A white landscape bordering on the unreal; a grizzly bear sinking his teeth into a salmon; an Indian coal industry worker; girls dancing at Impruneta’s grape festival: these are the four shots taken by Tuscan photographers that were awarded in National Geographic’s eighth photography contest.
Valter Bernardeschi from Pontedera won the top spot in the Animal World category, with his photograph of a bear fishing a red salmon, caught on the shores of Russia’s Kurile Lake.
Rosario Lo Presti from Florence used a different setting, which won the bronze medal in the Portraits category, with the powerful image of a coal worker’s face in an Indian city a few miles from Varanasi.
Massimo Macherelli from Florence came fourth in the People and Peoples category, with his photograph taken at last year’s grape festival in Impruneta, showing a group of young people from the Pallo neighbourhood dancing.
Lastly, 17-year-old Francesco Romeo from Fucecchio took third place in the Junior category. This young Tuscan talent showed his creative eye and skill with a haunting snow shot taken in the forest near his home.
