Australian photographers recognised at Travel Photographer of the Year awards

23 January 2020

The 2019 winner of the Travel Photographer of the Year (TPOTY) awards has been revealed as Katy Gomez Catalina, an amateur photographer and doctor of veterinary science from Spain – the first-ever overall winner from the country.

© Katy Gomez Catalina, Spain. Overall winner- Travel Photographer of the Year 2019. Fada-Ngourma, Burkina Faso. "I was attracted to the look and beauty of this young shepherd."
© Katy Gomez Catalina, Spain. Overall winner- Travel Photographer of the Year 2019. Fada-Ngourma, Burkina Faso. "I was attracted to the look and beauty of this young shepherd."

Catalina’s winning portfolio was amongst the more than 20,000 images submitted by professional and amateur photographers from 144 countries. The portfolio of eight black-and-white images covers a range of subject matter, from the Batwa people of Uganda to the esplanade of the Louvre in Paris. She is also the second-ever female overall winner in the awards’ 17-year history.

© Katy Gomez Catalina, Spain. Overall winner- Travel Photographer of the Year 2019. Paris, France. "It was raining and people formed a perfect row to enter the Louvre Museum.The only dynamic note of the scene was a boy who ran across."
© Katy Gomez Catalina, Spain. Overall winner- Travel Photographer of the Year 2019. Paris, France. "It was raining and people formed a perfect row to enter the Louvre Museum.The only dynamic note
of the scene was a boy who ran across."

Travel Photographer of the Year co-founder Chris Coe said: “Judging these awards, whilst arduous with so many excellent images to choose from, is always a joy and it is both exhilarating and stimulating to see the wealth of creativity evident from around the world. This year’s winning entries are outstanding in all categories, elegant and sometimes thought-provoking and gritty. The portfolio from the overall winner Katy Gomez Catalina is beautiful, sensitive and diverse. Only the second-ever female overall winner of Travel Photographer of the Year, Katy is an amateur photographer and a very, very worthy winner.”

© Indigo Larmour, Ireland. Young Travel Photographer of the Year. Kolkata, India. "Chai is always part of any journey in India. We drink it everywhere from trains to small dabbas and people are always offering you chai, so of course we had to have some on the streets of Kolkata."
© Indigo Larmour, Ireland. Young Travel Photographer of the Year. Kolkata, India. "Chai is always part of any journey in India. We drink it everywhere from trains to small dabbas and people are always offering you chai, so of course we had to have some on the streets of Kolkata."

An Irish photographer, 11-year-old Indigo Larmour has been named as the winner of the Young Travel Photographer of the Year category, becoming one of the youngest-ever entrants to take out the title. Meanwhile, 13-year-old Daniel Kurian (India/Australia) won the 14 & Under Young TPOTY category with four images of fishermen in Kerala. The 15-18 age group was won by 16-year-old Ankit Kumar from India.

© Paul Sansome. Winner - Art of Travel portfolio. Reykjavik, Iceland. The mesmerizing modern architecture of the Harpa Concert Hall in Reykjavik, Iceland. This building provides endless photography opportunities both from inside and outside."
© Paul Sansome. Winner - Art of Travel portfolio. Reykjavik, Iceland. The mesmerizing modern architecture of the Harpa Concert Hall in Reykjavik, Iceland. This building provides endless photography
opportunities both from inside and outside."
© Geoff Shoults, UK. Winner, Best Single Image in an Art of Travel portfolio. Walking in the Scottish Highlands.
© Geoff Shoults, UK. Winner, Best Single Image in an Art of Travel portfolio. Walking in the Scottish Highlands.
© Alain Schroeder, Belgium. Winner – Endangered Planet portfolio. Sibolangit, SOCP Quarantine Centre, Northern Sumatra, Indonesia. Brenda, an estimated 3-month-old female orangutan was confiscated from a villager in Aceh. Her left arm humerus was completely snapped in two. Yenny, the SOCP’s vet, is standing next to Brenda’s X-ray that shows the broken bone.
© Alain Schroeder, Belgium. Winner – Endangered Planet portfolio. Sibolangit, SOCP Quarantine Centre, Northern Sumatra, Indonesia. Brenda, an estimated 3-month-old female orangutan was confiscated from a villager in Aceh. Her left arm humerus was completely snapped in two. Yenny, the SOCP’s vet, is standing next to Brenda’s X-ray that shows the broken bone.

British photographer Paul Sansome won the Art of Travel portfolio category, while another British photographer, Geoff Shoults, won the award for the Best Single Image in an Art of Travel portfolio. Belgian photographer, Alain Schroeder, a former overall winner of the TPOTY awards, won the Endangered Planet portfolio category for images of the rescue and rehabilitation of Indonesian orangutans.

© Jason Edwards, Australia. Winner – Best Single Image in an Endangered Planet portfolio. Chobe National Park, Botswana The tortured and charred remains of an African elephant, rest beside a road in northern Botswana. It was originally slaughtered for bush meat but the poachers were disturbed before they could dismember the carcass.
© Jason Edwards, Australia. Winner – Best Single Image in an Endangered Planet portfolio. Chobe National Park, Botswana The tortured and charred remains of an African elephant, rest beside a road in northern Botswana. It was originally slaughtered for bush meat but the poachers were disturbed before they could dismember the carcass.

Australian photographer Jason Edwards won the award for the Best Single Image in an Endangered Planet portfolio for his image of the charred remains of an elephant that fell victim to poachers in Botswana. Ignacio Palacios (Australia/Spain) won the Oceans, Seas, Rivers, Lakes single image category, and was also named Runner-up in the Art of Travel category. Ben McRae’s portfolio was Highly Commended in the People & Cultures category.

© Ignacio Palacios, Australia/Spain. Winner – Oceans, Seas, Rivers, Lakes. Parque Nacional dos Lençóis Maranhenses, Brazil. A lonely tree survives the elements among the sand dunes. This image was shot from a light plane with the doors off.
© Ignacio Palacios, Australia/Spain. Winner – Oceans, Seas, Rivers, Lakes. Parque Nacional dos Lençóis Maranhenses, Brazil. A lonely tree survives the elements among the sand dunes.
This image was shot from a light plane with the doors off.
© Ignacio Palacios, Australia/Spain. Runner-up – Art of Travel. Gobi Desert, Mongolia. Sunrise, Sand Dune in the Gobi Desert, Mongolia.
© Ignacio Palacios, Australia/Spain. Runner-up – Art of Travel. Gobi Desert, Mongolia.
Sunrise, Sand Dune in the Gobi Desert, Mongolia.

American photographer Brian Clopp spent a week living amongst a herd of wild horses in Utah, USA, camping out in a dusty desert to capture the portfolio which won the Thrills & Adventures portfolio category. Quanhou Lu won the award for Best Single Image in a Thrills & Adventures portfolio with a bird’s eye view of a spectacular bridge crossing in Xingjiang in the photographer’s native China.

© Brian Clopp, USA. Winner – Thrills & Adventures portfolio. Dugway Proving Ground, Utah, USA. "To get these shots, I lived amongst the wild Onaqui herd for a week, camping out in a dusty desert environment. Here wild stallions battle dramatically for hierarchy, sending young foals scattering from the melee."
© Brian Clopp, USA. Winner – Thrills & Adventures portfolio. Dugway Proving Ground, Utah, USA. "To get these shots, I lived amongst the wild Onaqui herd for a week, camping out in a dusty desert environment. Here wild stallions battle dramatically for hierarchy, sending young foals scattering from the melee."
© Quanhou Lu, China. Winner – Best Single Image in a Thrills & Adventures portfolio. Xingjiang, China. Transferring animals between pastures can take them on an adventurous route.
© Quanhou Lu, China. Winner – Best Single Image in a Thrills & Adventures portfolio. Xingjiang, China. Transferring animals between pastures can take them on an adventurous route.

Will Burrard-Lucas (UK) worked with the Kenya Wildlife Service to photograph black rhinos, and his image shared top honours in the Dusk to Dawn single image category along with an atmospheric Cuban street scene shot by Sumit Dua (USA/UK).

© Will Burrard-Lucas, UK. Winner – Dusk to Dawn. Tsavo West National Park, Kenya. A black rhino photographed with a Camtraptions camera trap at night. This is a single long exposure photograph. The long exposure was required to expose the stars. A flash at the start of the exposure illuminated the rhino.
© Will Burrard-Lucas, UK. Winner – Dusk to Dawn. Tsavo West National Park, Kenya. A black rhino photographed with a Camtraptions camera trap at night. This is a single long exposure photograph. The long exposure was required to expose the stars. A flash at the start of the exposure illuminated the rhino.
© Sumit Dua, USA/UK. Winner – Dusk to Dawn. Havana, Cuba. "Walking around the streets of Havana after sunset I came across this ordinary scene where two neighbours were chatting. The lighting and colours reminded me of the ‘Old Master’ paintings."
© Sumit Dua, USA/UK. Winner – Dusk to Dawn. Havana, Cuba. "Walking around the streets of Havana after sunset I came across this ordinary scene where two neighbours were chatting. The lighting and colours reminded me of the ‘Old Master’ paintings."
© Ben McRae, Australia. Highly Commended – People & Cultures portfolio. Dus Village, Omo Valley, Ethiopia. All Kara have their own style of face and body painting. These intricate dots or drawn lines on a body represent the plumage of the guinea fowl.
© Ben McRae, Australia. Highly Commended – People & Cultures portfolio. Dus Village, Omo Valley, Ethiopia. All Kara have their own style of face and body painting. These intricate dots or drawn lines on a body represent
the plumage of the guinea fowl.

The awards were judged by an international panel of imaging experts which included Panamanian double Pulitzer Prize-winner Essdras M Suarez and Lawrence Jackson, a former official White House photographer under the Obama Administration.

Check out the rest of the winners from the 2019 awards at this link.

 

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