40 Breathtaking Photographs From The Travel Photography Contest of 2022

Overall Winner: Travel Photographer Of The Year 2022: Matjaz Krivic, Slovenia

Ol Pejeta Conservancy, Nanyuki, Kenya:

Najin 33 one of the last two Northern White rhinos left in the world resting under a hot afternoon sun with her friend and caretaker Zachary Mutai in Ol Pejeta Conservancy. The northern white rhino is all but extinct. The two last males died several years ago. The two females are still with us, but too feeble to bear babies. In an Italian lab, their eggs are now artificially fertilized by sperm from the late males, and kept at minus 196 celsius, in hopes that surrogate rhinos from another sub species can carry the northern white back from the brink.

Green Planet, Blue Planet, Special Mention: Scott Portelli, Australia

Antarctica: Adelie penguin chicks find refuge in an intricate tunnel system calved into nearby icebergs. Using these passageways to avoid predators, they group together for safety. Leopard seals patrol the surrounding waters, while skuas survey the vulnerable chicks from above.

Water, Winner: Alexej Sachov, Germany

Marsa Alam, Egypt: Mobius loop underwater. Most wave photographs are taken above water from a shore. This image was taken on a scuba dive during the storm. The picture does not fit ordinary underwater photography because it investigates the surface and not the deep of the sea. This is the view normally seen by underwater creatures who are curious about the world beyond their natural environment just as humans are curious about the world under the surface.

Winner, Best Single Image In A Deserts To Rainforests Portfolio: John Seager, UK

Salar de Arizaro, Puna de Argentina, Argentina: ‘El Cono Arita’, a spectacular geological formation where erosion has shaped an almost perfect cone that seems to be lost in a vast desert of the Salar de Arizaro. Using a drone, I was able to capture the magnificent shadow of Arita on this beautiful, cloudless evening.

Green Planet, Blue Planet, Special Mention: Xianghe Liu, China

Shaoyang City, Hunan Province, China: The wonderful moment when a Mountain Bulbul picks wild berries.

Water, Commended: Weizhong Deng, Singapore

Isa city, Kagoshima, Japan: On this day, temperatures dipped below freezing point. I was initially disappointed to see the entire Sogi-No-Taki Waterfall covered with a thick mist upon arriving before dawn. I decided to try my luck and waited. Fortunately, when the sun rose, it lit up the falls beautifully and cleared away some of the mist.

Green Planet, Blue Planet, Special Mention: Yaron Schmid, USA

Samburu, Kenya: A group of endangered Grevy’s zebras.

Overall Winner: Travel Photographer Of The Year 2022: Matjaz Krivic, Slovenia

El Paso, La Palma, Spain: As the new vent opened lava found new ways down the mountain, destroying new houses in the neighborhood of El Paso on November 30th. The eruption of the Cumbre Vieja volcano on La Palma Island is the island’s longest-running volcano eruption. Huge rivers of lava and enormous amounts of continuously falling volcanic ash have transformed this Spanish holiday paradise. 7000 people have been evacuated; more than 1700 buildings were destroyed by the volcano. Strong earthquakes and permanent tremors were traumatizing the local population.

The Art Of Monochrome, Runner-Up: Dana Allen, USA

Makgadikgadi Pans, Botswana: A lone Burchell’s Zebra crosses the dry Makgadikgadi salt pans.

Deserts To Rainforests, Winner: Jaroslav Hora, Czech Republic

Sesriem, Namib desert, Namibia: Curves of the Namib desert. The photo series was created in Namibia in the Namib desert using a helicopter. During the flight I tried to capture the unusual shapes created by the sun, light and shadow, along with the sand dunes.

Overall Winner: Travel Photographer Of The Year 2022: Matjaz Krivic, Slovenia

Tacande, La Palma, Spain: Footage of a ravaged mountainside with a single tree withstanding the lava flow. The eruption of the Cumbre Vieja volcano on La Palma Island is the island’s longest-running volcano eruption. Huge rivers of lava and enormous amounts of continuously falling volcanic ash have transformed this Spanish holiday paradise. 7000 people have been evacuated; more than 1700 buildings were destroyed by the volcano. Strong earthquakes and permanent tremors were traumatizing the local population.

Water, Runner-Up: Jochen Bongaerts, Belgium

Brekkuskógur, Iceland: An aerial view of Bruarfoss, often called Iceland’s bluest waterfall, showing the flow of glacial water through the river.

Deserts To Rainforests, Runner-Up: Marek Biegalski, Poland

Iceland: Glacial rivers become visible only when you are high up in the sky. They’re called ‘braided river systems, as they often resemble an intricate jumble of patterns, intertwining in an almost inexplicable fashion and colours.

Cultures, Special Mention: Katy Gomez Catalina, Spain

Southeast Cameroon: A diminutive, graceful figure appears from the jungle, a faint accent of colour in a vanishing world. For thousands of years Baka pygmies have lived in harmony with magnificent jungles in southeast Cameroon, but within a generation much of their unique lifestyle will be gone forever due to deforestation and industrial interests, the policies of sedentarization and preservation of protected areas that has forced them to abandon their traditional life.

Overall Winner: Travel Photographer Of The Year 2022: Matjaz Krivic, Slovenia

Cumbre Vieja volcano, Tacande, La Palma, Spain: An aerial view of the Cumbre Vieja volcano with several active volcano vents in an ash-covered forest. On November 28th a new vent opened on the east side of volcano, destroying many new houses on its way towards the sea. Lava has reached the Atlantic at two places, falling off cliffs into the ocean making the island bigger for around 48 hectares.

Deserts To Rainforests, Commended: Jaroslav Hora, Czech Republic

Šardice, Jižní Morava, Czech Republic: Early morning light paints the waves of the so-called Moravian Tuscany in South Moravia. I am fascinated by the minimalist elements and shapes created by humans and nature together in this landscape.

Deserts To Rainforests, Highly Commended: Stephan Fürnrohr, Germany

West Greenland / Disko Bay Area Greenland: Year after year the same natural spectacle takes place on the Greenland Icecap. As the summer approaches, large meltwater lakes appear at the edge of the icet, which are drained towards the sea by a network of streams, rivers and crevasses. The water filters all spectral colours from daylight until only blue tones remain, which are scattered and reflected on the icy bottom of the lakes. All photos were taken from within a small plane.

Deserts To Rainforests, Runner-Up: Marek Biegalski, Poland

Iceland: Glacial rivers become visible only when you are high up in the sky. They’re called ‘braided river systems, as they often resemble an intricate jumble of patterns, intertwining in an almost inexplicable fashion and colours.

Cultures, Special Mention: Michael Runkel, Germany

An unnamed shabono village of the Yanomani people in southern Venezuela: Young Yanomami children form a circle in the middle of their shabono, a traditional communal housing. The Yanomanis are indigenous people who live in some 250-300 villages in the Amazon rainforest along the border between Venezuela and Brazil.

The Art Of Monochrome, Special Mention: Donell Gumiran, Philippines

Kalash Valley, Chitral, Pakistan: The Kalasha are a Dardic indigenous people, considered unique among the peoples of Pakistan. Their richly embroidered clothes serve as the most obvious symbol of identity for the Kalash community.

Water, Highly Commended: Romain Miot, France

Oualata, Mauritania: I met this salt caravan after a four-day expedition into the middle of the Sahara desert. No roads lead to this place, so we navigated by compass. Hundreds of dromedaries and their masters were present on this desert plain where nothing lives. Two wells had been dug to water the camels before they left for Mali, Côte d’Ivoire and Burkina Faso to sell the salt. When I returned from the trip I realised that this image of a camel owner ordering the dromedaries looked like a conductor with an orchestra.

Deserts To Rainforests, Special Mention: Kazuaki Koseki, Japan

Mount Zao, Yamagata, Japan.A rare Lenticular cloud – said to be the sign of bad weather – looms over the ‘snow monsters’, the snow-covered trees – on Mount Zao as night approaches.

Deserts To Rainforests, Commended: Jaroslav Hora, Czech Republic

Šardice, Jižní Morava, Czech Republic: Early morning light paints the waves of the so-called Moravian Tuscany in South Moravia. I am fascinated by the minimalist elements and shapes created by humans and nature together in this landscape.

Deserts To Rainforests, Winner: Jaroslav Hora, Czech Republic

Sesriem, Namib desert, Namibia: Curves of the Namib desert. The photo series was created in Namibia in the Namib desert using a helicopter. During the flight I tried to capture the unusual shapes created by the sun, light and shadow, along with the sand dunes.

The Art Of Monochrome, Runner-Up: Dana Allen, USA

Kunene Sand Sea, Northern Namibia: Oryx crossing the vast Kunene Sand Sea.

Creative Travel, Runner-Up: Dana Allen, USA

Makgadikgadi Pans, Botswana: A flamboyance of flamingos dances across the flooded Makgadikgadi salt pans, Botswana.

Green Planet, Blue Planet, Runner-Up: Laura Storm, UK

Bonaire, Leeward Antilles, Caribbean Sea: Coexisting among this bright, yellow star coral is a Peppermint goby. It sits out the day adorning the top of its favoured coral head, a tiny jewel on a crown composed of millions of individual animal polyps.

Cultures, Special Mention: Marina Spironetti, Italy

Desulo, Sardinia, Italy: Daniela wears her grandmother’s traditional costume, which she received as a gift from her. Historically isolated and with little contact with the outside world, the small town of Desulo has managed to preserve the originality of its costume, which is undoubtedly one of the most distinctive in Sardinia. Until the early 1980s, it was not uncommon to see it worn on a daily basis.

Cultures, Commended: Nicolas Castermans, France

Ausangate, Peru: When the sun rises on Pacha Mama and reveals in its light those who live there in harmony, peacefully.

Cultures, Highly Commended: Li Yushan, China

Inner Mongolia, China: There are many Mongolian folk songs, mainly divided into two categories: ceremonial songs and pastoral songs. Among them, the long song is more typical, with fewer words and longer accents, high-pitched and distant, soothing and free, very popular, all part of China’s intangible cultural heritage.

Winner, Young Travel Photographer Of The Year 2022: Cal Cole, UK (Age 18)

Manchester, UK: An image of Manchester’s newest skyscrapers shrouded in mist. The image is very much inspired by the imagery of the movie Bladerunner and I feel it represents the city’s rapidly growing urban landscape.

Deserts To Rainforests, Special Mention: Scott Portelli, Australia

Vatnajokull National Park, Skaftafell Iceland: The rivers and glacial run off intertwine to create intricate patterns across the waterways in iceland’s Vatnajokull National Park. A phenomenon that occurs in only a few places in the world. Iceland. Fractal patterns stretching outward across the glacial rivers growing and disappearing with the changing seasons. The only way to really appreciate the diverse landscape and unique patterns is from 3000 feet above in a small plane.

Deserts To Rainforests, Special Mention: Alex Cao, Vietnam

Quang Ngai, Vietnam: Bau Cau Cai is the ‘green lunch’ of the key industrial economic zone of Vietnam. White- flowered mangroves have been planted in the natural breakwater to strengthen resilience to the impact of climate change for vulnerable communities along the country’s coast.

Deserts To Rainforests, Highly Commended: Stephan Fürnrohr, Germany

West Greenland / Disko Bay Area Greenland: Year after year the same natural spectacle takes place on the Greenland Icecap. As the summer approaches, large meltwater lakes appear at the edge of the icet, which are drained towards the sea by a network of streams, rivers and crevasses. The water filters all spectral colours from daylight until only blue tones remain, which are scattered and reflected on the icy bottom of the lakes. All photos were taken from within a small plane.

Deserts To Rainforests, Runner-Up: Marek Biegalski, Poland

Iceland: Glacial rivers become visible only when you are high up in the sky. They’re called ‘braided river systems, as they often resemble an intricate jumble of patterns, intertwining in an almost inexplicable fashion and colours.

Green Planet, Blue Planet, Winner: Alexej Sachov, Germany

Marsa Alam, Egypt: In this series, you will meet ‘new inhabitants’ of the underwater world, be they animals or eerie creatures. Dive in and enjoy! It’s hard to catch a rabbit, especially if it is underwater. This modern rabbit is now so advanced that it does not need any food — unlike our land rabbits. The best feature is that it also barely ages and stays in shape for a very long time, so you will have all the time in the world to admire its ‘beauty’. Human replaces endangered species with a more advanced one — the plastic-made species are now ruling the underwater world.

Cultures, Special Mention: Nicolas Castermans, France

Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, Colombia: The Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta is the highest coastal mountain range in the world. It is located in northern Colombia, on the shores of the Caribbean Sea, and is still inhabited by four indigenous communities, direct descendants of the Tayronas. They are: the Kogis, the Wiwas, the Arhuacos and the Kankuamos. I was there on an exploration to develop a documentary project about the people of the region, the Kogis especially, who mostly live in the low lands of the mountain range, in a pristine jungle environment. These morning scenes, for a brief moment, gave me a glimpse of what the beginning of civilization was. Dressed of white in these sublime atmospheres, these Kogis left me with an impression of true harmony with nature, and with an idyllic image of their people and lifestyle.

Cultures, Special Mention: Frank Lynch, Ireland

Jerusalem, Israel: A blind man at the door of the Ethiopian Chapel, Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Jerusalem. Easter is the most religious and spiritual holiday in the Christian calendar. It commemorates the crucifixion of Jesus Christ in Jerusalem, and his resurrection. Orthodox and Catholic Christians focus their celebrations on Church of the Holy Sepulchre in the Old City of Jerusalem, where they have marked crucifixion, burial and resurrection of Jesus since the fourth century.

Cultures, Highly Commended: Li Yushan, China

Inner Mongolia, China: Mongolian wedding customs are rich in content,grand and warm atmosphere, highlighting the Mongolian rugged and swarthy, brisk and passionate, culture-oriented, etiquette and other national characteristics, which are part of the intangible cultural heritage of China.

Cultures, Winner: Magdaléna Straková, Czech Republic

Oostduinkerke, Belgium: Only a handful of true horse fishermen are left in the world, keeping the rare Flemish tradition alive. They use large and calm Belgian draft horses, and in the low tide look for shrimps together. Nowadays, they became a major tourist attraction, attracting large crowds each time they set out to fish.

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