21 Best Travel Photos, Winners Of Travel Photographer of the Year

Travel Photographer of the Year has introduced the winners of its extremely anticipated journey images competitors—and the outcomes supply a wide ranging visible tour all over the world.

From sacred rituals and intimate portraits to atmospheric landscapes and hanging wildlife photos, the profitable images rejoice the extraordinary variety of our ever-changing planet and its inhabitants. They showcase the expertise {of professional} and beginner photographers from across the globe.

“In a divided world, these winners bring together people from a range of cultures and religions, the collection complemented by some incredible wildlife moments,” the organizers mentioned.

Now in its twenty fourth yr, the Travel Photographer of the Year awards proceed to set the benchmark for excellence in modern journey images, attracting an impressive assortment of entries.

ForbesTravel Photographer Of The Year: Beautiful, Inspiring Award-Winning ImagesBy Cecilia Rodriguez

This yr’s winners had been chosen from greater than 20,000 photos submitted by photographers of all ranges and judged anonymously by a 16-member worldwide panel of imaging consultants. Finalists had been required to offer authentic picture recordsdata in the course of the last judging stage to confirm the authenticity of their work and ensure that no AI instruments had been used within the creation of the pictures.

The total winner of this yr’s competitors is Greek beginner photographer Athanasios Maloukos, awarded for his highly effective and intensely atmospheric portfolio capturing moments of religious devotion in Konya, Turkey and The Night of Sorrows: the Yacente procession in Zamora, Spain.

“In a divided world, these winners bring together people from a wide range of cultures and religions, complemented by some incredible wildlife moments,” the organizers mentioned.

ForbesOutstanding Wildlife In Photos: 21 Winners Of Nature Photographer Of The YearBy Cecilia Rodriguez

Travel Photographer Of The Year Overall Winner

As the Sema ritual unfolds, two dervishes whirl in an undisciplined rhythm, framing the imposing determine of the Şeyh—who’s the axis and heart of the ceremony.

Through gracious strikes and quiet movement, his presence provides extra drama to a easy picture.

During the Yacente procession at Zamora, Spain on Holy Thursday, a lone penitent walks barefoot throughout Zamora’s Plaza de la Catedral moments earlier than the brotherhood’s last gathering. Behind him, the procession slowly involves relaxation, their candles swaying within the night time air.

Soon, the silence will give strategy to the haunting chant of the Miserere, closing the procession with a second of collective sorrow and reflection, effectively previous midnight.

Cultures, Beliefs, Heritage Travel Photography

Two Warkari males joyfully carry out a standard dance, or mock stick-play, in rural Bajirav Vihir, Maharashtra, India.

Their garments are smeared with mud, symbolizing the earthy, devotional spirit of the journey. One of the lads is smiling extensively, clearly immersed within the rhythm and devotional enthusiasm. Both maintain lengthy bamboo sticks adorned with orange flags.

In the background, a big group of Warkaris—women and men wearing conventional white apparel, colourful saris, turbans and topis—sit in a semicircle, clapping and cheering. Some carry flags and different sacred symbols related to the Wari procession as all the scene radiates group devotion, capturing the spirit of the Pandharpur Wari.

Men of the Hausa in Bauchi tribe, Northern Nigeria, put together for the celebrations that begin with the sighting of the brand new moon in Saudi Arabia and neighboring international locations.

In Kano and Northern Nigeria, this marks the beginning of the Durbar pageant, an annual cultural, spiritual and equestrian celebration showcasing the wealthy heritage and traditions of the Hausa individuals.

Travel Photographer: One Shot

A lone company employee hurries throughout a big junction in Tokyo, the one human being within the body. The picture is one in every of a collection depicting the overwhelming loneliness and the hectic tempo of residing in a big metropolis.

This black-and-white silhouette {photograph} highlights a gaggle of cyclists slicing by means of the haze in synchronized movement. The iconic spire of the Sustainability & Innovation Centre on the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park in Dubai rises within the background, subtly piercing the mist.

A favourite amongst Dubai’s health fanatics, Al Qudra’s 86-kilometer monitor transforms right into a dreamlike scene within the fog, emphasizing each human endurance and architectural ambition.

Travel Photographer And Wildlife

Being a mom bear is tough work. The cubs want fixed feeding as they have to double in weight each fortnight to have any likelihood of surviving the winter months. Multiple different elements add to enormously excessive cub mortality charges.

“As we tracked this mother bear at Lake Clark National Park, we got some insight into their perils, including aggressive male bears everywhere and other female bears,” says Prashant Chacko. “This mom was always alert and proactively keeping her cubs away from the slightest danger. Her cub seems to be looking up at her saying: ‘Thank you. You are my hero.’”

This hanging picture of a bull elephant enveloped in mud with only a single eye peering out gained the Travel Image of the Year.

Elephants frequently take mud baths to rid their hides of bugs and irritation. But right here, that acquainted conduct turns into one thing extra summary, stripped again to texture and gesture.

Shot in Tanzania’s Ngorongoro Conservation Area, the picture additionally gained the One Shot: Travel in Monochrome class.

Chile’s Torres Del Paine is legendary for its gorgeous landscapes, but in addition for being house to a fierce predator, the puma. These majestic creatures primarily feed on guanacos.

Although the searching success fee for pumas will not be significantly excessive, particularly for feminine pumas, they primarily depend on the abundance of guanacos for his or her survival.

This feminine puma had two cubs that relied on her. On this explicit early morning, she had been conserving a guanaco in sight till it was shut sufficient to leap on. She tried to tug it down and was near biting into its neck, however the guanaco managed to flee.

At sundown, hundreds of snow geese erupted into the sky, sweeping throughout the horizon. Overlapping wings and shifting instructions create a three-dimensional impression of movement. The blurred kinds convey each chaos and concord, remodeling the flock right into a residing tapestry of sunshine and vitality.

Two meerkats benefit from the sundown within the Kalahari Desert.

During breeding season a number of Sarus Cranes made a nest in Buriram, Thailand’s rice paddies and taught their chicks their environment, first carrying them on their backs.

A colourful set of photos following Arabian desert foxes residing unexpectedly near a residential neighborhood, navigating streets and gardens beneath the glow of streetlights in Kuwait City gained the Wildlife, Sea life, Bird life Portfolio.

This picture was taken subsequent to the seaside the place automotive and streetlights mirrored off the ocean.

Gorgeous Portraits

This portrait of an eagle hunter’s youngster in Altai Mountains, Western Mongolia captures the marvel and great thing about a youthful gaze.

Travel Photographer’s Rising Talent

These women, members of a distant Ovan Khumbi group in southern Angola, are carrying the distinctive hair model often called “ndava,” which marks the completion of their initiation ceremony.

In this intricate design, the strands of hair are woven along with pure fibers right into a cartwheel on all sides of the top, symbolizing their transition to maturity and a mark of cultural id.

This Ovahanda girl was visiting a small native market within the Lubango space in Southern Angola along with her tiny cost securely strapped to her again.

The elaborate beading ornamentation is a tribal custom, now in decline as Westernization takes its toll on tribal communities who dwell within the neighborhood of ever-expanding city areas.

Travel Photographer, Adventures & Experiences

A big fishing internet is unfold in the midst of a river in Vietnam. There’s a motor which, when activated, will elevate the online and catch any fish trapped in it.

The scene was captured in the course of the golden daybreak hours.

Seen from beneath the floor, a surfer glides beneath a breaking wave at Cloudbreak Reef on Fiji’s Tavarua Island. The underwater perspective turns turbulence and light-weight right into a single suspended second.

Shortly after dawn in Thailand’s quiet area of Sukhothai, whose title fittingly interprets to “Dawn of Happiness,” a Buddha’s determine displays within the nonetheless water of a pond. To convey the spirit of the second, John Edwards inverted the {photograph}, turning the reflection into an phantasm the place the sky above the Buddha turns into a tapestry of floating flowers and drifting crops.

See all winners and finalists of the Travel Photographer Of The Year competitors.

MORE FROM FORBES

ForbesWinter In Europe? Discover The 10 Hottest City Breaks Trending NowBy Cecilia RodriguezForbesAmazing Nature In 21 Photos Shortlisted For Close-Up Photographer Of The YearBy Cecilia RodriguezForbesFunny Animal Photos: 18 Finalists For Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards 2025By Cecilia Rodriguez