On Apr 22, 2018, Alfred Molon wrote
(in . com):

In iganews.com,
Savageduck says...

What on earth is wrong with B&W?

There are times that color can be the correct choice, and others when it
doesn?t work for a particular subject and style. It is all up to the
photographer, and ultimately one should accept that taste in not a uniform
concept.

The question is if these images would have won the contest if they had
not been processed to look old.

The answer to that is not simple. There is no indication of how the images
were processed other than their appearance, and your unconfirmed assumptions.
As to why each won a particular category was up to the judges, each with
their particular tastes, and biases. In any photography contest there is no
way to guarantee that the taste, and biases of the judges will match yours.

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Regards,
Savageduck