparel and accessories. Along with the global partners, Salewa, the daring mountain sports equipment manufacturer, Petzl, producer of innovative headlamps for outdoor enthusiasts and SUNNYBAG, manufacturer of environmentally friendly solar panels for charging on the go, also joined as partners for the Winner Award Ceremony 2019.

Category Winners 2019

The 2016 Red Bull Illume Image Quest was the fourth edition of the contest after 2007, 2010 and 2013. New for 2016 was the mobile category. A judging panel of 53 photo editors went through thousands of entries and eventually selected 11 Category Winners and one Overall Winner, who were unveiled at the Red Bull Illume on September 28th, 2016 in Chicago, USA. Lorenz Holder took home the Overall Winner, making this the second time he has won Red Bull Illume Image Quest, as well as winning the Athlete's Choice Award, which was voted on by several of the biggest athletes in their respective sports. Following the Winner Award Ceremony in Chicago, all 55 finalist images will travel across the world as part of a unique nighttime photo exhibition.
Submissions were open from December 1, 2015 and closed on April 1, 2016. Over 5,000 photographers originating from 120 different countries submitted 34,624 photos in the following categories:
The 55 finalist images are traveling across the world as part of a unique Lightbox Exhibition. The images are displayed on public squares in different cities across the globe. The first Tour Stop was held in Chicago. After that, Union Station's Sir John A MacDonald Plaza in Toronto was hosting the exhibit. There are further Tour Stops planned in the famous Hangar 7 in Salzburg, Austria and Azerbaijan. More Tour Stops will be announced.
Official partners for 2016 include online retailer Yodobashi, consumer electronics giant Sony, external storage brand G-Technology, photo bag manufacturer tamrac, lighting experts broncolor and Memento Smart FrameTM.

Red Bull Illume Image Quest 2013

The submission phase of the third edition of Red Bull Illume was open from December 1, 2012 until April 30, 2013. The 50 finalists were unveiled on August 29, 2013 at a ceremony at the Avenue of Stars in Hong Kong. The overall winner was Lorenz Holder whose image of snowboarder Xaver Hoffmann performing a jump at a satellite dish in Raisting, Germany was selected by an international panel of 50 photo experts, winning him a Leica S camera, a broncolor Move Outdoor kit as well as Sun-Sniper gear worth over €2,000.
Following the Winner's Award Ceremony in Hong Kong, during which the Top 50 finalists were unveiled, the images of the 50 finalists traveled the world as an exhibition tour during 2013/2014. The exhibited images were illuminated on 2x2m light-boxes; to showcase this, the exhibition was strictly open after the sun had set. The exhibition toured the cities of Hong Kong, Scottsdale, Vancouver, Atlanta, Cologne, Copenhagen, Göteborg and Salzburg.
The 2013 Red Bull Illume Image Quest was the 3rd edition of the competition. Submissions were open from December 1 2012 until April 30 2013.
Photographers could submit images to the following categories:
The submission phase of the second edition of Red Bull Illume opened from October 1, 2009 until February 28, 2010. The 50 finalists were unveiled on August 31, 2010 at a ceremony in Trinity College Dublin, Ireland. The overall winner was Chris Burkard whose image of surfer Peter Mendia off Chile's west coast was selected by an international panel of 53 photo experts, winning him a Leica S2 camera worth €30,000. The exhibition then toured the cities of Houston, Charleston, Miami, Denver, Salzburg and Bern.
Photographers could submit images to the following categories:
The first edition of the Image Quest In 2007 resulted in 2,000 established and amateur photographers from over 90 different countries submitting more than 7,500 images. They were judged by a panel of expert photo editors such as Kari Stein of Sports Illustrated, Paul Sanders of The Times and Nick Hamilton of Transworld Snowboarding.
The subsequent exhibition tour showcased the 50 finalist images in exceptional outdoor venues across North America, e.g. on the slopes of Aspen or Huntington Beach Pier.

Category Winners 2007

In PlayStation Home, Red Bull released a virtual themed space for the Red Bull Illume on November 26, 2009. It is an exhibition of adventure and action sports photographs from Red Bull Illume. The winning photograph from each of the competition’s ten categories is displayed on large illuminate cubes, imitating the real-life exhibit. There is also an exit to the Red Bull Air Race space and the Red Bull Beach space which features the Red Bull Flugtag.