by
Team Africa Geographic
Thursday, 18 May 2023
Our Photographer of the Year 2023 is now closed for submissions. Cash prizes of US$10,000 have been set aside for the winner and two runners-up. Winners and their partners will also join our CEO Simon Espley and his wife Lizz on the ultimate private safari
Judging for Photographer of the Year will take place throughout the month of May 2023, and the winners will be announced in early June 2023.
This is Gallery 1 of the Top 101. To see the other Photographer of the Year Top 101 galleries, follow the links: Gallery 2 , Gallery 3 , Gallery 4 .
Photographer of the Year is proudly brought to you by Hemmersbach Rhino Force and Mashatu Botswana .
The tragic culmination of severe drought and agricultural extraction as the Ewaso Ng’iro River runs dry. This river is a lifeline for wildlife (like these elephants) and people alike in the arid lands of northern Kenya. Samburu National Reserve, Kenya. © Alexandre Bès Spot the odd one out. A giraffe bull looks on at the chaos of a migration river crossing. Serengeti National Park, Tanzania. © Tomasz Szpila “Local Lozi women fishing with baskets in Liuwa Plain.” Liuwa Plain National Park, Zambia. © Andrew Macdonald Zebras make their way to a waterhole in Amboseli. “The light was amazing that evening, the ground dry and dusty. The setting sun provided the perfect backlight, its rays turning the dust golden.” Amboseli National Park, Kenya. © Andrew Skinner “Shall we dance? One of Dzanga Baï’s more elegant forest elephants, fresh from its mudbath make-up, takes its turn on this remote stage.” Dzanga Baï, Central African Republic. © Andy Skillen Taking a breather between mouthfuls. Maasai Mara National Reserve, Kenya. © Antonio S. Chamorro A dusk sunbird aria. A male malachite sunbird in full cry on top of a black-bearded protea. Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden, Western Cape, South Africa. © Braeme Holland The beast below. A Nile crocodile surfaces beneath the photographer’s drone. “The turbulent waters around make for a more interesting backdrop than the usually still waters of the Shire River. It stayed for a second or two before retreating into the depths.” Liwonde National Park, Malawi. © Daniel Badger Stoicism in a sandstorm. A Namaqua chameleon must endure a harsh Namib wind that sent the photographer and crew scurrying for their vehicle. Namib Desert, Namibia. © Dewald Tromp A black crake sets up shop in a dead elephant, catching flies attracted to the rotting carcass. Khwai Private Reserve, Botswana. © Ernest Porter Dasher and Prancer fly over the water in Busanga Plains. “I was so happy to get a shot of these red lechwe with four legs off the ground!” Kafue National Park, Zambia. © Friedrich Koehler The photographer was exploring the Cederberg Mountains when he discovered these endemic Clanwilliam redfin fish in a rock pool, grabbing food in the turbulent waters below a waterfall. Cederberg Mountains, Western Cape, South Africa. © Geo Cloete When worlds collide. A plan comes together for the photographer, who spent years looking to create this moment using a waterproofed, remote-controlled camera. Using two separate light sources, he was able to capture this small-spotted genet coming to drink at a small waterhole, along with the fish swimming below. Makgokolo Private Game Reserve, Limpopo, South Africa. © Hannes Lochner Leaps and bounds. “This young Maasai warrior and his friends challenged one another to see who could clear this stream flowing into Lake Natron”. Lake Natron, Tanzania. © Hesté de Beer Bull with a merle earring. Buffalos and red-billed oxpeckers enjoy a symbiotic relationship, with the birds relieving the buffalo of ticks. Kruger National Park, South Africa. © Ilna Booyens You go left, I’ll go right. A pair of male cheetahs work together to tackle a lone topi. Maasai Mara National Reserve, Kenya. © Ivan Glaser Capture from a mokoro. An elephant feeds gracefully in the swamps of the Okavango. Okavango Delta, Botswana. © Jack Swynnerton The new arrival. Recent research indicates that the social lives of giraffes are more complex than we ever imagined. Maasai Mara National Reserve, Kenya. © Jenny Zhao Blue-eyed beauty. A southern white rhino with fully functional, blue eyes instead of the usual brown – a rare genetic abnormality. “What an incredible, unique gift from nature!” South Africa. © Karen Blackwood The mating game: a tense moment between two amorous leopards. Mashatu Game Reserve, Botswana. © Kevin Dooley Shhh, my mom is sleeping. Chamobonda National Park, Zimbabwe. © Liz Lane “At the top of my list was to capture the incredible and similar hands we share with gorillas. As luck would have it, some of the very first images I captured were of this mother and her infant tenderly holding hands. It remains one of my favourite images but also my favourite moment in the field.” Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, Uganda. © Michael Stavrakakis To get to the other side…Three cheetahs make the treacherous crossing to the opposite bank of the Talek River. Maasai Mara National Reserve, Kenya. © Preeti John Chacko A misunderstood Kenyan sand boa (Eryx colubrinus ) waits for prey in the red sands of Tsavo. They are sometimes called the “snake of seven steps’, based on the traditional but erroneous belief that if it bites you, you will take seven steps and die. It is non-venomous. Tsavo National Park, Kenya. © Robin James Backhouse An unusually large ostrich “nursery” under the care of one adult male. Young ostriches grow at almost 30 cm every month, so they are almost the height of adults by the time they reach six months old. Damaraland, Namibia. © Tomasz Szpila Battle ensues at a giraffe kill. Timbavati Private Nature Reserve, South Africa. © Wayne Donaldson To comment on this story: Login (or sign up) to our app here - it's a troll-free safe place 🙂.
