Update
Winning Photos Reveal Palette, Artistry of Construction Sites

Judges (l to r) Rubin, Scarano, Grundfast, Heinlein and Minutillo reviewed more than 1,100 submitted photos to arrive at just a few dozen winners.
Readers of ENR really responded to the call to submit photographic work that captures the spirit and action of constructing the built environment. Both longtime submitters and newcomers across the globe sent more than 1,100 images for ENR’s annual Year in Construction Photo Contest issue. In these pages, you can study images shot by professionals using state-of-the-art equipment, from high-end DSLRs to drones to the latest in image processing, as well as those by project employees using just smartphones and a frontline connection to work missions and challenges.
The formidable task of selecting just 42 winners and 16 honorable mentions rested with this year’s capable panel of judges, who assembled in ENR’s offices in the Empire State Building in December: Justin Grundfast, creative director and head of brand and design, STV; Carl Heinlein, senior safety consultant, American Contractors Insurance Group; Josephine Minutillo, editor-in-chief, Architectural Record; Debra K. Rubin, ENR deputy editor, global business and energy; and Laura Scarano, film producer, Mille Fleurs Media. ENR Senior Art Director Scott Hilling and I guided the proceedings.
“Serving as a judge for ENR’s photo contest was a blast,” says Grundfast. “What surprised me most was how powerfully the winning photos used a single image to tell a compelling story about the projects. Staying focused on the craft and intent is what truly made them stand out.”
Minutillo says “the human aspect of these photos was for me the most striking. Even among heavy machinery, massive infrastructure and dangerous construction sites, what stands out always is the people.”
Heinlein was most impressed by “the variety of submissions and all the amazing things that construction companies from around the world are doing to improve people’s lives.” He also served another important role: “keeping a keen eye on the safety and health exposures to ensure that employees were properly protected.”
Rubin, who has judged photo contests before for ENR, points to the scope of global projects captured” and the “amount of detail many photographers know and share about them.” She adds that advances in portable photographic tech bolster confidence among pros and amateurs alike and “stretch their risk-taking to produce never-before-seen views of project action, or a striking close-up of someone on site who labors every day, unseen or unheralded, to make them happen.”
Looking for quick answers on construction and engineering topics?
Try Ask ENR, our new smart AI search tool.
Ask ENR →



