Peter North's 'Before the Harvest' which was entered in a previous 'Landscape Photographer of the Year' contest.
Published: May 16, 2023 | Updated: 17th May 2023
It’s described as Britain’s most challenging photography competition and it has its roots right here in Dorset.
Entries are now invited for the Landscape Photographer of the Year awards with a total prize fund of £20,000, including £10,000 to the winner.
Each year the contest sees photographers scale mountains, wade rivers, battle snowstorms, chase sunsets and clamber up skyscrapers to capture the most beautiful – and dramatic – locations in the UK.
It is open to photographers young and old, experienced and amateur.
The competition was started 15 years ago by world-renowned photographer Charlie Waite, regarded as the grandfather of UK landscape photography.
The 74-year-old has lived at Eccliffe, near Gillingham, for 40 years in what was once the home of composer Peter Maxwell Davies.
His photographic style is considered to be unique with his photographs conveying an almost spiritual quality of serenity and calm.
Charlie, pictured, said he founded the Landscape Photographer of the Year awards with the aim of providing a showcase for those around the world who share his passion for the art of landscape photography.
He said: “The still image is always rather underrated.
“It’s completely alone, it doesn’t walk, it doesn’t speak, there’s no music, it’s totally still and yet it’s got to have the power to move people and awaken their emotional receptors.
“The photographer has the huge job of trying to embrace their emotional response to the place they are in and have it emanating from the resulting still image.
“If it doesn’t it’s just a record of what the place looked like.”
With an estimated 350 million images uploaded to Facebook every 24 hours – and 85 million to Instagram – Charlie said photography was becoming increasingly popular, especially among young people and women.
And for good reason.
Charlie, whose wife of 45 years played the part of Elizabeth Onedin in hit TV series The Onedin Line from 1971-80 under her stage name Jessica Benton, said: “We live in the most amazing country.
“It’s so beautiful and when you’re out there alone, just being part of this incredible landscape, it’s all happening for you.
“You’re right there in fully receptive mode and going to be blessed.
“The camera is a wonderful conduit through which you can profoundly engage with the landscape.
“And if it doesn’t fit with what you want then you come back again and again and again.
“You’ve got to be patient but it’s a blissful place to be in.
“It’s actually not far off meditative and contemplative but deeply satisfying.”
The contest has six main categories with the overall winner judged as the best entry out of all categories.
He or she will take home £10,000 and the prestigious title of Landscape Photographer of the Year 2023.
The categories are:
Three special awards have been introduced for 2023.
The headline sponsor is MPB, the buyer and seller of used cameras and lenses.
You can enter the same image in more than one category or award but all entries must have been taken in the UK since May 31, 2018.
Photographers have until May 31, 2023, to enter online and the winners will be announced at an awards ceremony in October.
The best entries will also appear in a full colour coffee table book and an exhibition at eight Network Rail stations, including London Waterloo and Liverpool Street, bringing their work to the attention of millions.
Charlie, who runs a successful photography school Light and Land, stressed the contest is open to all photographers regardless of experience.
He said: “All they have to be able to do is see and respond.
“It’s certainly not necessary to be semi-professional.
“Just people who love photography and who appreciate that the photograph is actually more than just a shot.”
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…and if you’re looking for inspiration, a selection of entries from previous years.
Callum White: Durdle Door Night Lights.
Josh Cooper: Plastic Fantastic, Leominster, Herefordshire.
Amar Sood: Stevington Windmill, Bedfordshire.
Marcus King: Conifer Tree, Leith Hill, Surrey.
Steven Cole: Towers of Steam, Ratcliffe-on-Soar, Nottinghamshire.
Stephen Ball: Loch Ard, Scotland.
Jethro Stebbings: Frozen Heart, Cornwall.
