The Best Portraits from the Pexels Community

This summer, we teamed up with Fujifilm and the global photo community Pursuit of Portraits on a contest open to photographers worldwide.

We wanted to see the best, most creative portraits, and our community delivered—our challenge received over 19,000 submissions! Selecting a winner was no easy task.

Our curation team chose a unique portrait by Ugandan photographer Dazzle Jam, who receves a Fujifilm X-T30 mirrorless camera as his prize. The vibrant colors and inventive composition of this portrait made it stand out from the crowd.

We spoke to Dazzle Jam about the story behind his winning photo. And because there were just so many beautiful portraits submitted to this challenge, we couldn't resist sharing some more of our favorites with you here.

Dazzle Jam, Global Winner

Where are you based and what do you do?

I am an all-round photographer—mainly do lifestyle photography—based in Kampala, Uganda, Africa. I earn a living mainly through photography. I am a CEO at a media house called DJP SERIES, which provides photography and videography services.

How did you get into photography?

Well I was born and raised an artist, loved drawing (fine art) in high school and imagination photography was one of my best. That's why people can relate to my images easily for they fomulate their own stories.

When I was young had always dreamed of owning an art gallery, so a friend of mine Shillar invited me to work in a studio as a fixer. When I got a chance to hold the camera in 2012, I saw it was an easy way to draw a subject. Since then I never backed down.

What's the story behind your winning photo—how did you get this shot?

I shot different models with different colors. I have a friend of mine, Deriq, who does painting, so we formulated that concept as a way to promote his painting skills as well as the models involved. We had a bathtub filled with water, we mixed the water with pink paint, Deriq did the painting according to the agreed design. We then poured fresh purple flowers into the mixture, so the model was immersed in the bathtub and could only see the face.

Follow Dazzle Jam on Pexels and on Instagram @dazzle_jam.