This January 22, 2024, the international jury of “Travel Photographer of The Year” announced the winners of the 2023 edition, whose photos were chosen from more than 20,000 others! The grand prize was awarded to Andreja Ravnak for a portfolio of eight images revealing the rolling fields of Italy, the Czech Republic and Slovenia. This is the second year in a row that Slovenia has distinguished itself, since it was Matjaz Krivic who had the most prestigious award in the competition last year.

Our favorites? The photograph taken from the series “Forest of Misty Vision” by Kazuaki Kozeki, and that of the Highline 197 suspension bridge, by the Dutch artist Josien Van Geffen.

The first, of deep and soothing beauty, reveals a spring forest submerged by the waters of Japanese Lake Shirakawa. We find Japanese aesthetic expertise there: a simple composition, at first glance, leaving space for emptiness, and which reveals its depth when you take the time to appreciate it. As Colin Finlay, member of the jury, points out, it "is not about perfection but rather imperfection. As with calligraphy where the stray hairs of the brush distinguish the ordinary from the exceptional, in this image it's the little twigs and branches that don't naturally line up where they're supposed to be that catch the eye." A philosophical invitation to appreciate moments of emptiness and imperfection.