Food Photographer of the Year 2016

With plumes of flour jumping high into the air, this image of a baker kneading dough has, says food critic and chairman of the judges Jay Rayner, "a lovely structural element to it".

"It's a scene that gives you the smell of the bakery before the ovens are turned on."

Rayner and nearly 40 other judges decided the photo - by Mark Benham - should be the overall winner of the competition.

"In the end, it normally comes down to three or four photos which particularly arouse opinion. It's down to the content - do they speak to the question of food? And how well do they tell their own stories?"

Scroll and see which other images made the judges' final selection.

Kids' table - by Lucy Pope (UK)

Winner of the Food Sn-apping category

"This category is for images taken on phones, and there were a lot of us who thought this was terrific of its kind," says Rayner.

"The one thing we obsessed about was how high above their heads this photographer had to get - because there is quite a lot of distance. I am almost suspicious they were on a stepladder. But it works. "

Octopus on Ice - by Petra Novotna (Czech Republic)

Winner of the Cream of the Crop category

"It's an octopus flat on a tray of ice, it did make us laugh, because there's always an octopus," says Rayner. "There's just something about the dear old octopus that presents itself for photographers."

"As a competition like this heads into maturity, it can start to develop its own cliches. But remember, things become cliches because they do their job very well."

Treasure of the Sea - by Olimpia Davies

Winner of the Food Bloggers category

"We talked about this one an awful lot," says Rayner of this next image - which also includes an octopus. "We have some tentacles, and then a big tangle of squid ink pasta.

"Really I don't know whether you would want to eat this, or wear it as a hat. It's a very striking image, but it starts to take you away from food. You could put it on your wall and enjoy it a lot. I am not sure though that you would actually want to eat it."

The Grand Kitchen - by Shoeb Faruqee (Bangladesh)

Winner of the Champagne Taittinger Food for Celebration category

"A very narrow landscape in a smoky room, showing a major cooking operation for a lot of people," says Rayner. "There are huge cauldrons, and there's a very deep umber brown, painterly quality to this. And that divided the judges, some thought it a bit too murky."

"But one of the acute details, in the right hand corner, a chap with only one arm cooking over a brazier. He's there, and that's what he does. It's a terrific photograph."

Go home - by Viktoriia Moskalenko (Ukraine)

Winner of the Bring Home the Harvest category

"We have a shepherd and a big herd of sheep walking on a flat dusty path," says Rayner. "And the thing is, the man has his back to the camera - he's tired, he's walking away - but his dog has turned and is staring the camera down.

"We loved this image, but we wondered to what degree it spoke about food. That's always an issue when you have live animals in these images."

Appreciate every piece - by Marcin Jucha (UK)

Winner of the Politics of Food category

"There are three guys preparing meat in Cuba - one is holding a pigs head. It's a grimy, grimy room - and they are doing it to the very end of the animal," explains Rayner.

"They are overseen by an image of Jesus on the wall. The bottles on the table have the quality of an altar, with the light casting a shadow. It's an unattractive space, from which has emerged a quite extraordinarily beautiful photograph.

"I think it's very much a statement - in a time of poverty, you take every bit of the food you can."

Salmon still life - by Susan Bell (UK)

Winner of the Production Paradise Food off the Press category

"It's very sculptural this, very beautiful," says Rayner of this winning image from a category for previously published work.

"It does make you think - what can I do with these ingredients? Very stark, very simple."

(BBC)