This year’s winning images were selected by a panel of judges that included renowned US singer-songwriter Ben Folds, who is himself an avid photographer and a member of the prestigious Sony Artisans of Imagery.
From more than 100,000 entries, a photo of a western lowland gorilla walking through a cloud of butterflies in the Central African Republic, taken by UK photographer Anup Shah, won the grand prize.
Folds said of the winning image: “I like photos that keep dragging you in. The [gorilla’s] face. Tolerance or bliss. It’s really hard to tell and the insects draw you there.”
Below is a selection of some of the winning images in the various categories. DM/OBP
The Way Home: In Yunnan, China. May 2021. (Photo: Minqiang Lu / TNC Photo Contest 2021)
Searching: Orangutans are accustomed to live on trees and feed on wild fruits like lychees, mangosteens and figs, and slurp water from holes in trees. (Photo: Thomas Vijayan / TNC Photo Contest 2021)
Wildebeest herd on the move: Maasai Mara National Reserve, Kenya. During the frenzy of crossing the Mara River, the wildebeests were leaping, kicking, scampering and bucking. (Photo: Anup Shah / TNC Photo Contest 2021)
Fishing: Pike catches a large perch. How did it end up? I don’t know. The situation hasn’t changed much in an hour. I had to emerge because I was running out of air. (Photo: Viktor Vrbovsky / TNC Photo Contest)
Waiting: Galapagos sea lion calf (Zalophus wollebaeki) waiting for its mother in the sand on the beach, San Cristóbal Island, Galapagos, Ecuador. (Photo: Kristhian Castro / TNC Photo Contest 2021)
Glacial bubbles: As temperatures rise and glacial ice melts, air is released and caught inside. This air bubbles were caught by a frozen layer on top. (Photo: Jorge Andrés Miraglia / TNC Photo Contest 2021)
Summer on the Lotus pond: The lotus ponds across Vietnam are entering the growing season, flourishing. (Photo: Manh Cuong Vu / TNC Photo Contest 2021)
Winter: Iceland, 2019. (Photo: Man Wai Wong / TNC Photo Contest 2021)
Water: Water and people. (Photo: Kazi Arifujjaman / TNC Photo Contest 2021)
Hong Kong: At Hung Hom, the rising of the full moon could be found every month, thanks to its facing the east. (Photo: Kim-pan Dennis Wong / TNC Photo Contest 2021)
Space of HK: Hong Kong. (Photo: Wax Leung / TNC Photo Contest 2021)
Sand Storm: A guide in the Sahara Desert enduring a sand storm. (Photo: Tom Overall / TNC Photo Contest 2021)
Covid-19 Waste: New danger to underwater life as medical waste used during the pandemic reaches the seas. (Photo: Sebnem Coskun / TNC Photo Contest 2021)
DROUGHT: Carcass of a Pantanal alligator (Caiman yacare) in the dry soil on the banks of the Transpantaneira highway, municipality of Poconé (Mato Grosso). (Photo: Daniel De Granville Manço/TNC Photo Contest 2021)
Serra Do Mar: In a helicopter flight through the sea mountain range, I came across this white cloud cover, which resulted in this magnificent image that resembles the head of a dinosaur. (Photo: Denis Ferreira Netto / TNC Photo Contest 2021)
Salt Ponds: If you have flown into San Francisco International Airport, you may have seen these colourful salt ponds over the bay. This aerial image was taken while flying my plane. (Photo: Jassen Todorov / TNC Photo Contest 2021)
Life Colour: Lush green mangroves line the mud flats accentuated by the tidal waters and months of rain filling the artesian basin. Gulf of Carpentaria in tropical north Queensland. (Photo: Scott Portelli / TNC Photo Contest 2021)
Saving Orangutans: The whole SOCP team works together to prepare Brenda, an estimated three-month-old female orangutan (she has no teeth yet) for surgery. (Photo: Alain Schroeder / TNC Photo Contest 2021)
Swimming: Three levels of leisure: swimmers, freedivers and divers enjoy their respective sport/recreational activities in a fresh water mass known locally as the Cenotes. (Photo: Joram Mennes / TNC Photo Contest 2021)
Sunflowers: This year, due to a high water level, a giant field of sunflowers could not been mown. In winter, it attracted thousands of different species of birds. (Photo: Mateusz Piesiak / TNC Photo Contest 2021)
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