Behold the exquisite winning photographs from the International Garden Photographer of the Year 2023 competition. This prestigious event remains a beacon in the world of photography, specifically in the realms of garden, plant, flower, and botanical photography.
Organized by Mirror Plate Media Ltd., the International Garden Photographer of the Year is esteemed globally, supported wholeheartedly by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, London. The main exhibition traditionally graces the grounds of Kew annually, complemented by a series of touring exhibitions spanning the UK and various corners of the world.
This year’s outstanding winners were announced across five categories: Black & White, Macro Art, Square Crop, Still Life, and the coveted Special Award BBG Flora in Focus. Experience the brilliance captured through the lenses of these talented photographers.
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#1. Black & White: 1st Place – “Spider in the Frame” by Minghui Yuan
“I found a spider on the underside of a huge leaf of the giant waterlily – Victoria amazonica. The veins of leaves form various shapes, with indentations forming pockets where insects such as this spider can hide. They will dive underwater to create a large bubble, and then they will rely on the air in the bubble to prey and rest underwater.”
#2. Black & White: 2nd Place – “Bindweed” by Norman RaineNorman Raine
#3. Black & White: 3rd Place – “Barn Owl” by Alan Price
#4. Black & White: Finalist – “Starstruck Love” by Elizabeth Fiddy
#5. Black & White: Finalist – “Isolated” by John Seager
#6. Black & White: Finalist – “Detour” by Bernadette Benz
#7. Black & White: Finalist – “Dancing Tulip” by Marlene Finlayson
#8. Macro Art: 1st Place – “Dandelion and Pink Spider” by Peter Plottel
“The ubiquitous dandelion seed is nature’s gift to macro photographers; the addition of water droplets enables image refraction and provides endless possibilities. This image was taken under controlled conditions in the studio using focus stacking to achieve the desired depth of field. The refracted subject is a pink Osteospermum flower.”
#9. Macro Art: 2nd Place – “Meeting Up” by Diana Chan
#10. Macro Art: 3rd Place – “Blue Bonanza” by Daniel Callejo Rossi
#11. Macro Art: Finalist – “Clouded Yellow” by Tony North
#12. Macro Art: Finalist – “Droplets on Slime Moul” by Barry Webb
#13. Macro Art: Finalist – “Wasp Spider in Pink” by Erik Nevels
#14. Macro Art: Finalist – “Aurora” by Henrik Spranz
#15. Square Crop: 1st Place – “Blue-tailed Damselfly” by Tony North
“This dew-encrusted individual is a blue-tailed damselfly – Ischnura elegans, whose portrait I captured using a macro lens plus a 1.4x teleconverter, to increase the magnification even further. In addition, I focus stacked multiple images together.”
#16. Square Crop: 2nd Place – “Curious Corellas” by Peter Plottel
#17. Square Crop: 3rd Place – “Meadow Sunset” by Laura Drury
#18. Square Crop: Finalist – “Rob the Builder” by Kevin Sawford
#19. Square Crop: Finalist – “Dance of the Acer Leaf” by Jane Simmonds
#20. Square Crop: Finalist – “A Last Seed” by Rachele Z. Cecchini
#21. Square Crop: Finalist – “Ode to a Leaf” by Jane Simmonds
#22. Still Life: 1st Place – “The Vegetable Kitchen” by Cristina Wanjura
“I really like cooking and I’m always fascinated by the shapes and colours of different vegetables. So, in my kitchen, I arranged my vegetables in a mysterious light, with my own hand-painted background.”
#23. Still Life: 2nd Place – “Ranunculus and Ice Cream” by Virginia Beare
#24. Still Life: 3rd Place – “Pink Cherry Blossoms” by Angi Wallace
#25. Still Life: Finalist – “Vintage Pears” by Denis O’ Reilly
#26. Still Life: Finalist – “The Choir of the Birds-of-Paradise” by Cristina Wanjura
#27. Still Life: Finalist – “The Fruit Buffet” by Cristina Wanjura
#28. Still Life: Finalist – “The Luminaries Garden” by Denise Bernon
#29. Special Awards: 1st Place – “Coiled, Ready for Spring” by Brian Lee
“I captured this fascinating shot of the bulbous plant Cyclamen – with its patterned foliage and many coiled stems, which feature its seedpods.”
#30. Special Awards: 2nd Place – “Sundew” by Chris Mills
#31. Special Awards: 3rd Place – “Light in the Tall Grasses” by Simon Lea
#32. Special Awards: Finalist – “Grape Hyacinth” by Chris Mills
#33. Special Awards: Finalist – “Autumn Acer” by Jon Benham
#34. Special Awards: Finalist – “The Round Window” by Simon Lea
#35. Special Awards: Finalist – “Who is Looking at Who?” by Gina Byfield
