European Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2022

Her work focuses on the ancient heritage, customs, spirituality and daily life of indigenous people who live in strong connection with their natural environment and whose traditional cultures are at risk of vanishing. Over the years, she has developed a great passion for the remote regions of this world and the ancient cultures that can still be found there. Alessandra always strives to portray the lives of indigenous people with authenticity, respect and sensitivity. For more than a decade she has worked in remote areas of Asia documenting minorities and their traditional cultures. More recently, she has expanded her work to Arctic and sub-Arctic regions, which are particularly threatened by climate change and mineral extraction. Her images have been published in numerous international magazines, calendars and postcards, as well as in four books: The Silk Road (2004), Mystic Iceland (2007), Hidden China (2008) and QTI -Alessandra Meniconzi, Il coraggio di esser paesaggio (2011).

Felix grew up in Lübeck/Germany. He started wildlife photography and bird watching as a teenager and has been photographing for about 35 years now. After school he started studying biology and moved to Lund at the age of 24, where he continued and finished his studies. He still lives there and is now working as a biology teacher in high-school and as a part time wildlife photographer. Felix enjoys working on extensive photographic projects over long periods of time, for example on flying bats or owls, to name a few. For his owl project, he has constructed and installed more than 250 nesting boxes. He is currently working on lynx research in southern Sweden. In recent years he has published six books on wildlife. Several of them have won awards, such as his book Northern Nights (about nocturnal animals), In the shadow of the trees (about northern forests) and one about the Arctic. Felix Heintzenberg's images have won awards in renowned competitions, including Wildlife Photographer of the Year and European Wildlife Photographer of the Year. Besides photography, his other interests include playing the guitar, fishing and brewing beer.

Magnus Reneflot is an outstanding photographer who works with great dedication and inspiring creativity. At the Norwegian Nature Photography Festival 2017, he was made an honorary member by the Norwegian Nature Photographers /NN for his dedication to both - the association and nature photography in general. He is also an honorary member of BioFoto, Norway's largest association for professional nature photographers. Magnus is a versatile photographer who takes pictures of anything as long as the subject offers an exciting contrast, a striking pattern or a special shape. His great curiosity helps him discover photographic opportunities everywhere. Magnus avoids long journeys, he is more of a short-range nature photographer, and his images are a mixture of concrete and abstract expressions that allow for different interpretations. He is also the driving force behind the Norwegian Nature Photography Festival, which he started in 2014.

In 2005, Helsinki-based Markus Varesvuo turned his lifelong interest in birds into a career and became a professional wildlife photographer. Since then, he has written over a dozen books in a total of nine languages. With his images, he manages to transport the viewer into the world of birds. His work has been shown in numerous exhibitions in Finland and abroad. In his lectures, he conveys his enthusiasm for the bird world as well as information about the animals, their behaviour, their habitats and the threats they face. His major competition successes include the Fotofinlandia Photography Award in 2018, when for the first time ever a nature photo won the national photography competition, the BPOTY Portfolio Award in 2017, second place in the nature category of World Press Photo in 2014 and first place in the bird category in the European Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition in 2011. "Light, composition, background, perspective - for me these are the essential building blocks for a good image that tells a story about a particular moment in a bird's life. Out in the wild, with wild subjects, it's an endless, inspiring challenge."

Scotsman Mark Littlejohn describes himself as an outdoor photographer who loves being outside no matter the weather. He came to photography late in life, after working for 25 years as a criminal investigator in the field of forensic computer analysis in England. In the meantime, he has been working as a photographer for ten years. Together with his wife and dog, he lives in a small croft 150 metres from the sea in a remote corner of the North West Highlands of Scotland. Mark didn't learn photography from reading books or from youtube, but by always having his camera with him and pointing it at things that surprised him or made him smile. His statement: "I feel that as photographers we should see with the heart and shoot with the head. If we don't feel any emotion for our subject then how do we expect anyone viewing our work to feel emotion. My own feeling is that as photographers we can sometimes make things too complicated. We only have to please one person when making a photograph." Mark Littlejohn writes regularly for Outdoor Photography magazine, and was British Landscape Photographer of the Year in 2014.

Sandra Bartocha (*1980) is a nature photographer and author. Her goal is not documentation but rather the personal interpretation and abstraction of seen moments. She is vice-president of the GDT – German Society for Nature Photography, editor-in-chief of the magazine "Forum Naturfotografie" and author of various publications, including "Fotoschule in Bildern. Nature Photography" and "LYS - An Intimate Journey to the North". She is currently working on her long-term exhibition and book project "Rhythm Of Nature".
For the GDT, she has accompanied jury processes in competitions since 2007 and is also regularly represented on top-class jury panels worldwide. Her images have been successfully awarded several times in national and international competitions such as the "Wildlife Photographer of the Year" and the "International Photography Awards".
Sandra was part of the pan-European project "Wild Wonders Of Europe".