The third year of the Close-up Photography contest, Close-up Photographer of the Year 2021, has just ended and the winners have been announced. The contest “celebrates close-up, macro and micro photography” , between seven separate categories and two new ones added in this year’s contest: animals, insects, plants and fungi, intimate landscape, world World of man, young (for creatives under 17 years) and micro (for photographs taken with a microscope), the underwater world and butterflies and dragonflies, which add up to a total of nine categories.
This year more than 9,000 entries were received from 56 countries. The organizers have been kind enough to share some of the winners and finalists with us below.
The most prominent photos of 2021 include a series of surreal mushroom shots, a stunning snapshot of a hornet attacked by a swarm of ants, among others.
Last year, the overall close-up photographer of the year award went to French photographer Galice Hoarau for her image of an eel larva, captured on the island of Lembeh, Indonesia. Other impressive winners include spiders, geckos, flowers, and other great shots.
Founded in 2018 by Tracy and Dan Calder, this contest is an annual photography contest that aims to encourage photographers to “slow down and make lasting connections with the world around them.” In its third year of operation, the contest is supported by companies such as Affinity Photo, Olympus and Sigma.
Scroll down to see the selection of the best shots and let us know what you think of them!
The image presented in this photo gallery was one of the finalists for 2020 and also one of our favorites.
