Whether you’re a natural minimalist or tend to lean towards the more-is-more camp, these images from the Black and White Minimalist Photography Prize 2020-2021 are undeniably beautiful. Casting a new light on stunning landscapes from all over the world, from tranquil beaches to windswept canyons, the monochrome photographs were selected by judges at the B&W Minimalism Magazine from a total of 1,470 entries. Here are the top 30.

Drone photographer Marcin Giba took this stunning shot of a swan in the water near his hometown of Rybnik, Poland. He said: “When I saw a swan swimming in the black water, I immediately felt it was a symbolic image like a Yin and Yang.”

Captured in an artificial lake near the Meuse River in the Netherlands, this stark image shows a line of mooring posts fading off into the distance, everything misted over by rain.

Petr Novák’s stunning shot of trees in a forest, taken in northern Bohemia, Germany, exudes mystery. Shrouded by a thick fog, the forest’s spindly forms become fainter and fainter in the distance, almost like shadows. 

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American photographer Jon Tobiasz says his work tries to create a kind of connection to the landscape. In this photograph, captured at the Fore River in Portland, Maine, USA, there is an otherworldly quality to the fog-covered marshland, surrounded by distant trees, with a flash of white in the foreground just recognisable as a bird.

The pleasing symmetry of the ploughed field and telegraph pole were what made photographer Darren Kentish stop to take the shot. He was en route to another location to capture the sunrise, but decided to pull over, using a three-minute exposure to create this effect. We bet he’s glad he changed his plans. 

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Melbourne-based photographer Steve Day enjoys capturing architecture, relying on a minimalist, monochrome style to bring out their shapes and structures. The organic, flowing forms of a modern building are the centrepoint of this striking shot. 

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Mecklenburg-Vorpommern in northern Germany is best known for its rugged beaches and stunning coastlines. Yet photographer Sabine Nagel makes an otherwise ordinary landscape, just next to the highway, look like art in this stunning minimalist shot.

Using a long exposure “to create some movement in the rain clouds and smooth out the tide”, British photographer Tony Johnston creates an atmospheric image. Captured at Aldingham on the Furness peninsula in northern England, the groynes retreating into the still sea give the scene a sense of depth and intrigue. 

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There is a pleasing regularity to this snowboard track left on the slopes of Norikura mountain in Japan – we can only imagine it was left by a pro. Captured by Scott Rinckenberger, fresh snowfall acts like a blank canvas for the lone snowboarder’s lines in the mesmerising shot.

Japanese photographer Masahiro Hiroike had been photographing waterfalls all day when he stopped to capture this one. Yet the nighttime sky allowed him to create an unusual image. The thin stream of water at Ogataki, Japan looks almost like a ruler-drawn white line against the dark rocks.

Connecting the islands of North Beveland and Schouwen-Duiveland in the Netherlands, Zeeland Bridge stretches more than three miles (5km) long. To take this shot, photographer Gee Hurkmans said he waited two days for the perfect conditions – “good light” and “high tide” – and took the photograph sitting right beneath it, using a tripod.

The undulating curves of the desert near Isfahan, Iran, lend this photograph an almost extraterrestrial quality. Captured in black and white by Fatemeh Pishkhan, who described the desert as “the end of the earth”, the use of contrast brings shadows and silhouettes to life.

Minimalist photography often draws attention to the lines and forms of its subjects, and this image by Robert Kovacs is no exception. Showing plough marks in a field, which is quickly drying out in the sun, the film-camera photograph somehow captures the feeling of summer despite its monochrome palette.

A very long exposure gives the water a misty, almost cloud-like appearance in this ethereal shot. Taken by Micheal Bille in eastern Zealand, Denmark, the image shows concrete pipes which have been placed in the sea, possibly as breakwaters.

Contrast is at the heart of this image: the harsh straight lines of the staircase against the well-trodden soft sand below; dark, long shadows against a shaft of light. Photographer Nicolas Pollet-Villard said: “It was very windy that night, a night of equinox”.

It takes a moment to figure out what’s going on in this photograph. Depicting an abandoned bus covered in snow in Shibetsu, in Japan’s Hokkaido prefecture, Roy Iwasaki captured this mysterious shot in 2014.

Multi-award-winning Czech photographer Tomas Tison enjoys capturing landscapes in monochrome, stating that the use of black and white adds “dramatic accents to a photo”. In this shot of the landscape in Pilsen, Czech Republic, the smooth curves of fields draw in the eye.

New Zealand-born, New York-based photographer Blake Enting took this photograph at a slot canyon in Arizona, USA. The ridged, wave-like rock walls are brought to life by pockets of light and shade, adding a mysterious intrigue to the image. Enting says his fascination with wild and untamed places stems from his father, natural history photographer Brian Enting (1945–1995). 

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Misty conditions helped British photographer Tony Johnston create an elusive atmosphere in this shot, where a lone tree forms the focal point. Captured at the Lake District National Park in northern England, it was one of two of Johnston’s entries that made it into the winners.

You could be forgiven for thinking this image depicts a lightning strike against a dark sky. In actual fact, the spindly white line in the centre of the photograph is a waterfall tumbling down the cliffs in Westfjords, Iceland. It was captured by Hang Chen in September 2019.

London-based travel photographer Costas Kariolis is inspired by varied and rugged landscapes. In this dramatic shot, taken in Suffolk, England, he timed it so that the house’s chimney pointed up towards the sun just as it broke through the clouds, giving the effect of a spotlight illuminating the solitary building.

A sense of isolation seems to dominate much of Allen Koppe’s landscape photography, which can be seen from this aptly-titled work. Photographed using a 23mm lens, the image depicts a pair of trees “together, but alone”, standing out against the white sweep of sand dunes.

Drawing in the viewer for its mysterious, enigmatic quality, David Xu’s depiction of a swan in flight shows off the bird’s elegance. Aside from a tell-tale splash of water behind it and a blurred reflection below, the all-black background makes the swan the focal point of the image. 

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Trees and forests are often the focal point of Polish photographer Krystian Koźmiński’s work. In this serene shot, a solitary line of trees alongside the road are the only things that stand out amid a dusting of snow and a thick blanket of fog.

While creating a film about Afghan immigrants in Iran, Iranian photographer Fattah Zinouri captured this photograph of an Afghan woman in a burkha. He said: “What struck me immediately upon seeing this woman was that I couldn’t see any part of her body except the soles of her feet as she walked.” He captioned it “Taboo” to encapsulate the sense of rebellion in the image.

Tibumana Waterfall in Ubud, Bali, is one of the island’s most popular attractions. Resembling a pleated curtain of water falling gracefully into the pool below, the cascade’s beauty is heightened through this minimalist photograph, which was taken by Tirta Winata in 2018.

Czech photographer Daniel Franc takes otherworldly aerial shots, often highlighting vibrant colours, so this black-and-white photograph marks a departure from his usual style. Showing a fisherman on a lake filled with algae and fallen leaves, the rippled effect on the water looks almost like swirling clouds or waves.

Winning him third place overall, Tokyo-based Hector Izquierdo Seliva’s photograph of the stark spines of trees in the Namibian desert transports the viewer to the ends of the earth. You might be surprised to learn, then, that photography isn’t his day job – he’s a software engineer that enjoys taking photographs as a hobby. 

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In second place, this image of an empty bench conjures up the mixed feelings of isolation, loneliness and tranquillity experienced by many during the pandemic. Taken by Italian photographer Pierre Pellegrini, the shot was taken in the snowy mountains of Switzerland and is part of a large body of black-and-white, minimalist work.

Crowning him winner of the Black and While Minimalist Photography Prize 2020-2021, this photograph of a road in Iceland is starkly beautiful. It was captured by Tim Nevell while en route to Mývatn in the north of the island, using a drone, which allowed Nevell to show the road retreating off into the horizon amid the stunning volcanic landscape.