GuardianWitness is the Guardian's user-generated content platform, which launched in April 2013 in partnership with digital communications company EE.
Since its launch just under one year ago, 28,000 users from every continent on the planet have submitted over 60,000 contributions through the platform, with over 10 million page views on the desktop and apps to date.
From groundbreaking art and agenda-setting journalism, to compelling human interest stories and pet pictures, the breadth and variety of content is testament to the values that power GuardianWitness - transparency, public participation and a global, digital-first outlook, says the Guardian.
The GuardianWitness Awards were created to showcase this ethos and to celebrate its users, and at a ceremony on Thursday 27 March, winners were announced across nine categories, with one overall winner crowned EE Contributor of the Year.
The top honour on the night, the EE Contributor of the Year award, was presented to Andy Luck, collecting on behalf of himself and co-director George Tymvios, for their short film, Pasty Child, which also won the Best short film award. This quirky animated short, which follows the growing pains of a young girl with a pasty for a head, was praised by judges as "absurdist and dark yet warm and sympathetic" with "a simplicity and clarity that's always welcome."
The News contribution of the year award went to a photo taken at the scene of the Woolwich murder, which was captured by an anonymous bystander who chose to collect the award under the name Vince Lee. One judge described the picture as "the purest definition of the word 'witness'."
Other winners included Exhausted seal pup sheltering among mounds of plastic waste by Claire Wallerstein, winner of the Bigger picture award, and Soar by Souvid Datta, winner of Best original still.
Speaking about the awards, Clare Margetson - the Guardian's network editor and chair of the awards judging panel - said: "The overall winner demonstrates a fantastically exciting way of using GuardianWitness. This was about creativity rather than journalism. And that's something we feel strongly about - just as the Guardian as a whole has a fine history of supporting the creative arts in so many forms, so GuardianWitness should showcase not just journalism but the creative arts as well.
"The winner combined ingenious tech, a singular aesthetic, perfect characterisation, a brilliant compressed narrative and pitch-black humour. Its 180 seconds stay with you as long as many full-length movies."
Spencer McHugh, Director of Brand at EE, said: "Congratulations to all of tonight's winners. We're extremely proud of this innovative partnership. Open journalism has thrived on the public's ability to document and share news as it happens, quicker than ever before, and our record-breaking roll out of 4G across the country supports this growing trend."
Full list of winners
EE Contributor of the Year Award
Andy Luck and George Tymvios for their film Pasty Child
News contribution of the year
Woolwich attack photographed by Vince Lee
Award for a series of contributions
Giles Bennett for his photographs of floods in Aberystwyth and Barbaros Kayan for his series on the Turkey protests
The Bigger Picture award
Exhausted seal pup sheltering among mounds of plastic waste by Claire Wallerstein
Human interest award
Mum in hospital by Caroline Johnson
Best Original Still Award
Soar by Souvid Datta
Food Award
Mombasa meat market by Matt Wood
Original Short Film Award
Andy Luck and George Tymvios for their film Pasty Child
Science Award
Science is everything: Higgs boson explainer by Dom Burgess
Pet of the Year Award
Mila contributed by Harpal Padwal
