by
Team Africa Geographic
Thursday, 26 May 2022
Here are the finalists in our 2022 Photographer of the Year! We will announce the overall winner and two runners-up in the beginning of June. They will share US$10 000 in prize money and join their partners and our CEO Simon Espley and his wife Lizz on the ultimate private safari in Botswana.
This is Gallery 1 of the finalists. To see the other Photographer of the Year top finalists, click below:Photographer of the Year 2022 Finalists – Gallery 2
Photographer of the Year is Proudly brought to you by Hemmersbach Rhino Force and Natural Selection .
A litter of cubs, fresh out of the den, disturbs a moment of peace. Samburu National Reserve, Kenya. © Sue Dougherty Children entertain themselves beneath towering Grandidier’s baobabs – the tree giants of Madagascar, which grow up to 25 metres tall. Western Madagascar. © Aimin Chen The rains come too late for this Springbokvlakte quiver tree, which succumbed to the previous year’s drought. |Ai-|Ais/Richtersveld Transfrontier Park, South Africa. © Hesté de Beer Portrait d’un canard . An artistic crop of a yellow-billed duck preening and displaying its striking feathers. Intaka Island Wetlands, Cape Town. © Braeme HollandA boomslang preying on southern-masked weaver chicks is mobbed by a protective male. Ngala Private Game Reserve, Greater Kruger, South Africa. © Matt Walsh Floating water. A sunbird demonstrates a preference for water from a leaking pipe, mere metres from the Saloum River. Sokone, Senegal. © Cecile Terrasse A lucky shot as a leopard returns to its carcass. Kruger National Park, South Africa. © Deon Kelbrick In an unusual occurrence, small fish evade the tentacles of a smack of South African box jellyfish (Carybdea branchi ), which in this case did not appear to be hunting the fish. “I was able to observe both for a while and none of the fish were caught,” says the photographer, who speculates this may be a rare case of commensalism – with the small fish possibly taking refuge between the tentacles. Cape Town, South Africa. © Geo Cloete An impressive leopard surveys his forest kingdom. Ngorongoro Crater, Tanzania. © Hannah Strand Trying to escape a cauldron of struggling wildebeest in the low water levels of the Mara River. Serengeti National Park, Tanzania. © Hesté de Beer The herd brings the drama as it arrives at a spring to drink. Mana Pools National Park, Zimbabwe. © Jens Cullmann An underground hide provides the opportunity to see eye-to-eye with a pair of endangered reticulated giraffes, aquiline muzzles brushing the red earth in symmety. Ol Jogi Wildlife Conservancy, Laikipia, Kenya. © Julian Asher André Bauma and his ward, Ndakasi – rescued as an infant when the rest of her family was murdered. Bauma and Ndakasi remained close throughout her life, until she died in his arms in 2021. Virunga National Park, Democratic Republic of the Congo. © Marcus Westberg Two cubs creep out of their den, near Balule Satellite Camp, to meet their mother in the early morning light. Kruger National Park, South Africa. © Charmaine Joubert Shades of night descending. A black leopard skulks off with a freshly caught dik-dik. The dark colour of this leopard’s fur is caused by melanism, earning it the name ‘black panther’ – a name given to any black-coated big cat within the Panthera genus. Laikipia, Kenya. © Nick Kleer Warm words with a Sahara wanderer. Nomads of Algeria once travelled the desert in great numbers. Today the rovers of this ever-changing landscape have been reduced to small groups, scattered across the harsh sandy terrain. “I met this nomad in the heart of the desert. He smiled through our entire meeting. I asked if I can photograph him and share these images, and was so happy when he accepted.” Tamanrasset, Algeria. © Omar Dib Luluka, a well-known leopard of Maasai Mara, hunts an unsuspecting steenbok after a long, slow stalk. Maasai Mara National Reserve, Kenya. © Peter Hudson White-fronted bee-eaters take flight. The Aloe Farm, Hartbeespoort, North West, South Africa. © Sean Davis After trying and failing to hunt a Thomson’s gazelle, young male Ngao rests on top of a hill, swatting flies away with his tail. For a moment, Ngao appears to be shielding his eyes from the sun. Maasai Mara National Reserve, Kenya. © Antonio S. Chamorro An ostrich, rudely interrupted during her dust bath, leaps into retreat after being startled by a jackal. Namibia. © Vicki Santello A wobble of ostriches huddles in the dust near Rooiputs waterhole. Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, South Africa. © Gert Lamprecht Cleansing with smoke and heat. A Samburu mother invites a photographer in to witness the daily rite of disinfecting a milk container with smoke. Waso, Kenya. © Bob Chiu To comment on this story: Login (or sign up) to our app here - it's a troll-free safe place 🙂.
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