On Sunday, 21nd of January 2024, in London, the winners of the prestigious global competition Travel Photographer Of The Year were announced. Andreja Ravnak, Slovenian photographer, participating in the competition for the firs time, took home the main prize and the title ”Travel Photographer Of The Year 2023”
According to successful photographers, including Katy Gomez Catalina, Travel Photographer Of The Year (TPOTY) is one of the most prestigious photography competitions globally, not only because of the quantity and quality of participants but also due to the recognized expertise and talent of the judges, criteria for selecting winners based on printed photographs and submission in raw format, and last but not least, the global media impact.
The previous year, the title of the best photographer belonged to Matjaž Krivic, who consistently submitted photos for 20 years. Andreja Ravnak achieved success on her first attempt.
This year, photographers from more than 150 countries participated in various categories, submitting over 20 thousand photos to the competition. The 17-member expert jury awarded Andreja the main prize for her two photographic series – the first captured the undulating landscapes of Tuscany and South Moravia, while the second portrayed the hop fields of the Savinja Valley.
The title of ‘Travel Photographer of the Year 2023’ also brings her membership in the Royal Photographic Society. She also received an honorable mention from the jury for an individual photo in the category ‘above, eye level, below.’ All of this results in exceptional media exposure in both domestic and international media.
Chris Coe, the president of the jury and founder of the TPOTY competition, described Andreja’s photos as follows: “The winners of this year exude subtle elegance. This is evident in both of Andreja’s winning portfolios; one guides us through simple landscapes with gentle colors and textural beauty, while the other takes us to hop fields, out of season but still untouched and ready for the next planting. The subjects are not obvious, the photos are not taken in the optimal season, yet they captivate and radiate exceptional beauty.“
ABOUT ANDREJA RAVNAK
Andreja Ravnak is an architect by profession and at heart. In addition, she expresses herself through various creative fields, such as photography, design, and writing. With passion, she loves nature and prefers spending time in places where nature has set the toughest conditions for survival – in deserts and mountains. Her inspiration comes from the aesthetics of landscapes with bare geological forms. She has been dedicated to photography since forever: “I need it to preserve my memories. Without my photos, I would have forgotten many things by now.” About 15 years ago, a local photography club noticed her photos and invited her to collaborate. There, she began to think about photography in a more analytical and creative way.
She has always loved traveling, gradually and spontaneously developing a sense of photographic expression, likely combined with architectural knowledge.
In Slovenia, she is known as the Master of Photography and has received numerous international awards for her photographic work. She regularly serves as a jury member in domestic and international photography projects. In addition, she is responsible for photo editing in the Slovenian edition of Digitalna Kamera magazine. She is also involved in leading a local photography club for seniors, lecturing, participating in the organization of photography competitions and exhibitions, and is part of a team organizing photographic trips across Europe. She says she immensely values her work and constantly seeks a recipe for realizing this passion, even though it sometimes seems like she would need a 48-hour day.
Igor Rosina, the editor of Digitalna Kamera magazine, is exceptionally proud of her success, stating: “Andreja Ravnak has once again proven that Slovenia, despite its geographical smallness, is a great photographic country. Her depiction of hop farming in the Savinja Valley and her images of undulating fields in Italy and the Czech Republic have merged into a fairy-tale beauty.“
Congratulations and all the success in your photographic career!
