Heartbreaking photos of disappearing mangrove forest win Nature inFocus Photography Awards 2023

The 2023 edition of the Nature inFocus Photography Awards has just announced this year’s winners. And once again, we’re in awe of the breathtaking beauty and raw power of nature. This year’s portfolio winner is Srikanth Mannepuri with a heartbreaking set of photos showing disappearing mangrove forest. Like every year, there are plenty more fantastic images in the selection, so let’s dive in and check them out.

The contest closed submissions on June 15, leaving the judges had a difficult task: choosing the winners among 24,000 entries from over 1,500 photographers. As I mentioned, the Portfolio winner for this year is Srikanth Mannepuri, a wildlife conservationist, photographer, and filmmaker.

As for the runner-up, Sri Lankan photographer Lalith Ekanayake received the Special Mention prize for his portfolio. His images show Sri Lanka’s wild elephants that have nowhere left to go but into human-dominated landscapes.

The Nature inFocus Photography Awards has grown exponentially over the years: it has seen an increasing participation from wildlife and nature photographers, not just from India, where it was founded, but from all over the globe. “The Nature inFocus Photography Awards has grown to become a meeting place for national and international photographers,” states Rohit Varma, one of the contest co-founders.

“Every year, we see images that reveal new facets of our natural world while shining a light on pertinent global conservation issues. We are thrilled to see the growth in the number of participants and the geographical locations. It truly has become an international platform for wildlife photographers!”

Like many contests of this kind, Nature inFocus contest doesn’t only celebrate the art of photography. It also serves as a reminder of the beauty, fragility, and power of the natural world. So, with that in mind, I leave you to the rest of this year’s winners However, here’s also a bit of a warning: some photos may be too graphic for the sensitive ones among you, so proceed with caution (I’ll add them at the end of the selection). For more information and images, make sure to visit Nature inFocus’s website and follow them on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.

More from Nature inFocus Photography Awards

• The winners of this year’s Nature inFocus contest show nature at its most dramatic
• Nature inFocus 2022 winners show all the beauty and drama of the natural world
• Heartbreaking photos of disappearing mangrove forest win Nature inFocus Photography Awards 2023
• Heartbreaking Series on Sri Lankan Elephants Wins Nature inFocus 2024
• 2025 Nature inFocus Winners Will Change How You See the Planet

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