These photographers use their cameras to strip the world of colour – and the results are mesmerising.
Their work has been celebrated in the 2023 Black and White Photo Awards, an annual contest established to ‘nurture the spirit of monochrome photography’.
This year, thousands of images were submitted by photographers from 92 countries worldwide, focusing on themes such as ‘landscape’ and ‘flora and fauna’.
Photographs that have received commendations include a magical picture of a full moon over a Canadian mountainscape, a heartwarming shot of a baby hippo bonding with its mother and a powerful image of a lightning storm over Italy.
The judges took a particular shine, however, to one image in particular, declaring it the ‘Absolute Winner’. Taken by French photographer Patrice Quillard, it’s a hypnotising portrait of a gelada monkey in Ethiopia, with the creature seen staring down the camera lens.
‘The results have exceeded all our expectations,’ the judges said of the winners and finalists. Scroll down and you’ll discover why they were so moved. You’ll find the overall winner at the very bottom…
Photographer Carlos Guevara titled this striking picture of Antarctica’s icy landscape ‘Portal to the Inner World’. It’s a finalist in the contest
This transfixing shot shows a full moon seemingly balanced on the summit of a mountain in the Canadian Rockies. The work of Lee Nordbye, it’s a finalist in the contest
This stunning picture of a sperm whale is titled ‘Giant of the Deep’. A finalist in the awards, it was captured by Francisco Javier Garcia Lopez
Taking the top prize in the ‘Landscape’ category is this powerful shot of a lightning storm over the town of Porto San Giorgio in Italy’s Le Marche region. It’s the work of photographer Edoardo Frenquelli
This atmospheric shot of fog spilling over the hills of Italy’s Le Marche region – captured by Edoardo Frenquelli – is a finalist in the contest
This epic image was taken from Hopi Point viewpoint, which overlooks the Grand Canyon in Arizona. The work of photographer Steven Scarborough, it’s a finalist in the contest
LEFT: This moody shot, a finalist in the awards, shows Hintersee, a lake in the Bavarian Alps in Germany. It’s the work of photographer Andrea Rosin. RIGHT: This striking shot was captured in Valletta, the capital of Malta, by Manuel Guerra Tejado. It gets a ‘bronze mention’ award in the ‘Street’ category
This heartwarming picture by Lurdes Santander shows a baby hippo and its ‘protective’ mother, as she teaches him how to manoeuvre through water. Santander explains how ‘the little one’ had yet to master controlling his breathing in the water. The image is a finalist in the contest
This mesmerising image shows a flock of grandala birds in the morning light near the town of Lachen in the Indian state of Sikkim. Captured by Soumya Ranjan Bhattacharyya, it’s a finalist in the contest
The volcanic craters of Iceland’s Fjallabak Nature Reserve are the subject of this enchanting shot by Julie Stamenic, which is a finalist in the awards
LEFT: Receiving the ‘bronze mention’ award in the ‘Landscape’ category is this eerie portrait of a lone tree, captured by Ken Evans near the town of Manchester in the U.S state of Maryland. He reveals: ‘I made this image at dawn on a very foggy day just as the sun crested the hill.’ RIGHT: This haunting image shows Leru Cut, a 100m- (328ft) long underwater chasm in the Solomon Islands. Photographer Pavlos Evangelidis says: ‘It really is a stunning site, especially when the sun is out and the sun rays break through the cracks like in the picture.’ Impressing the judges, it gets a ‘silver mention’ award in the ‘Landscape’ category
In this fascinating shot, Muslim devotees crowd onto a train after attending the annual Biswa Ijtema gathering in the township of Tongi in Bangladesh. Captured by Joy Saha, it’s a finalist in the contest
A finalist in the awards, this frenetic picture by Azim Khan Ronnie shows hundreds of people trying to try to board trains at Tongi in Bangladesh
This eye-catching picture of a glacier, a finalist in the contest, is the work of photographer Matteo Strassera. He titles it ‘World of Ice’
Ranking second in the ‘Flora and Fauna’ category is this beautiful portrait of a newborn humpback whale calf and its mother, taken by Ricardo Nascimento. The photographer notes how the calf, merely one week old, is a shade of ‘pristine white’
Feast your eyes on the picture that tops the podium in the contest. It shows a gelada, a species of monkey, in the Simien Mountains National Park in Ethiopia. Recalling the moment he took the gelada’s portrait, photographer Patrice Quillard says: ‘Suddenly and for a brief moment, he turned towards me, looked at me intensely and I understood the full force of his dominance over his troops. It was an unforgettable moment for me’
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