Overall winner | Vladimir Alekseev, Russia
Svalbard, Norway. ‘The total solar eclipse in Svalbard on 20 March 2015 was one of the most important and impressive astronomical events. In the morning, a blizzard began, and the sky was covered with clouds. But literally an hour before the eclipse, the weather improved. And I managed to capture this amazing moment.’
Photograph: Vladimir Alekseev/TPOTY 2020 www.tpoty.com
iTravelled phone/tablet single image – winner | Azim Khan Ronnie, Bangladesh
Dhaka, Bangladesh. ‘Thousands of people come to pray together over several floors of one of the biggest mosques in the world.’
Photograph: Azim Khan Ronnie/TPOTY 2020 www.tpoty.com
One shot island – winner | David Newton
An outcrop of rock, battered by the waves, forms its own tiny island just off the coast of Taiwan
Photograph: David Newton/TPOTY 2020 / www.tpoty.com
One shot solitude – winner | Mark Anthony
Botolan, Zambales, Philippines. ‘We were relaxing and observing the tide when the sunrise lit up the shore in a beautiful way.’
Photograph: Mark Anthony/TPOTY 2020 www.tpoty.com
One shot colours of life – winner | Peter Walmsley, UK
Bengaluru, Bangalore, India. ‘You think you’ve visited busy markets before? You haven’t until you’ve visited Bengaluru. The flower market is absolutely chaotic! Dive in and you will be carried along with the flow of customers. Photographs in the middle of this melee are hard to achieve, but think a little laterally (well, upwards) and you can climb a couple of storeys and get this bird’s eye view of the scrum below.’
Photograph: Peter Walmsley/TPOTY 2020 www.tpoty.com
Best single image in a travel portfolio – winner | Paul Sansome, UK
Long Bien, Hanoi, Vietnam. ‘I had to exercise extreme patience to achieve this shot at a very busy junction in Hanoi where traffic from left, right and behind me would constantly block the desired image I spent an hour before, as I had hoped, just a single bike drove past part of the world’s longest mosaic mural producing an image that I call “Green Energy”.’
Photograph: Paul Sansome/TPOTY 2020 www.tpoty.com
Travel portfolio – highly commended | Nicolas Raspiengeas, France
Lake Akkajaure, Sweden. ‘This is a macro picture of the thick that covers Lake Akkajaure in winter. As it is a dam lake, in winter the water level drops and the ice layer breaks on the high bottom of the lake, resulting in some incredible “graphics”.’
Photograph: Nicolas Raspiengeas/TPOTY 2020 www.tpoty.com
One shot; close to home – winner | Pier Luigi Dodi, Italy
Fidenza, Italy. ‘It was the beginning of autumn and one of the last days on which to take advantage of being out in the park for some hours. My friend Giulia and her son were playing with soap bubbles.’
Photograph: Pier Luigi Dodi/TPOTY 2020 www.tpoty.com
One shot solitude – commended | Irene Becker, Hungary
Drina River, near Bajina Bašta, Serbia. ‘The idea of building the house in the middle of the river was born in 1968. Nowadays the river house is a holiday place for a group of friends.’
Photograph: Irene Becker/TPOTY 2020 www.tpoty.com
Nature, sealife, wildlife portfolio – runner up | Wenming Tang, China
Poyang Lake, Jiangxi, China. ‘Lake National Nature Reserve is located in the north of Jiangxi province. Poyang Lake is the largest freshwater lake in China and provides a seasonal home for more than 100 species of migratory birds, including 11 endangered species’.
Photograph: Wenming Tang/TPOTY 2020 www.tpoty.com
Travel portfolio – commended | Alessio Mesiano, Italy
Kallurin, Kalsoy Island, Faroe Islands. ‘Going to this place is always a gamble. It’s located on Kalsoy, a small island connected by a ferry only a few times per day. Such special light is possible only during winter, so I had to face the extreme nordic weather. It was windy, freezing and graupel was falling intermittently hurting my face.’
Photograph: Alessio Mesiano/TPOTY 2020 www.tpoty.com
People of the world; portfolio – single images – special Mention | Mouneb Taim, Syria
Saraqib, Syria. ‘On the occasion of the International Day of Theatre, puppeteer Walid Rashed performs his puppet acts for children. Since 2013, he has been touring refugee camps and devastated neighbourhoods to perform puppet acts and shadow play for Syrian children.’
Photograph: Mouneb Taim/TPOTY 2020 www.tpoty.com
People of the world; single images – special mention | Yu Shen, China
’In the apartment’s open-air pool, the girl swims while the man sunbathes, creating an interesting contrast between the two figures’ poses. The light from between the buildings creates a special light effect on the water. The photo was taken from the 29th floor.’
Photograph: Yu Shen/TPOTY 2020 www.tpoty.com
Special mention: Lawrence Worcester, US
Cradle Mountain National Park, Tasmania, Australia. ‘Having found wombats to be generally elusive on my travels in Australia, and in Tasmania in particular, I was excited to find them easier photographic prey in Cradle Mountain National Park. Moreover, I can hardly describe how excited I was to find several with ‘joeys.’ It was quite a surprise the first time to see the mother nibbling on grass in the front while the joey sampled a few morsels out the back.’
Photograph: Lawrence Worcester/TPOTY 2020 www.tpoty.com
Travel portfolio winner | Jordi Cohen, Spain
Kannur, Kerala, India. ‘Portrait of a boy during a Kalaripayattu training, a martial art originating in southern India.’
Photograph: Jordi Cohen/TPOTY 2020 www.tpoty.com
Travel portfolio – runner up | Richard Li, Hong Kong
Kamchatka, Russia. ‘There are many salmon spawning in the lake under the Kamchatka volcano in July and August every year, which is the most delicious food for brown bears. Although we would think it is looking at the volcano, this oddly human-like figure is actually looking for fish in the lake.’
Photograph: Richard Li/TPOTY 2020 www.tpoty.com
People of the world portfolio – runner up | Jorge Bacelar, Portugal
Murtosa, Aveiro, Portugal. ‘Abílio da Fonseca, better known as Abílio Carteirista, has always been a farmer in Murtosa. Now over 80 years old, he spends much of his time in the stable taking care of his animals.’
Photograph: Jorge Bacelar/TPOTY 2020 www.tpoty.com
Nature, sealife, wildlife portfolio; single images – special mention | Joshua Holko, Australia
Wild Steppe region of Mongolia. ‘The pallas cat is instantly distinguishable by its round pupils and almost totally round body. In its winter coat the cat is nearly as round as it is long. Aware of my position the cat watched curiously and without fear as I slowly repositioned myself to get the composition I wanted.’
Photograph: Joshua Holko/TPOTY 2020 www.tpoty.com
Best single image in nature, sealife, wildlife portfolio – winner | Pavlos Evangelidis, Greece
Bistro, Beqa Channel, Fiji. ‘Don’t worry, the fish are fine! They’re pilot fish – or, to be precise in this case, golden trevallies. They help the shark navigate and keep clean in exchange for scraps and protection.’
Photograph: Pavlos Evangelidis/TPOTY 2020 www.tpoty.com
Best single image in a people of the world portfolio – winner | Eddy Verloes, Belgium
‘This is part of my series Losing Our Minds, that was taken at the beginning of the Covid crisis in 2020: a bizarre, but extremely fascinating period. This is a photo of ultra-Orthodox Jews who were enjoying their freedom in an unorthodox way in the storm (of their lives) and escaping the lockdown.’
Photograph: Eddy Verloes/TPOTY 2020 www.tpoty.com
Nature, sealife wildlife portfolio – highly commended | Alexej Sachov, Germany
Tulamben, Bali, Indonesia. ‘This is not a tiny captain of a spaceship. The small fish is feeding on plankton, gathered by a salp (pelagic tunicate). The photo was taken at night in the open sea. Unique underwater species come from the deep blue, attracted by the light of a drifting underwater torch.’
Photograph: Alexej Sachov/TPOTY 2020 www.tpoty.com
Young travel photographer of the year 2020 – winner | Indigo Larmour (12), Ireland
Old city, Lahore, Pakistan. ‘The Masjid Wazir Khan is open to worshippers from sunrise and sometimes people will hang around to chat with the caretaker who proudly guards this mosque, which is widely regarded to be one of the most beautiful in Pakistan, with its ornate archways leading from the main building out to the prayer yard.’
Photograph: Indigo Larmour/TPOTY 2020 www.tpoty.com
Overall winner | Vladimir Alekseev, Russia
Yamal Peninsula, Russia. ‘For the indigenous people of the far north, deer are wealth. This includes food, housing, clothing, and transportation. And children, from a very young age, know how to drive reindeer on special sleds called narta.’
Photograph: Vladimir Alekseev/TPOTY 2020 www.tpoty.com
Nature, sealife, wildlife portfolio – winner | Marco Steiner, Austria
Kuramathi, Rasdhoo Atoll, Maldives. A flying gurnard in juvenile stage, taken during a blackwater dive. ‘I used a very slow shutter to get the movement of this bird-like fish. We found three of them that day and some more over the next few days, which was really interesting for us as we had never ever seen one in the Maldives before.’
Photograph: Marco Steiner/TPOTY 2020 www.tpoty.com
People of the world portfolio – commended | Piper Mackay, US
Pilgrims gathering at St George, one of the 11 rock-hewn monolithic churches in Lalibela, Ethiopia
Photograph: Piper Mackay/TPOTY 2020 www.tpoty.com
Landscapes and earth elements portfolio – runner up Scott Portelli, Australia
Kati Thanda-Lake Eyre, South Australia. ‘Kati Thanda-Lake Eyre is Australia’s largest salt lake, yet it is only covered with water every eight years on average. The vast salt plain dominates the landscape with patterns left behind by the receding water. Natural bore springs emerge across the plains, creating enormous patterns of pastel-blues, yellows and reds as water pushed up through the salt crust creates visual anomalies.’
Photograph: Scott Portelli/TPOTY 2020 www.tpoty.com
Travel portfolio single images – special mention | Jonathan Stokes, UK
Bar Las Teresas, Seville, Spain. ‘Three men sit at a small table in animated conversation, among a cluttered interior of old posters and paintings, plates and baskets for food, and a row of hanging cured jamón meat above the counter.’
Photograph: Jonathan Stokes/TPOTY 2020 www.tpoty.com
Young travel photographer of the year; 14 years and under – winner | Miguel Sánchez García (11), Spain
Herrería Forest, San Lorenzo de El Escorial, Madrid, Spain. ‘A forest imagined, dreamed, but at the same time real. Multiple exposure taking four pictures turning the tripod head up. All images are saved in a single raw file’
Photograph: Miguel Sánchez García/TPOTY 2020 www.tpoty.com
Travel portfolio – commended | Alessio Mesiano, Italy
Vestmanna, Streymoy, Faroe Islands. ‘The Northern Lights are not easy to see in the Faroe Islands. During winter bad weather is very common and the skies are too often cloudy. I parked the car, turned the radio on, lowered the seat, covered myself with a blanket and waited for some hours. I took this photo at around midnight but I stayed there until 4am.’
Photograph: Alessio Mesiano/TPOTY 2020 www.tpoty.com
