‘Tribute to Marilyn’ by Tihomir Trichkov / National Geographic Travel Photographer of the Year Contest. My imagination ran wild, I was smelling the gunpowder, hearing the gunshots, the neighing of the horses and the screams of the wounded, picturing what is it like to be under siege, protecting your freedom and ideals against foreign invasion. But the human mind is incredible, a sudden breeze of wind took me straight to a different time, a completely different movie set, a hundred or so years later, well famed for a single white dress…
The 2018 National Geographic Travel Photographer of the Year Contest is in full swing, with submissions pouring in from international travel photographers. Five weeks into the submission period and it’s clear that it will be no easy task for the jury of experts to declare a winner. And a new selection of favorites from the People category is a fascinating look at how people live around the world.
In Bangladesh, Mauro De Bettio’s haunting black and white photograph that serves as an artistic glimpse of the stark reality of life working in the shipyards of Dhaka. The backbreaking manual labor is in stark contrast to the futuristic installation that Hong Kong photographer Danny Cheung captures, his central figure flitting through the psychedelic scene.
Meanwhile, Tihomir Trichkov’s well-composed shot demonstrates how travel photographers can use their own experiences to inform their photograph of exotic places. In Tribute to Marilyn, a scene in India transports Trichkov back to Marilyn Monroe’s famously billowing white dress. The result is a clever photograph capturing a unique moment in time.
If you think you can compete with these world class entries, the 2018 National Geographic Photographer of the Year Contest is accepting entries until May 31, 2018. Aside from People, photographers may also enter work into the Nature and Cities categories. Entries will be judged for creativity, composition, and photographic quality, with a grand prize of $10,000 up for grabs. To enter, head over to National Geographic.
Highlights from the People category of the 2018 National Geographic Travel Photographer of the Year Contest are a glimpse into global culture.
‘The Girl Who Leapt Through Time’ by Daniel Cheung / National Geographic Travel Photographer of the Year Contest
‘Rust and Sweat’ by / Mauro De Bettio / National Geographic Travel Photographer of the Year Contest. Char Kaliganj in Dhaka, slum and home to one of the largest shipyards of Asia. A city made by giant skeletons of old ships which employ around 15 thousands souls that work to both break down massive shipping vessels as well as create new ships from the parts. The age of laborers ranges from 8 to 80 and they all work together. The work is hard, crude, dirty and dangerous but it gives thousands of them employment and wages to feed their families.
‘One On One’ by Jeremy Lasky / National Geographic Travel Photographer of the Year Contest. Young boys play basketball after school in a Havana neighborhood.
‘Crossing the Pond’ by Yousuf Tushar / National Geographic Travel Photographer of the Year Contest. A boy crossing the little pond beside sea beach at Coxís Bazar Dry fishing village, Bangladesh. In the village, more than 5000 families engaged with dry fish processing. Their children have no modern toys to play, so sometimes they play and making fun by themselves like as jumping or running.
‘Tibetan iMonks’ Mattia Passarini / National Geographic Travel Photographer of the Year Contest. Tibetan Monks during the weekly pray in Tashi LhunPo Monastery in Tibet. The Tashi LhunPo Monastery was founded in 1447 by the 1st Dalai Lama, is historically important and one of the most influent monasteries in Shigatse, the second-largest city in Tibet. Now residences of around 2000 monks.
‘Freedom’ by Aidan Williams / National Geographic Travel Photographer of the Year Contest. Andrey Karr from Western Riders Slacklines at sunset above big waves in Nazare, Portugal 27/12/17
‘Leathers drying’ by Erberto Zani / National Geographic Travel Photographer of the Year Contest. Leathers drying: a woman at work in a street outside Dacca, in Bangladesh. These piece of leathers will become wallets, belts or part of shoes and sell in all the world.
‘The Colorful People’ by Sampa Guha Majumdar / National Geographic Travel Photographer of the Year Contest. Lath mar Holi is a local celebration of the Hindu festival of Holi. It takes place days before the actual Holi in the neighboring towns of Barsana and Nandgaon near Mathura in the state of Uttar Pradesh, where thousands of Hindus and tourists congregate, each year.
‘Dancing in the Heights’ by Veronica Domit / National Geographic Travel Photographer of the Year Contest. Incredible wisdom and reverence for nature is still alive in small communities all over the world. we should stop and listen to the elders. we should stop and listen to mother earth. Cruz, head of the Totonaca community of Papantla, explains “the ceremony must take place at noon, the only moment where there is a direct link between Mother Earth and Father Sun. We as Totonacas, make the flying ceremony once a year to ask for rain so our crops can grow.”