The finalists in the 17th Smithsonian Photo Contest have been revealed, selected from over 36,000 submissions. Here are our picks from the 60 sensational finalist photographs.
Submissions in this year’s contest span 145 countries and focus on six categories: Natural World, The American Experience, Travel, People, Altered Images, and Mobile. Alongside a Grand Prize winner and category winners selected by The Smithsonian, the general public can choose a Reader’s Choice winner, with voting open until March 30.
Jon Enoch’s A Fish Seller Displays His Goods in the Travel category highlights the stunning skill motorcycle riders in Vietnam have, piling their rides with an incredible array of goods. Enoch says he spent a week in Hanoi chasing down an assortment of riders to capture images such as this.
In the American Experience category, Matt Gillespie’s shot of a lone house after a tornado in Ellerslie, Georgia, is an amazing example of how a natural disaster can randomly spare a single home while destroying everything surrounding it.
Jim Guerard’s impeccably timed shot of a whale surfacing off the coast of Greenland is a spectacular highlight in the Travel shortlist. Guerard noticed the iceberg’s similarity in shape with the whale, and then followed the animal for some time to capture this lovely photograph.
“It was late in the day, and I was a couple of miles offshore photographing icebergs from an open bow boat when we saw a humpback whale surfacing in the distance,” writes Guerard. “We followed the whale for a good 30 minutes before we were finally able to align him surfacing with the iceberg in the background.”
Take a look through our gallery at more highlights from the finalists of the 17th Smithsonian Photo Contest.
Source: Smithsonian Photo Contest