Renu Manjappa wins the Eindhoven Photography Challenge
Renu had no plans to enter a photography competition that day. He met another photographer at Eindhoven Central Station to buy a 75mm lens, bringing only his camera body to test it. After the seller left, Renu missed his train towards Geldrop and faced a wait of around half an hour.
Inside the station, the lowering sun cast long strips of golden light across the floor. Passengers walked through the light and disappeared into the shadows. Without his usual wide-angle lens, Renu reached for his phone.
“For me, the composition was right there staring at me.”
He took around 30 to 40 photographs that evening. In the final frame, two people move in opposite directions, one entering the station and the other leaving. That balance made the image work. Editing was minimal: just a slight crop and a small adjustment to the contrast. “Because the whole atmosphere was right there,” Renu explains.
Why this image stood out to the judges
Four judges assessed the entries, with the jury contributing 60% of the final score and the normalised public vote accounting for 40%. Renu's Silhouettes of the City of Light received the highest jury score of any entry: 90 out of 100. With 106 public voting points, his overall score was 81.35.
It was a close result. Antony Edilbert received the most public voting points, 155, for Sunlight swan song ft Eindhoven. His final score of 80.13 secured second place. The two photographs demonstrate the value of combining jury and public votes: one led the judges' rankings, while the other was the clear public favourite.
“If the theme is Eindhoven, I want to see straight away what the photograph has to do with Eindhoven.”
That also sums up Roy van der Wens's advice for future challenges: let the subject come through in the photograph itself. Viewers should not need a written explanation to understand the link with Eindhoven. Of all the creative submissions, Renu's photograph was the one that impressed him most.
A compelling photograph does not need complicated equipment
Winning with a phone reflects Renu's approach to photography. Equipment can help, but light, timing and composition matter more. When photographing on the street, he looks for human moments, often keeping people anonymous by capturing them as silhouettes, from behind or within a wider city scene.
Eindhoven Central Station almost becomes a character in the photograph. The commuters, low sunlight and recognisable station interior immediately connect the scene with the city. That combination of place and moment is what made the image so convincing to the jury.
The top 20
Search by photographer or title, or sort by jury and public scores. The final ranking is based on 60% jury score and 40% normalised public score.
Antony Edilbert: the public's favourite
While Renu topped the jury rankings, Antony Edilbert became the public favourite. His photograph Sunlight swan song ft Eindhoven received 155 public voting points. Antony captured the scene in 2021, during the pandemic, while out buying groceries. He spotted the vivid sky and reflections and quickly reached for his OnePlus phone. Within a minute or two, the colours had disappeared. He barely edited the photograph.
The enthusiastic public response surprised him. Antony now also shoots with a camera, but the award reinforced his belief that noticing a special moment matters more than which device you use to capture it.
From the results to your next photograph
The challenge was about more than choosing a winner. It encouraged people to look at Eindhoven with fresh eyes. Both the overall winner and the public favourite show how timing, a sense of place and a personal perspective can outweigh expensive equipment. That is the idea behind the challenge: Your Eindhoven. Your perspective.
The award presentation took place at Cameranu Eindhoven on Friday 6 November 2026, bringing the photographers behind the entries into the spotlight.
Three more reasons to get out with your camera
Your photography journey doesn't have to end with one competition. There are more opportunities in the ECC calendar to experiment, meet other makers and discover new sides of Eindhoven.
13 November 2026GLOW in the Dark PhotowalkExplore light art, colour and night photography during GLOW Eindhoven.View the event
21 November 2026Colour Hunt ChallengeDiscover your assigned colour and find four unexpected photographs around Eindhoven.View the event
21 November 2026Macro PhotographyDiscover the small details you might otherwise miss at Landgoed de Wielewaal.View the event
Thank you to our volunteers and sponsors
This challenge was made possible by our volunteer working group. Thank you for your time, ideas and all the work behind the scenes. We are also grateful to CameraNu and Hope Pizza for their support as sponsors, and to everyone who entered, judged or voted. Together, you have shown Eindhoven through so many different eyes.
Feel like creating, exploring and sharing more often?
Eindhoven Creative Community is free to join and non-commercial. Photographers, filmmakers and other creatives organise photowalks, shoots, challenges and meet-ups in and around Eindhoven.
Would you like a calendar featuring the challenge photographs?
We are exploring the idea of a yearly calendar featuring a selection of the submitted photographs. The aim is to raise money for a good cause, not to make a profit. Nobody will earn anything from it. After any necessary printing and delivery costs, all proceeds would go to Stichting ALS Nederland.
Would you be interested?
This is an interest survey, not an order. We do not ask for personal details; responses are used only to assess whether the calendar is feasible. You can vote once per browser.