Travel Photographer of the Year 2011: Winning Images

A former professor at the University of California, Louis Montrose of the USA, has become the overall winner of the 2011 international  Travel Photographer of the Year (TPOTY) awards, with two striking, and very different, portfolios; one documenting life in a painted village in Burkina Faso and the other depicting the Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) Festival in Oaxaca, Mexico.

Photo by Louis Montrose

Photographers in nearly 90 countries submitted thousands of images for this year’s contest. Entrants from 33 countries were shortlisted and photographers from 20 countries scooped individual category awards. The winning images can now be viewed online in the Winners’ Gallery, and will make their public debut at a major exhibition at the Royal Geographical Society (with IBG) in London from June 21st to August 19th, 2012.

The winners will receive prizes from Adobe Systems, Inc., Cutty Sark blended Scotch Whisky, the Elephant Family charity, Explore, Genesis Digital, Lexar Media, the Royal Geographical Society (with IBG), Oman Air and the Oman Ministry of Tourism, Photo Iconic, Plastic Sandwich, Tribes Travel, Tselana Travel, and Young Photographers Alliance.

Photo by Sergey Anisimov

The Young Travel Photographer of the Year award went to 17-year-old German photographer Arne Hansen for his portfolio depicting the physical impact of travel on nature. A 17-year-old British photographer, Joel Biddle, took the honours in Young TPOTY 15-18, and also won the TPOTY/Young Photographers Alliance Emerging Talent Award, for his intriguing abstract images on the category theme of ‘green’. A 14-year-old Seamus Crowley (USA) won Young TPOTY 14 and Under, with shots of the Irish landscape, with 10-year-old Swiss photographer Lisa Gehrig finishing as runner-up, and 17 year old Tom Spence (UK) runner-up in the 15-18 category.

Photo by Anil Sud

The New Talent award was won by Italy’s Edgard de Bono and Britain’s Stuart Dunn finished first in the One Shot, Wild Moments category. In the portfolio categories, Sergey Anisimov (Russia) won Cultures & Traditions, Malgorzata Pioro (Poland) Exotic, Anil Sud (Canada) Natural Elements and Franco Banfi (Switzerland) Spirit of Adventure. The beginners’ category – First Shot – was won by Guy Lankaster (UK) and Sheng Hong Tan (Malaysia).

Photo by Franco Banfi

TPOTY is the photo contest that’s run by photographers for photographers. It’s open to photographers from all countries; amateur or professional, beginner or expert, young or old; there are various categories to suit all the participants. It’s judged by leading photography experts and offers fantastic prizes from sponsors, including travel adventures, photographic equipment and photography tuition.