The Nature Conservancy Announces 2023 Photo Contest Winners

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Photos from Hong Kong and Asia Pacific Region Received Multiple Accolades 

HONG KONG, Nov. 6, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The Nature Conservancy (TNC) 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 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.

Adding to the pride of Hong Kong, local photographer Jeanny Tang has won First Place in the Freshwater category, setting a celebratory milestone for the city. Her award-winning photograph, taken in Tai Sang Wai Yuen Long, showcasing the captivating beauty that merges after the pond dries up.  In the image, one can clearly see the holes dug by fish for spawning, adding a unique charm to the scene and showcasing the magnificent natural beauty within the urban landscape of Hong Kong to the world.

"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)

*Kindly ensures proper attribution to the photographers when utilizing their photos. The credits can be found in the appendix file, which is accessible through the provided link below.

Click and view all the 2023 winning images at this LINK.

About The Nature Conservancy 
The Nature Conservancy (TNC) is the world's leading international conservation non-profit organization dedicated to protecting natural places and preserving life on Earth for future generations.  TNC follows a science-based conservation approach to create innovative solutions to global conservation challenges and enable nature and people to thrive together.  We are currently addressing climate change at an unprecedented scale by protecting lands, waters, and oceans in sustainable ways, providing food and water resources, and helping cities become more sustainable.  Our projects span 76 countries and territories, using collaborative approaches with local communities, governments, private sector and others, to carry out various conservation projects and activities, including biodiversity conservation, forest conservation, marine conservation, climate change, and sustainable land use. In addition to the photo contest, TNC also organizes various community projects and educational activities, aiming to promote public awareness and action towards environmental protection and sustainable development and to raise public awareness of natural environments and wildlife. TNC was awarded the 2019 Lui Che Woo Prize - Prize for Sustainable Development.  For more about TNC's work in the Asia Pacific region, please visit: The Nature Conservancy (tnc.org.hk)

If you also care about environmental protection and wildlife conservation, please support TNC's work, participate in our community projects and activities, and work together to protect the natural environment and wildlife, follow TNC Hong Kong's social platforms for more environmental conservation information:
Facebook: TNC HK 大自然保護協會
Instagram: @tnc_hk
Twitter: @TNC_HK 

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SOURCE The Nature Conservancy