The 2021 Travel Photographer of the Year awards (TPOTY) are now open for entries, and amateur and professional photographers from around the world are invited to submit their images to this global photo contest.
This is the second year that TPOTY has operated during the pandemic and, like last year, travel is still severely restricted. As in 2020, the awards’ organizers are welcoming archive images, and urge entrants not to make unnecessary journeys or break lockdown restrictions in their country of residence to shoot images to submit.
There are four portfolio categories to which you can submit your entries, three four-image portfolios – Landscapes & Adventure, Living World and People & their Stories – and one eight-image portfolio – Best 8. This category is not themed, instead entrants are invited to showcase the diversity of their work by covering a range of travel subjects in their submission.
The Overall Winner (the Travel Photographer of the Year 2021) will be the entrant who submits the best eight images across the four portfolio categories.
TPOTY 2020 WINNER: BEST SINGLE IMAGE IN A TRAVEL PORTFOLIO Paul Sansome, UK (Image credit: Paul Sansome/www.tpoty.com)
TPOTY 2020 WINNER: ONE SHOT – SOLITUDE Mark Anthony Agtay, Philippines (Image credit: Mark Anthony Agtay/www.tpoty.com)
The single image categories also focus on different aspects of travel imagery. Icons of Travel looks at the classic subjects but asks entrants to avoid the clichés when photographing them. Green Planet looks at endangered species, sustainable travel and conservation. And As Shot requires entrants to submit images exactly as they were shot in camera, with only the most minor editing permitted.
Last year's lockdown did little to stifle the creativity of photographers young and old, and the competition received almost 25,000 images from participants from 147 countries. The winning entries from 2020 were announced just three months ago. The full list of winning images can be seen on the Winners' Gallery on tpoty.com.
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The winning photographers will see their work showcased at TPOTY exhibitions in London and elsewhere in 2022 and featured in a Travel Photographer of the Year book. The Travel Photographer of the Year 2021 receives £2,000 plus a Fujifilm X-T4 camera among other prizes.
Laurence is an NCTJ-trained journalist with nearly 20 years' editorial experience gained on a wide range of publications, from The Beirut Times in Lebanon to The Sunday Times, and including recent freelance engagements with Future's cycling and automotive portfolios, Outdoor Fitness, and The English Home. He has recently been undertaking a sports broadcast journalism MA at Southampton Solent, gaining valuable TV and radio experience, and am currently videographer for Frome Town FC soccer team. He is the author of Bikepacking (Wild Things Publishing, 2016).
