Several days ago I came out of the Namib Desert to find out that I had been named the 2014 SATW Travel Photographer of the Year! This is a huge honor and something that I was rather surprised to have won.
The list of people who have won in the past 32 years is a who’s who of some of the best travel photographers in the world. These are normally men and women who photograph for the likes of National Geographic. I am conspicuously different from every other previous winner of the award in several ways:
- I am the first full time blogger to win the award.
- My work has never appeared in print. I have never had it featured in any magazine or newspaper.
- I have never even so much as been approached by any print publication to have my work displayed.
- I am completely self taught. I’ve never taken a course, read a book or had a mentor in the subject of photography.
- All of my images are available for the public to view for free.
This isn’t just a triumph for me, but for everyone in the world of new media. I might have been the first such person to have won, but I will not be the last.
I also won my second Lowell Thomas Award for my photo essay of Haida Gwaii, British Columbia.
To celebrate, I’ve decided to publish a special photo essay of the images which got me the win. The following 20 images were taken around the world over the last 2 years and compromised the portfolio I submitted. I don’t necessarily think they are my best 20 photos, but they do represent a diversity of scenes and places.
As always, I hope you enjoy viewing them as much as I did taking them!