Travel Photographer of the Year: Lyrical landscapes win awards

From the lyrical beauty of European agricultural landscapes to intriguing portraits of shamans performing rituals on a frozen Siberian lake – the winning images from the latest Travel Photographer of the Year competition have been announced.

The Slovenian photographer AndreJa Ravnak has won the overall competition to become Travel Photographer of the Year 2023.

Ravnak’s work illustrates hop growing in Slovenia, and rolling fields in Italy and the Czech Republic.

“There is a subtle elegance about this year’s winners. This comes through in both of AndreJa’s winning portfolios; one takes us into simple landscapes, with delicate colours and a textural beauty, the other into the hop fields, out of season and undressed, ready for the next planting,” says competition founder Chris Coe.

“Neither are obvious subjects, neither photographed at an optimal time of year, and yet they are both engaging and rather beautiful.”

Caden Shepard Choi, 14, from the United States, received the title of Young Travel Photographer of the Year 2023.

Her black and white images document how the Navajo people of Chinle, Arizona, produce wool and use it in weaving.

Here are some of the other category winners in this year’s TPOTY competition.

Young Travel Photographer of the Year: Winner, 15-18 years – Lilly Zhang, 17, USA

Lilly Zhang finds joy in preserving beautiful moments as a hobby photographer.

Growing up, she was introduced to photography by her father, later developing her own love for the artform.

Zhang produced a winning series of delicate landscapes shot in Marsh Creek State Park in Pennsylvania, USA.

Young Travel Photographer of the Year: Winner, 14 years & under – Zayan Durrani, 14, USA

Zayan Durrani’s images show the erupting Litli-Hrutur volcano in Iceland.

“My father and I took a trip to Iceland to visit an ongoing volcanic eruption. We hiked for 10 miles through rough, mountainous hills and desert, never stopping to rest, just so that we could reach the eruption before it became dark,” says Durrani.

“We were in a race against time because a thick, noxious fog was rolling in and we were told that we would have to evacuate the area. I finally got up close to the fiery eruption.

“I was able to capture this picture using a drone.”

Portfolio Winner: Landscape & Environment – Armand Sarlangue, France

Sarlangue’s portfolio documents the atmospheric glacial landscapes of the Icelandic highlands.

This 360 degree panorama was captured with a drone. It shows the whole path of glacial waters, from the Skaftafellsjokull glacier, to the glacial lake, to the glacial river, then to the ocean in the background.

Portfolio Winner: Nature, Wildlife & Conservation – Martin Broen, USA

Martin Broen’s impressive black and white work shows the patterns created by the Mobula ray migration in Baja California, Mexico. He is a technical diver and cave explorer, passionate about capturing and sharing the beauty of this planet.

Originally from Argentina and now based in New York, Broen works in Design and Innovation, allowing him to combine his everyday work on sustainability with his passion for nature and underwater photography.

Broen also won the award for Best Single Image in this category for a colourful picture showing how a discarded glass bottle in the ocean has become a haven for a small, iridescent, yellow Goby fish.

Portfolio Winner: People & Cultures – Athanasios Maloukos, Greece

Greek photographer Athanasios Maloukos’s portfolio of shamans performing rituals on Siberia’s frozen Lake Baikal was the judges’ choice in the People and Cultures category.

Portfolio Winner: Visual Stories – Alain Schroeder, Belgium

Alain Schroeder’s series focuses on athletes in their 80s and 90s taking part in the USAFT Masters Indoor Athletics Championships.

Dixon Hemphill, 97, of Potomac Valley Track Club, crosses the finish line in the Men 95-99, 200m dash, accompanied by a young woman for safety.

“A terrific series of images that captures an alternative view of ageing in the 21st century,” says competition judge, Angie Nicholson.

“Working in black and white helps us to concentrate on the story while still seeing – but not being distracted by – the context.”

Best Single Image, People and Cultures Portfolio – Jack Lawson, UK

Jack Lawson received the Best Single Image award for his shot of members of the Nigerian National Amputee Football Team, otherwise known as Special Eagles, training on a beach in Lagos.

Best Single Image, Landscape and Environment – Kazuaki Koseki, Japan

“For a period from the end of winter to early summer, Lake Shirakawa is filled with water from melting snow and a ‘submerged forest’ appears,” says Kazuaki Koseki.

“The water in the lake changes colour between light blue and light green, and mist – combined with the reflections which look like a submerged forest – create a fantastic landscape.

“I chose a bluish time before sunrise to erase the reality and emphasize the fantastic sight and set the shutter speed to 30 seconds, to flatten the water surface.”

Best Single Image in a Portfolio – F Dilek Yurdakul, Turkey

“The Kalash live within the borders of Pakistan and neighbouring Afghanistan, yet their schools are still co-educational,” says F Dilek Yurdakul, whose portrait of a young Kalash schoolgirl was made in Chitral, Pakistan.

The three MPB One Shot categories challenged photographers to capture each category theme in just a single image.

MPB One Shot Winner: A Quieter Life – Ignacio Palacios, Australia/Spain

A serene image of a lone walker on a white sand dune at La Puna, Argentina.

MPB One Shot Winner: Above, Eye Level, Below – Josien van Geffen, Netherlands

An unusual perspective of the Highline 179 suspension bridge in Reutte, Austria.

MPB One Shot Winner: Leisure & Adventure – Andrea Peruzzi, Italy

Andrea Peruzzi’s mage capturing the moment when a Bedouin jumps over a small gorge between rocks in ancient Petra, Jordan.

People’s Choice Winner – Rohan Neel Shah, Kenya

The winner in one category was not chosen by the judges.

Decided by a public vote on the TPOTY website, this year’s award went to 15-year-old Rohan Neel Shah, and shows a lone wildebeest in the middle of the Great Migration in the Maasai Mara, Kenya.

Amateur and professional photographers from more than 150 countries submitted more than 20,000 images in TPOTY 2023.

The winning images go on display at The Photography & Video Show at the NEC, Birmingham, UK, from 16-19 March and will also be showcased at Xposure in the UAE.