Last month, the winners of the 2016 National Geographic Travel Photographer of the Year competition were announced, with the Grand Prize awarded to photographer Anthony Lau, for his photograph of Mongolian horsemen charging through the snow in Inner Mongolia. Lau was awarded a seven-day Polar Bear Photo Safari for two at Churchill Wild–Seal River Heritage Lodge. Gathered here are all of this year’s winners and honorable mentions, captions written by the photographers.
National Geographic Travel Photographer of the Year 2016
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The Winter in Inner Mongolia is very unforgiving. At a freezing temperature of minus twenty and lower with constant breeze of snow from all direction, it was pretty hard to convince myself to get out of the car and take photos. Not until I saw Inner Mongolia horsemen showing off their skills in commanding the steed from a distance, I quickly grab my telephoto lens and capture the moment when one of the horseman charged out from morning mist. #
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This photo was taken far out on the sea ice in the Davis Straight off the coast of Baffin Island. This mother and her yearling are perched atop a huge snow covered iceberg that got "socked in" when the ocean froze over for the winter. To me, the relative "smallness" of these large creatures when compared to the immensity of the iceberg in the photo represents the precariousness of the polar bear's reliance on the sea and sea ice for its existence. #
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In the helicopter looking south on Central Park West - dividing the architecture and Central park, on November 5th 2014, a day before my 27th birthday. The flight was my birthday gift. #
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The Baltinache Ponds, also called Hidden Ponds are a set of seven salt ponds located in the area of the Salt Cordillera, near San Pedro de Atacama, in the second region of northern Chile, in the Atacama desert. After much research, I believe to be the first photographer to publish night photos of this place, but it is still necessary to confirm this information. #
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I arrived at my guest house in Varanasi at 5:30am, I instinctively climbed the 7 sets of stairs to the rooftop (which happened to be the highest in the vicinity) to see the sunrise over the famous Ganges River. As the sun was rising I looked over the right hand side of the balcony and my jaw dropped with disbelief. Below were families - mothers, fathers, children, brothers, sister and dogs all sleeping on the top of their houses. It was mid summer in Varanasi and sleeping sans AC was difficult. #
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Picture taken in the Brazilian Pantanal... when I downloaded the CF did not want to believe it .... The nature knows we always give magnificent events but sometimes extraordinary #
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Even though there were a lot of people in Ben Youssef, still here was more quiet and relaxing compare to the street outside in Marrakesh. I was waiting for the perfect timing to photograph for long time. #
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At Mainland China university, students work like slaves or more like prisoners. Serious academic corruption, dry and irrelevant to society curriculum, and rote memorization teaching methods were leading to students developing rigid ways of thinking, progressively losing interest in learning and ultimately emerging from university as soulless zombies. #
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Lightning seemingly strikes Komtar Tower, the most iconic landmark of George Town, capital of Penang state in Malaysia. It is symbolic of the rejuvenation that the city, famous for a unique blend of centuries-old buildings and modern structures, has enjoyed in recent years. While many of its old neighborhoods fell into neglect in the 1990s and early 2000s, UNESCO World Heritage listing in 2008 sparked a transformation, and today, they are all part of a vibrant tourist destination. #
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