Greatest views on Earth: Landscape Photographer of the Year Named

Writer and Multimedia Producer·NZ Herald·

6 Dec, 2022 03:20 AM3 mins to read

Otherworldly views into a planet you might not recognise as your own, the International Landscape Photographer of the Year awards might be the ultimate wanderlust-stoker.

The only other question on judges’ minds, apart from who should be crowned overall winner, was: where are these places?

From the swelling foothills of Sichuan, China, to frozen Romanian lakes - the top images from the annual competition is a trip around the world through the lens of the planet’s best photographers.

The winning photographer was named as Benjamin Briones Grandi of Chile, who submitted a portfolio of images from the northern coast of Chile’s Atacama coast. Benjamin beat Tony Wang of China into second place followed by Dutch photographer Max Rive.

‘Grandi Conversion’ coastal dune, Chile - Winner first place International Landscape, series. Photo / Benjamin Briones, Chile. The 9th International Landscape Photographer of The Year, Supplied

The winning Photograph of the Year - for the best single image submitted to the competition - was awarded to a panoramic photo of a single diver in a flooded cenote cave in Mexico, taken by Martin Broen from the USA.

'Flooded Cave', Yucatan, Mexico - Winner single image category. Photo / Martin Broen, US. The 9th International Landscape Photographer of The Year, Supplied

In its 9th year ILPOTY was scored by a judging panel of international experts, including Grand master of the New Zealand Institute of Professional Photography Kaye Davis and veteran Australian photographer Peter Eastway, and last year’s winner Aytek Çetin.

Perhaps the clearest thing from this year’s winning pictures was the effort that had been made to take them, said judge and photojournalist David Burnett.

“It’s been a pleasure to immerse myself in these pictures and it’s a constant reminder what kind of dedication our entrants bring to the act of photographing. The wet, the cold and long strenuous hikes to find a perfect location - all this is buried inside the heart of these pictures,” said Burnett.

Sun in the Winter in Border Between Chile And Argentina, Patagonia. Photo / Max Rive, Netherlands. The 9th International Landscape Photographer of the Year, Supplied

“My admiration for my fellow photographers only grows each year I help judge these awards.”

Whittling down 3813 entries to a long-list of 101, only the top 11 photographers get a cut of $10,000 in cash and prizes. It might be one of the most hotly contested landscape photography competitions in the world.

There were also five special awards for categories including the snow and ice award, awarded to Koki Dote of Japan who climbed Mt Nishiazuma to reach an incredible snowscape, and best seascape, won by Julien Delaval of France for his windswept Isle Of Eigg, Scotland.

The shortlisted 101 images will be published in an almanac to be given to the winners and for general sale via the ILPOTY website.

For more info see internationallandscapephotographer.com