Sebastian Liste has won the prestigious Ian Parry Scholarship for what judges described as a “sensitive” story on 60 homeless families living in an abandoned chocolate factory in Salvador de Bahia, Brazil. Liste wins £3000 towards an assignment and his work, Urban Quilombo, will be published in the Spectrum section of The Sunday Times Magazine this month. He also wins a place on the shortlist for World Press Photo’s next Joop Swart Masterclass.

UK photographer Liz Hingley won £500 and the Highly Commended prize for her project, Soho Road (which was shortlisted for BJP’s Project Assistance Award this year). Matt Eich was commended and also picks up £500, while Rodrigo Alfaro from Argentina was, unusually, given a special commendation. Ed Ou won the honourable mention. All five award winning projects and the commission shot by last year’s winner, Maisie Crow, will go on show at the Getty Images gallery in central London on 16 August. One of the finalists will also win a commission from the charity Save the Children.

Liste’s entry was chosen from about 100 from around the world, and from prestigious schools such as the Danish School of Photojournalism, Pathshala (in Bangladesh), the London College of Communications and Westminster. Even so, it was the “standout winner” according to Don McCullin, patron of the award and one of the judges this year. “It was a very strong set of pictures,” said McCullen. “He has real ability as a photographer but is also able to bring the images together to create an informative story.”

Jon Jones, director of photography at The Sunday Times Magazine and another member of the judging panel, also picked out Liste’s story-telling ability for praise. “It was very coherent as a story, and he managed to create something very intimate,” he said. “We have all seen lots of projects shot in favelas but his work was very nice and well put together. It was something slightly more from the leftfield.”

Photographer Marcus Bleasdale, a judge and himself a former Ian Parry Scholarship winner in 2000, added: “We got down to seven entries and then it was really about how the stories worked. Of course it was very important that the imagery was strong but beyond that it was about whether they had a fluent narrative and consistency. Sebastian’s photography was exceptional, extremely intimate and gentle, and the narrative was also perfect.”

Bleasdale added that winning the Ian Parry Scholarship kickstarted his career in photography. “It allowed me to meet Aidan Sullivan [then in charge of the photography in The Sunday Times Magazine, now vice president of photo assignments for Getty Images, and the founder of the award], Tom Stoddart and Don McCullin, who all encouraged me enormously,” he says. “You become part of a family.”

The Ian Parry Scholarship is open to photographers in full time education, or under the age of 24. It was set up in honour of Ian Parry, a photojournalist who died aged just 24 whilst on assignment for The Sunday Times during the Romanian revolution in 1989. It’s sponsored by The Sunday Times and BJP, and previous winners include Simon Roberts, Harriet Logan, Jonas Bendiksen and Ivor Prickett. The other judges this year were Steve Blogg from Getty and Foto8's Jon Levy.

Rebecca McClelland, deputy director of the Scholarship, says the contest, as well as other awards, has become the most effective way for young and emerging photographers to showcase their work. "The Ian Parry Scholarship is a unique chance for emerging photojournalists to not only have their work assessed and circulated within the wider context of the professional photographic industry but also published in a major national newspaper," she says. "I would deeply encourage more students to invest in this kind of free promotion."