Joel Santos, Portugal Winner, Travel Photographer of the Year 2016 Salt Desert, Danakil Depression, Afar, Ethiopia This unique aerial photo shows the salt miners guiding a dromedary and donkey caravan through this desert's unique salt patterns.
Courtney Moore, USA (age 18) Winner, Young TPOTY 15-18 Island Beach State Park, New Jersey, USA On a particularly windy day, this fox was sitting only a few yards away from the ocean as sand pelted against his fur.
Ankit Kumar, India (age 13) Winner, Young TPOTY 14 and Under Lake Natron Tanzania A flock of Lesser flamingos take flight above Tanzania's salt and soda Lake Natron.
Rudi Sebastian, Germany Joint Runner-up Wildlife & Nature Berlin, Germany In a small pond at the rural border of Berlin, male moor frogs in their bright blue mating colour try to mate with a common toad, which almost drowned. It took about 30 minutes before she managed to free herself and reach dry ground.
Kyle Adler, USA Joint Runner-up, Wildlife & Nature This alligator lay out in the middle of the waterway seeking what little sunshine was offered on a cloudy December day as we sailed by.
Biran Zhao, China Winner, Shaped by Light Baiyu County, Ganzi, Sichuan Province, China Every morning, the nuns walk around the mountain as practice lesson. Regardless of the season, they walk year after year, day in and day out.
Jeremy Woodhouse, UK Winner - Best Single Image in a Mankind Portfolio Coltesti, Romania This elderly woman was cutting grass from a small plot to feed her livestock.
Craig Easton, UK Winner, Land, Sea, Sky portfolio West Kirby, Wirral, UK A lone Buddhist monk walks around the boundary wall of the West Kirby Marine Lake.
LluÃs Salvadó, Spain Winner, Best Single Image in a Journeys & Adventures portfolio San Bartolomé de Pinares, Spain Each January 16, the festival of Saint Anton takes place in San Bartolomé de Pinares.
Beniamino Pisati, Italy Winner, Journeys & Adventures portfolio Bayankhongor, Mongolia Horses are present in all aspects of life in Mongolia. A popular saying is: “A Mongol without a horse is like a bird without wings”.
Martin Siering, Germany Special Mention, Land, Sea, Sky Komba Island, Indonesia The eruptions of Batu Tara volcano are extremely loud, big and powerful, so that the whole island quakes.
Travel Photographer of the Year 2016 – Overall Winner:
Joel Santos becomes the first-ever Portuguese overall winner in the award’s 14-year history, beating photographers from 123 countries to take the title of Travel Photographer of the Year 2016. His winning entry features a delicate and intimate portfolio depicting traditional fishing in Ghana and – in another first for TPOTY – an aerial portfolio captured using a drone, giving a bird’s eye view of one of the hottest places in the world, Ethiopia’s Danakil Depression.
Young Travel Photographer of the Year 2016:
The Young Travel Photographer of the Year 2016 is 14-year old Darpan Basak from India, 18-year old Courtney Moore (USA) won Young TPOTY 15-18 and Ankit Kumar (India) won Young TPOTY 14 and Under.
The Portfolio Categories:
In the portfolio categories, former overall TPOTY winner Craig Easton won Land, Sea, Sky’, with two German photographers – Sandra Bartocha and Stephan Fürnrohr – each being awarded Best Single Image’ in the category. China’s Ruiyuan Chen took first place in Mankind’, with Jeremy Woodhouse (UK) winning the award for Best Single Image, and Beniamino Pisati (Italy) won Journeys & Adventures’, with LluÃs Salvadó (Spain) winning Best Single Image.
The Single Image, New Talent and HD Video Categories:
In the single image categories, Shaped by Light’ was won by Chinese photographer Biran Zhao, Michele Palazzo (Italy) won Cities – Architecture & Spaces’ and Luke Massey (UK) won Wildlife & Nature’. Briton Alison Cahill came first in the New Talent award, and fellow Brit Rufus Blackwell won the HD video category Travel Shorts. Finally, Italy’s Marina Spironettitook first prize in Smart Shot, the category for images taken on a mobile phone or tablet.
Genesis are delighted to support TPOTY as a long-term sponsor of the awards.