The first-ever Natural Landscape Photography Awards announced the winners of its competition which promotes the best landscape photography for those who value realism and authenticity.
The new landscape photography competition – founded by Matt Payne, Tim Parkin, Alex Nail, and Rajesh Jyothiswaran – aims to bring something new to the already price-saturated photo industry.
The founders established a set of rules to avoid the types of what they describe as deceptive digital editing techniques that they found common in landscape photography today. This is something the founders noticed through social media feeds where the lines are blurred between art and reality.
“This current status quo is somewhat inevitable and understandable; however, when the competitions make no distinction between the two, we are faced with a conundrum: Photographers who try to work within the boundaries of the landscape they have actually experienced find it difficult to compete with photographs that stray from these constraints, â€the organization said.
The results are a fantastic showcase not only of the photographers involved, but also of the true wonder of the landscape in a way people can trust.
13,368 photographs were submitted to the competition from 47 countries by more than 1,300 photographers.
– Natural Landscape Photography Award (@natlandawards) November 1, 2021
In this first competition, the Natural Landscape Photography Awards feature four distinct categories – Grand Landscape, Intimate and Abstract, Nightscape and Aerial – as well as a Project section where photographers can submit six to 10 images that relate to each other.
The overall title of Natural Landscape Photographer of the Year was awarded to the photographer with the best collection of six images, which do not need to be linked to each other and can display a variety of content, techniques and of approaches.
First place received a cash prize of $ 5,000, a Canon EOS R5 and a Shimoda Designs Action X starter kit, with the finalist and winners from other categories also awarded cash and others. prize pool of $ 20,000.
Photographer of the year
Utah-based landscape and nature photographer Eric Bennett was honored as the winner of the competition for his selection of images.
“As a photographer who strives to show people the value of the wilderness, I’ve always enjoyed seeing and creating more subtle, personal photographs that represent nature realistically,†Bennett explains.
“To receive this award from such a prestigious and respected group of photographers that I have always admired is a great honor for me. I hope the Natural Landscape Photography Awards can continue for many years to come, stay true to their values, and inspire other photography competitions to recognize photographers based on similar artistic principles.
Photograph of the year
Great landscape
Intimate & Abstract
Nocturnal landscape
Air
Youth
Project
Submissions were judged by eight industry leaders, including world renowned landscape photographers Joe Cornish from the UK and William Neill from the US.
All category winners and finalists can be viewed on the Natural Landscape Photography Awards website.
Image credits: All photos are individually credited and provided courtesy of the Natural Landscape Photography Awards.
