On 1st June 2023 the winners of the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation Environmental Photography Award 2023 were announced.
Now in its third year, the awards have once again attracted a stunning collection of entries, with 10,000 images submitted from around the globe.
The awards are an annual contest created with the aim of rewarding photographers who put their creativity to good use in raising awareness on environmental protection. Submitting photographers were invited to reflect on humanity’s relationship with nature, and the interrelation between human health and planetary health.
All the shortlisted images are now being presented in an exhibition in the Principality of Monaco, then touring in various locations around the world, as well as being printed in a high-quality photography book.
We look forward to rewarding more great work in the 2024 edition.
The 2023 grand prize winner, selected by our prestigious jury of photography professionals, is this heart-rending image showing a scared and defiant elephant that has been struck by a freight train in the Lopé National Park in Gabon. The animal suffered a shattered hip and later died, with its meat being distributed by the park’s director amongst the local community. The train that hit this elephant was carrying manganese, a significant Gabonese export product. It highlights the everyday dangers that human infrastructure creates for wildlife.
For bringing this scene to the world’s attention, photographer Jasper Doest wins a €5000 grant, an invitation including travel and accommodation to the University of Ecuador’s Amazon Research Station in the heart of the Ecuadorian jungle, and an invitation including travel and accommodation to Monaco for the 2023 Award Ceremony.
Our prestigious jury of professional photographers will select the shortlisted and winning images for each category. From the category winners they will then select the Environmental Photographer of the Year 2023.
The title “Environmental Photographer of the Year 2023”
€5,000 grant
Invitation (including travel and accommodation) to visit the Amazon Research Station of the University of Ecuador, and to do a photo documentary in the field, in the heart of the Ecuadorian jungle
Invitation (including travel and accommodation) to the inauguration of the 2023 Award Ceremony in the Principality of Monaco
Public relations support of the Foundation through its communication channels, including social media, press, and newsletter
€1,000 grant for each of the 5 category winners
Public relations support of the Foundation through its communication channels, including social media, press, and newsletter
€500 grant for the Public Award winning image
€500 grant for the Students' Choice winning image
Featured in the Environmental Photography Award 2023 exhibition in Monaco and on its international tour
Published in, and receiving two complimentary copies of the Environmental Photography Award 2023 catalogue
A number of images across the five categories will be shortlisted by the jury. These images will form the Environmental Photography Award 2023 exhibition and feature in the photography catalogue.
A winning image for each category will also be chosen by the jury. And the Grand Prize winner and title of Environmental Photographer of the Year 2023 will be awarded by the jury to one of those five category winners. The Grand Prize winner will be announced at the Awards Ceremony in Monaco.
The Public Award will be decided by an online public vote of all the shortlisted photographs. It will be accessible to all, for a period of 2 weeks starting on 3 April 2023. It will be accessible from this page and will be announced by email to all entrants of the award.
The Student’s Choice award is new for 2023. The Principality of Monaco's high school students will be invited to participate in a dedicated online vote of the shortlisted images, after a presentation to them by the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation to raise awareness and discuss the major environmental issues facing us.
All winning photographers will benefit from extensive global press and social media promotion of the awards by the Foundation and its partners, and will receive two complimentary copies of the Environmental Photography Award 2023 catalogue
Every year, at the end of the competition, the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation presents that year’s Environmental Photography Award at an outdoor exhibition in the Principality of Monaco.
Large-format prints of the shortlisted and winning photographs are displayed in the heart of the tourist centre, conveying to the public the environmental values dear to the Sovereign and the Principality, and raising awareness of the issues.
The exhibition then travels internationally, contributing to the promotion of the Environmental Photography Award and the Foundation.
The 2022 edition of the Environmental Photography Award saw 7,800 images entered across the five categories, with Easa Lebbe Muhammad Jamsith winning the grand prize. All the winning images from the first two editions of the award are available to explore.
The grand prize winner of the 2022 award was this heartbreaking image of an elephant’s final moments in a garbage dump in Oluvil, Sri Lanka. The elephant died after three days of being treated where it lay. It was the seventh such elephant death at this dump, and was caused by the elephant swallowing the plastic wrapping of the food which it was scavenging.
For his efforts in documenting this tragedy, Easa won a €5000 grant, a trip to the University of Ecuador’s Amazon Research Station in the heart of the Ecuadorian jungle, and a trip to Monaco for the inauguration of the 2022 Award exhibition.
The 2022 Public Vote winner was this wonderful monochrome image of a silverback gorilla by Mathieu Courdesses from France. It was taken in the Volcanoes National Park in Rwanda, and if you click on Mathieu's image you can read his fascinating description of the search for the gorillas, and the process of asking the patriarch for his agreement to being photographed.
HSH Prince Albert II of Monaco very early on promoted the ideal of a new relationship with nature and the various species with which we share our Earth. Aware that we were disrupting all the major planetary balances instead of safeguarding them, thus endangering the future of humanity, and having witnessed firsthand the profound upheavals wrought by the effects of climate change the Sovereign decided to become personally involved through His Foundation in order to amplify His action in favour of the environment.
Launched in 2006, the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation has become a leading NGO for the preservation and education of sustainable development on a global scale. For fifteen years, the Foundation has significantly contributed to more than 720 projects focused on three main domains of action – climate change, biodiversity and water, in three priority areas: the Mediterranean basin, the Polar Regions, and the Least Developed Countries.
The global crisis we are facing today urges us to form a new relationship with a nature we thought we dominated, and it shows us that we cannot exist without It. The Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation has the strong conviction that together we can positively rise from this crisis. By joining forces, we can create a more sustainable world for the generations to come.
There are 5 categories for photographers to enter:
Polar Wonders
Ocean Worlds
Into the Forest
Humanity versus Nature
Change makers: reasons for hope
In 2023 we are allowing images to be submitted that have previously won or been shortlisted in other photo awards.
The PA2F Environmental Photography Award is free-to-enter for all photographers.
The opening date of the competition is 2nd November 2022.
The closing date for entries is 23:59 (CET) / 22:59 (UTC) on 15th January 2023.
The curation phase and jury phase is planned in February 2023.
The shortlisted photographers will be publicly announced on the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation’s website on 3rd April 2023, when the public vote is launched online (for a two-week duration).
The category winners, Public Award and Student’s Choice will be publicly announced at the opening of the exhibition.
The Environmental Photographer of the Year will be publicly announced during the exhibition’s award ceremony.
Participants who will be listed in the final round will be requested to submit the RAW/original camera files of their photographs in nomination, as well as more details about the circumstance of their images. In some case, screengrabs of the cataloguing software showing other images from the same shoot may be asked. This request will be made by email from February 13th to 26th, 2023.
The award is open to photographers of all nationalities who will be aged 18 or over on 15th January 2023.
Employees or agents of the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation, Photocrowd, their families or other persons connected with this promotion (excluding the sponsors) are not eligible to enter. Also, ineligible to enter are any persons benefiting (on the day of the submission of the photograph(s)) from the Foundation’s support, either directly or indirectly.
Photographers can enter up to 5 images in each of the 5 categories, allowing therefore for a maximum of 25 images in total.
No, each image may only be submitted into one category.
No. All submitted images must be free of watermarks, text, copyright symbols, logos and frames. Inclusion of any of these or similar additions to the image will invalidate the entry.
It is essential that submitted images include an image title, and additional information that will assist the Jury in making their decisions (especially the name of the species represented and the exact location of the photo). When uploading images there will be the opportunity to add a title and description to each image.
The more information that can be provided, the better. For wildlife imagery this might include issues that this species is facing, their conservation status, or the particular conservation efforts that are being shown in the image, or that are being carried out in relation to this species. For human subjects this might include the issues that this population is facing, measures they are taking to adapt to the climate crisis, or other information about the conditions or actions shown in the image.
Images that do not include a title or additional information are unlikely to be considered by the award jury.
Titles and edited text from the descriptions will be used as a base in the award exhibition and book.
The grand prize and title of Environmental Photographer of the Year 2023 will be awarded to one of the 5 category winners. This image will have been assessed by the award, through an anonymous voting procedure, to be the best image submitted this year.
Yes, images (including similar images taken from the same series of photographs) that have previously won a national or international photography award (including winner, runner-up, highly commended or equivalent) or are entered into a competition where the results are pending, are eligible for entry.
There is a required minimum image size of 3000 pixels on the shortest side of the image, high quality jpg at 300 dpi, AdobeRGB(1998).
It is advised that the largest file size available is submitted to the award, as shortlisted images will be printed as part of the exhibition and the book.
Submitted images must have been shot within the past 5 years. The shoot date must be no further back than 2nd November 2017.
If the award is still open for entries then at any time you can remove an entered image and enter a different one in its place. Once the deadline for entries has passed, and judging is underway, images cannot be removed or swapped out for other images.
The welfare of the people, animals and habitats in any images submitted to the award is of great importance to the Foundation, our partners and the Jury.
Photographers taking part in the award are required to observe behaviour that is respectful of people, animals and the environment. By submitting an image to the awards you confirm that all subjects in those images were interacted with before, during and after the image-making process in a way that treated them respectfully and did not result directly or indirectly in them experiencing damage, distress, injury or death.
Any images of animals or habitats must also be in conformance with any existing legislation regarding permitted or forbidden interaction with that species or habitat.
Images of captive animals are not allowed. The only exception is if the image documents a specific situation, in which case it must be clearly described in the caption.
Live baiting is not permitted.
With these policies in mind, we reserve the right to ask for further information from the photographer about their photographic methods and the state of the animals and habitat before, during and after the shot was taken.
It is extremely important that submitted images must not deceive the viewer or attempt to disguise or misrepresent the reality of nature or the situation being shown.
Adding or removing objects (e.g. animals, plants, people, items of civilization and traces thereof), or digital collages, are not permitted.
For any submitted images we reserve the right to ask for a copy of the original camera file and a screengrab of the cataloguing software showing other images from the same shoot.
Jurors have the discretion to reject any entry which has been, in their opinion, over-manipulated and therefore removing the integrity of the original image.
Photographers may make reasonable use of digital darkroom techniques which enhance quality but do not distort the photograph. Major alterations are not allowed, the cloning out/removal of elements in an image is forbidden.
Excessive sharpening, noise reduction and color saturation techniques should be avoided. We appreciate that entrants will attempt to prepare their entries to optimise appearance and appeal on screen, and this may include these techniques. Excessive use of any or all of them can result in an entry that will be unsuitable for printed media and therefore become invalid as a result.
Adjustment to levels, curves, colour balance, colour saturation, dodging and burning, selective adjustments using layers and blemish and dust spot removal are all examples of acceptable manipulation, when used in moderation.
You may crop your images in the interests of composition, correcting horizons, etc. But remember, your cropped image must be at least 3,000 pixels on the shortest side as we will ask for files at least this size should your image/s win or be shortlisted.
Yes, images can be taken on any device capable of producing a digital image of sufficient size for entry. Phone images can look very good on a small screen but often do not have the sharpness required to produce a quality print. It is best to review phone images on a larger screen before submitting to the award.
Images should be saved as jpegs at the highest quality available, with a colour profile attached. Either the RGB or sRGB colour profiles are recommended. Digital scans from film are also eligible providing they meet these technical guidelines.
We would advise all entrants to submit image files that contain original camera metadata, showing the type of camera and lens used, and shot settings.
The PA2F Environmental Photography Award is Promoted by the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation, and hosted on Photocrowd.com. Photocrowd’s Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy apply.
In addition please note the following in relation to this award:
1.1 The Award is global and open to photographers of all nationalities who will be aged 18 or over on 15th January 2023.
1.2 It is the responsibility of each entrant to ensure that they have read and will abide by these rules and Photocrowd’s Terms and Conditions. By submitting an entry, each entrant agrees to these rules, that their entry complies with these rules, and that they will be liable to the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation and Photocrowd and their licensees in respect of any damages or losses incurred as a breach of the rules.
1.3 Employees or agents of the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation, Photocrowd, their families or other persons connected with this promotion (excluding the sponsors) are not eligible to enter. Also, ineligible to enter are any persons benefiting (on the day of the submission of the photograph(s)) from the Foundation’s support, either directly or indirectly.
1.4 Proof of eligibility must be provided upon request. Use of a false name or other false details will result in disqualification.
2.1 All entries must be submitted via the Photocrowd online platform, before the closing date of 23:59 (CET)/ 22:59 (UTC) on 15th January 2023.
2.2 Photographers can enter up to 5 images in each of the 5 categories, allowing therefore for a maximum of 25 images in total. Entry is free of charge. If any photographer is found to have entered more than 5 images into a category, all their entries will be invalidated and removed from judging.
2.3 Images (including similar images taken from the same series of photographs) are eligible for entry even if they have previously won a national or international photography award (including winner, runner-up, highly commended or equivalent) or are entered into a competition where the results are pending.
2.4 Submitted images must have been shot within the past 5 years. The shoot date must be no further back than 2nd November 2017.
2.5 The same image cannot be entered into multiple categories. Where this is found to have happened, that image submission will be invalidated.
2.6 All submitted images must be free of watermarks, text, copyright symbols, logos, and frames. Inclusion of any of these or similar additions to the image will invalidate the entry.
2.7 It is essential that submitted images include an image title, and additional information that will assist the Jury in making their decisions (especially the name of the species represented and the exact location of the photo). When uploading images there will be the opportunity to add a title and description to each image.
Each participant is personally responsible for the images submitted to the contest and what has been declared on the entry form.
Images that do not include a title or additional information are unlikely to be considered by the Award jury.
Titles and edited text from the descriptions will be used as a base in the Award exhibition and book.
2.8 There is a required minimum image size of 3000 pixels on the shortest side of the image, high quality jpg at 300 dpi, AdobeRGB(1998).
2.9 The welfare of the people, animals and habitats in any images submitted to the award is of great importance to the Foundation, our partners and the Jury.
Photographers taking part in the award are required to observe behaviour that is respectful of people, animals, and the environment. By submitting an image to the awards, you confirm that all subjects in those images were interacted with before, during and after the image-making process in a way that treated them respectfully and did not result directly or indirectly in them experiencing damage, distress, injury or death.
Any images of animals or habitats must also be in conformance with any existing legislation regarding permitted or forbidden interaction with that species or habitat.
Images of captive animals are not allowed. The only exception is if the image documents a specific situation, in which case it must be clearly described in the caption.
Live baiting is not permitted.
With these policies in mind, we reserve the right to ask for further information from the photographer about their photographic methods and the state of the animals and habitat before, during and after the shot was taken.
2.10 It is extremely important that submitted images must not deceive the viewer or attempt to disguise or misrepresent the reality of nature. Images show the scene and subjects as they were shot, and exhibiting behaviour that was not manipulated, staged, or coerced by the photographer.
Adding or removing objects (e.g. animals, plants, people, items of civilization and traces thereof), or digital collages, are not permitted.
2.11 Photographers may make reasonable use of digital darkroom techniques which enhance quality but do not distort the photograph. Major alterations are not allowed, the cloning out/removal of elements in an image is forbidden.
Adjustment to levels, curves, colour balance, colour saturation, dodging and burning, selective adjustments using layers and blemish and dust spot removal are all examples of acceptable manipulation, when used in moderation.
You may crop your images in the interests of composition, correcting horizons, etc. But remember, your cropped image must be at least 3,000 pixels on the shortest side as we will ask for files at least this size should your image/s win or be shortlisted.
2.12 Jurors have the discretion to reject any entry which has been, in their opinion, over-manipulated and therefore removing the integrity of the original image.
Participants who will be listed in the final round will be requested to submit the RAW/original camera files of their photographs in Nomination, as well as more details about the circumstance of their images. In some case, screengrabs of the cataloguing software showing other images from the same shoot may be asked. This request will be made by email from February 13th to 26th, 2023.
2.13 The Promoter and Photocrowd reserve the right, in their sole discretion, to disqualify or remove any entry that does not comply with the rules or the spirit of the awards, at any stage of the awards.
Please refer to the prizing section on this website for details of prizes.
A €1,000 grant is awarded to each of the 5 category winners.
The €5,000 grant for the Environmental Photographer of the Year will be assigned to one of the 5 category winners in addition to the category grant.
The Public Award and the Student’s Choice will award a €500 grant to each winner.
Submitted images are eligible to win more than one grant.
4.1 Once the entry period has closed, the jury will convene to determine the category winners, the grand prize winner (Environmental Photographer of the Year) and a shortlist of images across the five categories. The voting procedure for the jury members on the Photocrowd platform is anonymous.
4.2 The shortlisted photographers will be publicly announced on the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation’s website on 3rd April 2023, when the public vote is launched (for a two-week duration).
The category winners, Public Award and Student’s Choice will be publicly announced at the opening of the exhibition.
The Photographer of the Year will be publicly announced during the exhibition’s opening ceremony.
4.3 Please refer to our Jury page for more information on the Jury members. The Jury’s decision is final and binding in all matters and no correspondence will be entered into regarding the decisions.
5.1 All imagery MUST be the exclusive work of the submitting photographer and may not include any element that is the copyright of another or shot or created by another.
5.2 The Copyright for each image entered will remain with the submitting photographer.
5.3 By entering the Award and submitting your photograph(s), you hereby grant the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation, Photocrowd Ltd, and the award’s sponsors a non-exclusive, irrevocable license to use your photograph(s) free of charge for any purpose connected with the Award, including (but not limited to), promoting the Award within printed and online media, the inclusion within printed and digital versions of the Award book, display at the Award exhibition in the Principality of Monaco and at any other venues where the exhibition may be displayed, use in press, promotional and institutional materials, and social media networks related to the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation. The Foundation undertakes to display copyright information alongside all uses of submitted images.
No photographs entered in the awards will be offered for sale or used for any commercial purposes other than in the Award’s book (see 5.4) without prior approval of the photographer.
5.4 The shortlisted and winning images will be collected in a high-quality, hardcover, bilingual (French/English) Awards book. This is to be published for the opening ceremony of the exhibition in the Principality of Monaco. To this extent, the Foundation is collaborating with a publishing house. On the Foundation’s side, the book will be distributed free of charge to its partners and benefactors as well as to the guests of the exhibition’s opening ceremony. On the publisher’s side, the book will be commercially distributed in their international circulation network to ensure the Award’s visibility and to help promote the Foundation’s actions. No royalties will be received by the Foundation or by photographers whose work is included in the book. Photographers whose work is included in the book will be sent 2 copies of the book free of charge.
5.5 If recognizable individuals appear in submitted images, the author must have obtained their consent and, if the subject is a minor, the consent of the legal representative.
6.1 You agree to participate in related publicity and to the use of Your name and likeness for the purposes of advertising, promotion, and publicity without additional compensation.
7.1 The Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation and Photocrowd are excluded from liability for any loss, damage or injury which might occur to any of the winners arising from their entry into the Award or their acceptance of the prizes.
7.2 Entrants indemnify the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation and Photocrowd for all liabilities, including legal costs, in relation to any action or complaint taken by any third party against the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation or Photocrowd in relation to the entrant’s photograph(s).
8.1 The Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation and Photocrowd reserve the right to cancel this Award at any time without further explanation.
8.2 The Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation and Photocrowd reserve the right to amend these Terms and Conditions.
8.3 These Terms and Conditions shall be governed by Monegasque law.
8.4 When a photograph is submitted and the entry date has passed, the entry cannot be changed or withdrawn.
8.5 Entry to the Awards shall be deemed full and unconditional acceptance of the Terms & Conditions.
8.6 Any breach of these Terms and Conditions shall result in the exclusion of the photographer and their submitted images from the Award, without prejudice to the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation, Photocrowd, or the Award sponsors.
8.7 In the event of any difficulties concerning the interpretation or performance of this terms, the Parties shall make every effort to settle their dispute amicably.
8.8 Should an amicable settlement fail, the dispute shall be settled by final and compulsory arbitration in accordance with the Permanent Court of Arbitration’s optional rules for arbitration involving international organizations and private parties, in force on the date of the request.
8.9 You have the right to access and update your personal information.
To exercise this right, please write to the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation at: photo@fpa2.org
Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation
Villa Girasole
16, Boulevard de Suisse
98000 MONACO
Tel : (+377) 98 98 44 44
