/EN/ Last week, I received an email saying I had been chosen as the grand prize winner for 2025, earning the title of World Nature Photographer of the Year.
At first, I thought it was spam. Then I was sure they had made a mistake. After reading and checking it a few times, I started crying. It was real. My 18 years of hard work had paid off, all my projects suddenly made sense, and I felt an overwhelming gratitude for everyone who has helped me on this journey.
I won a competition where I never thought I stood a chance. I am not a typical nature photographer. I still prefer shooting with my 14-year-old camera that somehow dies and revives every year. I don’t photograph rare animals whose names I don’t even know. The winning photo was taken in a small Slovenian village (Murščak), just a simple image of two deer running through a snowy vineyard. Many of you who have been following me know this photo. It was taken a few years ago during my 366 project, where I carried my camera everywhere and took one photo every day. It was one of the most exhausting projects I’ve ever done, but it was also the project that made me a better photographer.
It was a cold January day when I spotted two deer running. I took a few shots and felt frustrated that I didn’t have a telephoto lens. I had wished for one so badly, but they cost a fortune. Only later, while editing, did I realize how lucky I actually was. Shooting with a wide lens meant the scene wasn’t overly zoomed in, allowing the snowy surroundings to remain an essential part of the composition. I knew the photo was somehow different, but I never realized how special it really was. I am so happy the jury saw potential in such a simple yet powerful photo, which offers endless possibilities for interpretation.
I am endlessly excited and grateful to everyone who saw potential in me and supported me along the way. In the past few years, I lost touch with photography. It’s easy to forget when life and work get in the way. But this award came at exactly the right time. It reminded me which path I need to follow now. The one I am enjoying the most.
https://www.worldnaturephotographyawards.com/winners-2025
The World Nature Photography Awards is one of the world’s leading nature and wildlife photography competitions.
The competition is divided into 14 categories, and it received several thousand photographs from 48 countries.
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/SLO/ Prejšnji teden sem prejela e-pošto, v kateri je pisalo, da sem bila izbrana za glavno nagrajenko leta 2025 in da sem si s tem prislužila naziv Svetovna naravoslovna fotografinja leta.
Najprej sem mislila, da je spam. Potem sem bila prepričana, da so se zmotili. Ko sem sporočilo večkrat prebrala in preverila, sem začela jokati. Bilo je res. Osemnajst let trdega dela se je obrestovalo, vsi moji projekti so nenadoma dobili smisel, in v sebi sem čutila ogromno hvaležnost do vseh, ki so me podpirali na moji poti.
Zmagala sem na natečaju, kjer sem bila prepričana, da nimam nobenih možnosti. Nisem tipična fotografinja narave. Še vedno najraje fotografiram s svojo 14 let staro kamero, ki vsako leto umre in nekako znova oživi. Ne fotografiram redkih živali, katerih imen ne poznam. Zmagovalna fotografija je nastala v majhni slovenski vasi (Murščak) – preprosta fotografija dveh srn, ki tečeta skozi zasnežen vinograd. Veliko tistih, ki me spremljate, fotko že poznate. Posnela sem jo pred nekaj leti, med svojim 366-projektom, ko sem vsak dan (povsod) kolovratila s svojim fotoaparatom in posnela eno fotografijo na dan. To je bil eden najbolj napornih projektov, a prav zaradi njega sem postala boljša fotografinja.
Na mrzli januarski dan sem opazila dve srni v teku. Naredila sem nekaj posnetkov in bila razočarana, ker nisem imela teleobjektiva. Tako zelo sem si ga želela, vendar je bil predrag. Šele kasneje, med urejanjem, sem spoznala, kakšna sreča je bila v resnici. Ker sem uporabila široki objektiv, prizor ni bil preveč približan, zasnežena pokrajina pa je ostala pomemben del kompozicije. Vedela sem, da je fotografija nekaj drugačnega, nisem pa se zavedala, kako zelo posebna je v resnici. Res sem vesela, da je žirija prepoznala moč tako preproste, a močne fotografije, ki ima neskončno število interpretacij.
Neizmerno sem navdušena in hvaležna vsem, ki ste verjeli vame in me podpirali. V zadnjih nekaj letih sem se nekoliko oddaljila od fotografije. Ko se zgodi življenje, hitro izgubiš stik s tem, kar te resnično veseli. A ta nagrada je prišla ravno ob pravem času. Spomnila me je, po kateri poti moram iti naprej – po tisti, na kateri najbolj uživam.
https://www.worldnaturephotographyawards.com/winners-2025
Tekmovanje World Nature Photography Awards je eno vodilnih svetovnih tekmovanj v fotografiji narave in divjih živali.
Tekmovanje je razdeljeno na 14 kategorij, nanj pa je prispelo več tisoč fotografij iz 48 držav.