Travel Photographer of the Year 2022 winners

Travel Photographer of the Year Awards 2022 winners
Winner: Best Single Image in a Green Planet, Blue Planet Portfolio (Image credit: Panos Laskarakis / TPOTY)

The Travel Photographer of the Year awards has today announced the winning images from the 2022 edition of the competition! If you haven't caught the travel bug and made plans for 2023 getaways just yet, you definitely will after seeing these stellar shots captured from all around the world. 

The Travel Photographer of the Year (TPOTY) is one of the most prestigious photography awards in the world, and the high standard of imagery from this year's selection of winners is truly astounding. Taken on an array of the best cameras, they prove that you don't have to use the best travel camera or the best lenses for travel to get great pictures.

Matjaz Krivic from Slovenia has been awarded the title of Travel Photographer of the Year 2022 with his photo series showcasing emotive portraits of man and mammal, photographing his subject, Zachary Mutai, with Najin – one of the world’s last two remaining Northern White rhinos. Zachary is Najin's keeper, and their bond is tender. The images were captured at the Ol Pejeta Conservancy, Kenya.

Overall winner - Equipment: Canon EOS 5D Mark IV , Canon 100mm f/2.8L lens, f/8,1/1000sec, ISO100 (Image credit: Matjaz Krivic / TPOTY)

"I am particularly delighted for the overall winner. Matjaz has been entering Travel Photographer of the Yearsinceour very first year-2003–and has secured a number of individual category awards with us over the past two decades. Now he has finally landed the ‘big one’ in our 20th year,” shares Chris Coe, founder of TPOTY.

Krivic has stated: “I am honored to have my work recognized and acknowledged by the judges of the Travel Photographer of the Year awards. This competition is special to me since I have been with it from its beginning in 2003 when I was given a Judges’ Favourite Award. Now, 20 years later I received their highest award which makes me very proud and means a lot to me." His image was shot with a Canon EOS 5D Mark IV.

"Travel and photography have been my passion and a big part of my life since I remember and this award inspires me to continue with my journey" he concludes.

Aside from his prestigious title, Krivic will receive a new Fujifilm X100V camera, as well as £1000 ( approximately $1,240 / AU$1,742) cash from TPOTY, plus a personalized leather portfolio book or iFolio from Plastic Sandwich, Radiant Photo imaging software, and a membership to the Royal Photographic Society.

Manchester, UK: A Metrolink station during a winter storm. "The cold tones combined with the spacing between each subject felt almost dystopian to me when I captured it" (Image credit: Cal Cole / TPOTY)

The Young Travel Photographer of the Year title was awarded to Cal Cole, age 18, based in Manchester, UK. Cal has a focus on themes of melancholy, dystopia, and loneliness in his images of cityscapes - but the results are truly captivating. 

The judges spoke of Cal's work highly, stating that “Travelling the world begins on your own doorstep and it is great to see a young photographer honing their skills not with the exotic, but with a less glamorous but still popular destination, and doing do so in such a creative fashion.” 

Cal used a Nikon D3200 with an 18-135mm lens to capture the image above. 

People's Choice Award Winner - Equipment: Sony A7 III, FE 24-70mm lens, f2.8,1/3200sec, ISO125 (Image credit: Romain Miot / TPOTY)

18-year-old Isabella Smith from Tennessee, USA, was also awarded with the title of Young TPOTY in the 15-18 age category. In 2018, aged just 14, Smith was awarded the title of overall winner of Young Travel Photographer of the Year. Her images might be a little different, but that's what the judges loved about them. 

The final Young TPOTY winner in the 14 years and under age category was Kaia Tham, aged 14, born in Australia but now residing in Lisbon, Portugal as a student. Tham shoots purely on an iPhone and her work with reflections shows a unique and different perspective of how she sees the world.  

Runners-up for the Young TPOTY awards included Zhiyu Zheng, age 14 from China, and Rohan Shah, age 14 from Kenya.

Winner: The Art of Monochrome Portfolio (Image credit: Roie Galitz / TPOTY)

Best Single Image in an Art of Monochrome Portfolio (Image credit: Dana Allen / TPOTY)

Special Mention - Cultures portfolio (Image credit: Katy Gomez Catalina / TPOTY)

Cultures Portfolio Winner  (Image credit: Magdaléna Straková / TPOTY)

Best Single Image in a Cultures Portfolio (Image credit: Athanasios Maloukos / TPOTY)

“Our latest winners form a fascinating collection of images. From the intensely powerful to the exquisitely subtle, sensitive, and beautiful, they reach every corner of the world and cover every facet of traveling with a camera. Conservation and sustainability permeate the collection and illustrate the role which photography can play in creating awareness of the issues facing our planet " Shares Coe.

Green Planet, Blue Planet Portfolio winner (Image credit: Alexej Sachov / TPOTY)

Deserts to Rainforests portfolio winner (Image credit: Jaroslav Hora / TPOTY)

One Shot – Single Image Categories, Mark of Mankind (Image credit: Angiolo Manetti / TPOTY)

One Shot – Single Image Categories, Water (Image credit: Alexej Sachov / TPOTY)

Smartshot category, iTravelled (Image credit: Marina Spironetti / TPOTY)

Coe continues, "This year, we’ll be first exhibiting these images in May at the Royal Photographic Society as part of World Photography in Focus. 2023 is TPOTY’s 21st award and we hope you’ll share your images with us again.”

Stay tuned for news on when entries open for the 2023 edition of the Travel Photographer of the Year Awards. 

Looking to improve your own travel photography? You might need the best travel tripod. And if you are leaving the county remember to pack the best travel adaptor

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Beth Nicholls
Staff Writer

A staff writer for Digital Camera World, Beth has an extensive background in various elements of technology with five years of experience working as a tester and sales assistant for CeX. After completing a degree in Music Journalism, followed by obtaining a Master's degree in Photography awarded by the University of Brighton, she spends her time outside of DCW as a freelance photographer specialising in live music events and band press shots under the alias 'bethshootsbands'.