These Nature Conservancy photo winners show the magic and mystery of our planet
The Nature Conservancy's photo contest returned in 2021 after a one-year pause due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The winning photos feature stunning views of nature including wildlife, underwater and landscape images chosen from 100,190 submissions from a record-breaking 158 countries. The panel of judges included a singer-songwriter and avid photographer Ben Folds.
U.K. wildlife photographer Anup Shah won the Grand Prize for a photo of a western lowland gorilla walking through a cloud of butterflies in the Central African Republic. A photo of fireflies congregating around a tree before a monsoon by Prathamesh Ghadekar of India was given the People’s Choice award.
Grand Prize winner
People’s Choice winner
Wildlife winners
Landscape winners
People and Nature winners
Water winners
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: The Nature Conservancy 2021 photo contest winners show best of Earth