By Jessica Stewart on November 7, 2023

Iain Masterton, Winner, Bird’s Eye View

Winning images from this competition are being called everything from beautiful and otherworldly to a reminder of “the end of time.”

Photographer Mik Dogherty was named UK Landscape Photographer of the Year for his haunting photo, After the Fire, which was taken in the New Forest National Park. The photo freezes a dramatic moment in time, as Dogherty notes that regeneration has already begun, and these burnt remnants are no longer visible.

Mik Dogherty, Landscape Photographer of the Year and Winner, Change in the Landscape

“For many, there has been a series of deeply rooted multidimensional emotional responses to this winning LPOTY 2023 photograph, all of which may be triggered by thoughts of ‘otherworldly’ to ‘dawn of time’ or perhaps the frightening counter-response of ‘the end of time,’ ” shares awards founder Charlie Waite. “The tangled and stark reminder of what was once a beautiful and intimate wood perhaps brings forth a feeling of ‘profound environmental alarm’ and numerous other responses.

“We will all know, of course, that a still image has the potential to have a very considerable and powerful effect on our emotional interpretation of it, and perhaps over and above all of the thoughts discussed, there remains one overwhelming response, which is the sheer striking beauty of this photograph which transports us to a place of transcendent emotional experience.”[…]

Alexander Swyer, Winner, My Railway Journeyerri Gibbins, Winner, Expressions & Impressions of the Landscape

More: Stunning Winners of the UK Landscape Photographer of the Year