Congratulations to Overall Winner, Ashlee Jansen
A confronting photograph of a humpback whale carcass and circling sharks on the ocean floor in Coral Bay, Western Australia was named the winner of the 2022 Australian Geographic Nature Photographer of the Year competition for 2022. ‘Nature’s Prey’ by Ashlee Jansen captures a harsh act of Mother Nature, but an important part of the natural ecosystem.
Based in Western Australia, Ms Jansen captured this winning shot in July 2021 after a sub-adult whale died while making the annual migration north along the Ningaloo Reef.
The judges were united in selecting this powerful image as the overall winner and praised Ms Jansen’s photography skills.
“The beauty of the image lies in its artful circular composition, seen in the curves of the whale’s skeletal ribs mirroring the patterns in the sand, keeping our eye within the frame moving between the living and the dead,” they said.
Image: Nature's Prey, by Ashlee Jansen, Overall Winner 2022 Australian Geographic Nature Photographer of the Year.