This award-winning 'reaction' shot proves there's a lot more to sports photography than the action itself

Photograph titled 'Victory and Defeat', taken by Vladimir Tadic from Bosnia and Herzegovina and the winner of the Sports category of the 14th season of the HIPA (Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum International Photography Award) photography competition. Image description: In a boxing ring, a referee grips the wrists of two teenage girls, one of them about to be declared the winner. As the referee raises the victor's arm, she bursts into a moment of pure euphoria, her face lit with joy and triumph, realising that months of training, sacrifice and termination have led to this achievement. Beside her, the defeated opponent is overwhelmed by disappointment. Her body language speaks volumes, a mix of exhaustion, heartbreak and the sting of coming so close. Yet, in that contrast between joy and sorrow, lies the essence of competitive sport.

Despite masterfully capturing a decisive emotional moment after a boxing bout, Vladimir Tadic doesn't even consider himself to be a sports photographer – landscapes are his specialty.

But genre-swapping didn't stop him topping the Sports category in the fourteenth season of HIPA (the Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum International Photography Awards), which was themed 'Power'.