Stunning images from the Travel Photographer of the Year 2021 awards
Capturing the world

Travel allows us to see the world, while photography enhances this when we can’t physically be there ourselves. Travel photography offers the chance to capture diverse (and often intimate) perspectives, whether it’s everyday life or otherworldly landscapes. Want to see more? Here’s the full list of winners and runners-up from the Travel Photographer of the Year Awards 2021, which will go on display in London’s Granary Square between April-May 2022.
Magnolia Ridge Park, Woodville, Texas, USA

Mormon Row, Grand Teton National Park, Moose, Wyoming, USA

Al Dhaid, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates

Jodhpur, India

Mooringsport, Louisiana, USA

Arusha National Park, Tanzania

Havana, Cuba

Lake Magadi, Kenya

Wildlife photographer Jie Fischer took this winning Landscapes and Adventure shot. She took the photo from a helicopter and its composition keeps you looking at the details – the flock of flamingos appear as a surreal yet symmetrical pattern. Fischer’s main subject is nature and wildlife, although she enjoys capturing aerial photography where she can.
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Serra Cafema, Northern Namibia

The runner-up in the Best 8 Portfolio award went to Trevor Cole, who took many photographs across Ethiopia, Namibia, Angola and Ireland. This photo shows a young mother and child of the semi-nomadic Himba people who live in a remote region of Namibia. They cover themselves in otjize paste – a mix of butterfat and ochre pigment – to cleanse their skin (due to water scarcity), and to protect themselves against dry climates and mosquitoes. Irish-born Cole focuses his photography on culture and landscapes.
Kherson region, Ukraine

Yevhen Samuchenko was highly commended in the Landscapes and Adventure category for these pretty-in-pink shots of the Kherson region in Ukraine. The pink salt lake looks almost ethereal, particularly when viewed from above – it’s affectionately been dubbed as the ‘Pink Planet’. The colourful changes take place in the summer months, when microscopic algae cause the water to turn red and pink. Samuchenko is an Ukrainian award-winning photographer, with his work mostly focused on the ever-changing relationship between man and nature.
Abandoned kasbah at the Oasis in Fachi, Niger

Michael Runkel received a special mention from the judges for the Landscapes and Adventure - Single Images category. His drone shot shows an abandoned kasbah that had been one of the main salt mining towns on the lake for decades. The German photographer’s birds-eye shot of the former houses look like little boxes.
Laikipia County, Kenya

UK-based photographer William Burrard-Lucas spent a year photographing leopards at night in Laikipia County, Kenya. He’s even created his own remote-control camera buggy to photograph elusive and nocturnal wildlife, called Camtraptions. As a result, he won the Living World category for his ghost-like image of a leopard beneath the moon. The quest to capture the ultimate photograph of a black leopard under a night sky – which is obviously no easy feat – has been documented in his latest book, The Black Leopard.
Antarctica

Alpe Caldenno, Sondrio Province, Lombardy, Italy

If a photograph can tell a thousand stories, that’s certainly the case for Beniamino Pisati’s winning shot for the People and Their Stories award. The Italian photographer steps away from the eccentric and focuses on the simple life and has documented the Valtellina mountain pastures for over 10 years. He took this winning shot in Alpe Caldenno, Sondrio Province, in the Lombardy region of Italy. It shows Claudio Speziale, a herdsman who sleeps in this underground hut (locally known as a bait). Despite Speziale owning his own comfortable stone house, he prefers being close to his cattle.
Idlib, Syria

Melasti Beach, Ungasan, Bali, Indonesia

Artvin, Turkey

This entry for the People and Their Stories category was commended by the judges. Taken by photographer F. Dilek Uyar, it shows a farmer sorting the local-grown iron apples which are harvested under entirely organic conditions. Located in the villages in the Artvin district, the apples are collected in October or November and are stored until May. They don’t rot because they’re stored in a ‘serender’ building during the winter months. F. Dilek Uyar is an award-winning photographer who aims to inspire other young women in Turkey.
Bhasan Char, Bangladesh

Bhasan Char, otherwise known as Char Piya, is located on Hatiya Upazila (Hatiya Island) in Bangladesh. Pinu Rahman was awarded as the runner-up in the One Shot - Green Planet category for this overhead shot. The island is largely made from silt, and it’s been prone to many floods and cyclones – with more feared to follow. Regardless of this unnerving information, Bhasan Char has been home to thousands of Rohingya refugees since December 2020.
Belém, Brazil

Electrical engineer-turned-documentary-photographer Johnny Haglund took this wonderfully terrifying photograph of the harbour area in Belém, Brazil. Low tides reveal the large amount of litter that has been thrown into the sea, while a man looks for anything that could be valuable. This winning One Shot - Green Planet entry was selected by the judges for highlighting our apparent negligent attitude to all that has sustained humanity so far.
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Stonehenge, Salisbury Plain, Wiltshire, England, UK

Pyongyang, North Korea

The winner of the One Shot - Icons of Travel category is Alain Schroeder for his photograph of the two 72-foot (22m) high bronze statues of Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-Il in Pyongyang, the capital of North Korea. It’s as poignant as it is dominating; look at the small group of students listening to their teacher, while at the other end an old woman walks past the Mansudae Grand Monument where the two statues loom above everyone else. The Belgian-based photojournalist also received a special mention and runners-up award for his other photographs.
Fagradalsfjall, Reykjanes Peninsula, Iceland

The runner-up in the Landscapes and Adventure category was this haunting, black-and-white photograph by UK-based photographer Sophie Carr. Huge waves crash towards Reynisfjara beach on a particularly stormy day in southern Iceland. Carter specialises in Icelandic landscape photography.
Saigon, Vietnam

Verges, Catalonia

Haines, Alaska, USA

The theme of this photograph by Pally Learmond is ‘let it go’, with professional freeskier Fabian Lentsch doing exactly that – and where better than on a mountain face called Dirty Needle? This photograph won the award for the Landscapes and Adventure – Best Single Image category. The mountains in southeast Alaska feature a phenomenon called ‘spines’, where snow sticks to the steep and rocky mountain faces, due to its proximity with the Pacific Ocean. Learmond specialises in freeskiing action, predominantly in the European Alps.
Beijing, China

Masai Mara National Reserve, Kenya

Terekeka, South Sudan

Tsang Tsui Cemetery, Tuen Mun, New Territories, Hong Kong

Ngar Shun Victor Wong was commended for his up-close shots in the Living World category. In this photograph, we see a Praying Mantis staring at its own shredded skin (or exoskeleton). Dangling on the end of a plant, the insect is in a vulnerable position to predatory attack, but in this case it seems to have other pressing matters to mind. He’s also photographed landscapes and subjects in India, Norway and Greenland.
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Overall Winner: Fortunato Gatto, Denali National Park, Alaska, USA

Fortunato Gatto was named as the Travel Photographer of the Year 2021 for his spellbinding collection of images taken in Denali National Park in Alaska, USA. This photograph beautifully depicts two seasons meeting and gives a wonderful sense of place and remoteness – as well as the need to protect nature. Gatto took this photograph at the end of August, when reindeer mosses, conifer forests and, noticeably yet unexpectedly, snowstorms appeared.
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