Now in its landmark 20th year of competition, see nature up close through stunning images by professional, emerging and junior photographers who have shown impeccable timing, patience, artistry and technique to capture incredible moments in time.

Congratulations to 2023 Overall Winner, Samuel Markham

A harrowing moment captured at the heart of a bushfire in Parma Creek Nature Reserve, New South Wales, has claimed top prize in the 2023 Australian Geographic Nature Photographer of the Year competition and exhibition opening at the South Australian Museum on 26 August. Markham’s winning shot, ‘My Country Burns’, was taken in the final days of 2019, in a bushfire season that remains seared into memory around Australia and the world.

This year’s winners include moments of riotous colour and fleeting scenes of peace and tranquillity, from 17-year-old Junior winner Isabella Alexis’ macro portrait of a wolf spider (family Lycosidae) guarding its young, to past winner Matty Smith’s shot of an inky showdown between male cuttlefish (Sepia apama) during courting season, which topped the Animals in Nature category.

Other highlights include Portfolio winner Lewis Burnett’s suite of aerial shots that portray a range of species from a pygmy blue whale to a saltwater crocodile swimming in tranquil waters from Ningaloo Reef to Timor-Leste. Joshua Rozell’s stunning Our Impact-winning image of the night sky in Western Australia’s Pinnacles Desert criss-crossed with unregulated satellites highlights how humanity’s encroachment into natural environments is no longer bound by gravity, creating a legacy of light pollution and space junk distilled in its title: ‘Swamped Skies’.

This breathtaking exhibition allows us to witness the unique beauty of the flora, fauna and landscapes of our own backyard and the world around us. This year’s exhibition also features the new Macro photography category, bringing nature's tiniest organisms into sharp focus.

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People’s Choice Prize

While you’re visiting the exhibition you can also vote for your favourite photo and be in with a chance to enjoy one night in a King Room at Hotel Indigo Adelaide Markets with Breakfast for two at Market & Meander.

As part of your prize enjoy an exclusive experience of your choice. Choose between a pasta-making class at Market & Meander the hotel's modern Italian restaurant or go high to Merrymaker, Adelaide's highest rooftop bar for a cocktail-making class with the bar's mixologists. The choice is yours, but whatever it is, you're sure to enjoy your stay at Hotel Indigo Adelaide Markets.

The winning photographer will also receive $500.

You can choose your favourite photo via the voting stations in the exhibition space.

Voting opens at 10.00am on Saturday 26 August and ends at 3.00pm on Friday 13 October 2023. The People’s Choice winner will be announced on 20 October 2023. The voter prize winner will be notified by email on 20 October 2023.

Competition terms and conditions:

Voting opens 10.00am ACDT Saturday 26 August 2022 and closes 3.00pm ACDT Friday 13 October 2023. Open to South Australian residents only. 1 vote per person. People’s Choice Award winner to be announced on Friday 20 October 2023. Voter prize to be announced on [Friday 20 October 2023] and winner will be notified by email. Total prize value is RRP $525. Prizes are not transferrable and cannot be exchanged or redeemed for cash. Winner must collect prize from the South Australian Museum, North Terrace, Adelaide SA 5000. Winners will be notified via email and will have 14 days from notice to confirm their acceptance of the prize via return email. If winners have not confirmed within 14 days of their intention to accept the prize, the prize will be forfeited, and the South Australian Museum will choose a new winner from the original entry list.

Extract from the North Queensland Naturalist