Today, The Nature Conservancy unveiled the winners of its 2023 Photo Contest, featuring images that help connect us to the power and the peril of the natural world – with closeups of creatures great and small, painterly landscapes in all seasons and amazing scenes of exploration on land and sea.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20231101775463/en/

GRAND PRIZE // Tibor Litauszki, Hungary // Underwater shot of an alpine newt feeding atop a mass of frog’s eggs

This year’s contest doubled the number of categories and saw a huge increase in stunning submissions, from a serene coral reef in Guatemala to pair of tigers in the middle of a fight in India. A prestigious panel of judges that included photographers Javier Aznar, Smita Sharma, Morgan Heim, and renowned natural history photographer Frans Lanting selected the winners from more than 80,000 individual photographers and over 189,000 entries – an enormous increase from just over 100,000 entries in 2022 – from 191 countries and territories.

The 2023 grand prize will be awarded to Tibor Litauszki from Hungary, for his underwater photo of a newt eating freshly-laid frog’s eggs.

“Our annual photo contest is an inspiration. Photographers from all walks of life helped give voice to nature by showing us what mattered to them,” says Alex Snyder, 2023 Global Photo Contest Director and Judging Coordinator. “The judges and I were taken on a visual journey as we reviewed thousands of images from amateurs and professionals alike. These impactful images underscored not only the power of photography but the importance of The Nature Conservancy’s global efforts in conservation.”

The judges will award over $25,000 in prize money. In addition to the Grand Prize winner, who will receive a camera kit worth $5,000, the judges have also selected a first, second and third place winner for each category, plus honorable mentions.

“Whether you’re a scientist collecting data in the field or a photographer capturing the wonder of the natural world, we are all conservationists,” said Meg Goldthwaite, Chief Marketing and Communications Officer of The Nature Conservancy. “Our earth is full of both beauty and danger, power and peril, and these images illustrate how protecting and restoring nature must be a top priority for us all. We each have a part to play in combating the crises of climate change and biodiversity loss.”

Additional awards in the following categories were given to:

Judge Awards
Celebrity Judge Cole Sprouse’s Choice - Hermis Haridas, United Arab Emirates (@Hermis.haridas)

Oceans
1^st Place - Estebane Rezkallah, France (@panchovilaaa)
2^nd Place - Bambang Wirawan, Indonesia (@bro_matra)
3^rd Place - Giovanni Allievi, Italy

People & Nature
1^st Place - Michael Hegyi, United States (@michaelhegyiphoto)
2^nd Place - Mano Aliczki, Hungary (@manoaliczkiphoto)
3^rd Place - Randall Hudson, United States (@kcstorys)
Honorable Mention - Narayan Malu, India
Honorable Mention - Fatih Yilmaz, Turkey (@rotadefterim)
Honorable Mention - Md. Safayet Hossain Shanto, Bangladesh (@safayethossainshanto2017)

Plants & Fungi
1^st Place - Jose Pereyra Lucena, Argentina (@josepereyralucena)
2^nd Place - Vittorio Ricci, Italy
3^rd Place - Ashley Sykes, Australia (@Ausmashmash)
Honorable Mention - Gero Heine, United States (@geroheinephotography)
Honorable Mention - Mohammed Salman, India

Freshwater
1^st Place - Jeanny Tang, Hong Kong
2^nd Place - Alan Taylor, United States (@alantaylorphotography)
3^rd Place - Rubens Rebouças, Brazil (@rubensreboucas)
Honorable Mention - Jorge Castro Urbiola, Mexico (@thesantogrial)
Honorable Mention - Gianluca Gianferrari, Italy (@camouflajj)

Lands
1^st Place - Alessandro Carboni, Italy (@alessandro_carboni)
2^nd Place - Roberto Valdez, Ecuador (@robinski__)
3^rd Place - Adam Mowery, United States (@adammoweryphoto)
Honorable Mention - Cosmin Ovidiu Stan, Romania (@cosminstan.ro)
Honorable Mention - Bruce Hogle, United States

Mammals
1^st Place - Siddhartha Ghosh, India
2^nd Place - HJ Yang, United States
3^rd Place - Luisa Pericoli, United States (@vittoria_thecutestfrenchie)
Honorable Mention - Bing Lin, United States (@earth.abloom)

Climate
1^st Place - Raphael Alves, Brazil (@photoraphaelalves)
2^nd Place - Mustafa Binolm Turkey (@mustafabinol)
3^rd Place - Luisa Lynch Harris, Spain
Honorable Mention - Zhenhuan Zhou, Canada (@zzh_hiland)
Honorable Mention - Adra Pallón, Spain

Aerials
1^st Place - Agnieszka Wieczorek, Poland (@polatinaphotoandtravel)
2^nd Place - Neelutpaul Barua, India (@neel.barua.photograph)
3^rd Place - Derek Robertson, United States (@derekrobertsonphotography)
Honorable Mention - Maman Sukirman, Indonesia
Honorable Mention - Mostafijur Rahman Nasim, Indonesia

Insects & Arachnids
1^st Place - Benjamin Salb, United States (@bens_small_world)
2^nd Place - Soumya Ranjan Bhattacharyya, India
3^rd Place - Lei Bo, China
Honorable Mention - Tibor Litauszki, Hungary (@tiborlitauszki_naturphtgrphy)
Honorable Mention - Jaime Daniel Fajardo Torres, Ecuador (@Jaime.f.torres)

Underwater Life
1^st Place - Russell Laman, United States (@russlaman)
2^nd Place - Cai Jialing, China (@homoplankton)
3^rd Place - Daniel Nicholson, Australia (@barefoot.wandering)
Honorable Mention - Juan Carlos Huitrón Baca, Mexico (@biton72023)

Birds
1^st Place - Grzegorz Długosz, Poland (@gdlugosz_photography)
2^nd Place - Mike Krehbiel, United States (@krebbs28)
3^rd Place - Juan Jose Murillo, Colombia (@jjmurillorolon)
Honorable Mention - Mario Labado, United States (@bobby_labado)
Honorable Mention - Petr Bambousek, Czech Republic (@sulasulacom)

Reptiles & Amphibians
1^st Place - Irina Petrova Adamatzky, United Kingdom (@microcosmic_world)
2^nd Place - Petr Bambousek, Czech Republic (@sulasulacom)
3^rd Place - Joseph Mullica, United States (@Scarletkingcowboy)
Honorable Mention - Sergio Emmanuel Comisso, Argentina (@emmanuelcomisso)
Honorable Mention - Christian Passeri, Germany (@chrissparrows)

You can view all the winning images here.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20231101775463/en/

Ann Kaiser
Senior Media Manager
ann.kaiser@tnc.org

Claire Griffin
Media Relations Coordinator
Claire.griffin@tnc.org

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