Annie Leibovitz once famously stated that “there are still so many places on our planet that remain unexplored. I’d love to one day peel back the mystery and understand them”.
It is in this spirit that National Geographic presents its Photo of the Year winners. In an effort to uncover the “unexplored” and clandestine wonders of the world, National Geographic’s annual competition provides a fascinating glimpse into the incredible beauty and complexity of the natural world, the places that define it, and the people that inhabit it.
In 2012 a whopping 22,000 photographs from over 150 countries were submitted, with an expert panel of judges whittling this number down to a winner in each of the three categories (people, places, and nature) and the $10,000 Grand Prize Winner. Based on its remarkable creativity and visual flair, this year’s “nature” winner and overall champion was Ashley Vincent’s image of Busaba, the Indochinese tigress from Thailand’s Khao Kheow Open Zoo (above).
Have a look below to see the rest of the winners along with the National Geographic readers’ favourites and some other honorable mentions.
WINNER – PLACES
The Matterhorn in Zermatt, Switzerland. By Nenad Saljic.
WINNER – PEOPLE
Workers in Kenya’s Dandora Municipal Dump Site, the only dumping site for waste in Nairobi, East Africa’s most populous city. By Micah Albert.
VIEWERS CHOICE – NATURE
Female cheetah Malaika and her cub in Masai mara National Reserve, Kenya. By Sanjeev Bhor.
VIEWERS CHOICE – PLACES
An iceberg frozen in place in Pond Inlet, Nunavut, Canada. By Adam Coish.
VIEWERS’ CHOICE – PEOPLE
Explorers follow a race route over 100km of the Hardangervidda Mountainplateu, Norway to cross Greenland. By Kai-Otto Melau.
HONORABLE MENTION – NATURE
Thousands of fish moving in synchrony in Komodo, Indonesia. By Fransisca Harlijanto.
HONORABLE MENTION – PEOPLE
The traditional Chinese entertainment Dragon boating is a water sport, in Yanbu Town, Foshan City, Guangdong Province, China. By ? ??.
HONORABLE MENTION – PLACES
The Eiffel tower in Paris on a grey day. By Indra Swari Wonowidjojo.
HONORABLE MENTION – NATURE
A red fox goes after a mouse hidden under 2 feet of snow in Squaw Creek, Park Country, Wyoming. By Micheal Eastman.
HONORABLE MENTION – PEOPLE
Stilt fishing in Midigama, Sri Lanka. By Ulrich Lambert.
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