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Patagonia Photographer of the Year and 1st Place, Wildlife Category: “For a Lifetime” by Mauricio Rossanigo (Location: El Chaltén, Argentina)A photograph capturing a moment of intimacy between a pair of Andean condors, grooming each other on the rocky ledges of a Patagonian mountain, is the winner of the 7th Patagonia Photo Contest. The image, titled “For a Lifetime,” was taken by Argentine Mauricio Rossanigo, who took home the top prize, Patagonia Photographer of the Year, as well as first place in the Wildlife category.
The winning photographs in the contest’s five categories —Wildlife, Landscapes, Outdoor Adventure, Travel and Culture, and Last Wild Places— were exhibited for the first time at the awards ceremony, held Thursday, June 25 at the Centro Cultural Las Condes in Santiago, which also featured the premiere of the documentary “El Otoño de los Glaciares” (The Autumn of the Glaciers), a look at the glaciers of Patagonia and the challenges they face. The images will also be on exhibition in other cities in Chile and Argentina in the coming months.
Rossanigo captured the winning image on an autumn afternoon during a trip with four friends to El Chaltén in the Argentine Patagonia. After climbing a rock wall in hopes of spotting condors, the first individuals began to appear and perch on the ledges, until the starring pair arrived. He took the photo with a 600mm telephoto lens to keep a respectful distance and avoid disturbing the birds.
“We waited quietly for a while, until suddenly condors started appearing, flying above us, more and more, until some began to perch on the ledges,” recalls Rossanigo. “After a while, the pair arrived, and the magic happened: they started grooming and interacting in such a beautiful way that we couldn’t believe it, and I just had to click at the right moment.”
“It was a moment we will never forget: with friends, in paradise, and alongside such a remarkable species,” he adds.
As Patagonia Photographer of the Year, Rossanigo received a Sony Alpha 6700 camera and a five-night trip for two people to explore the Chilean region of Puelo, with stays and outdoor adventures at Rincón Bonito, Tawa Refugio del Puelo, and Puelo Libre, including a packraft descent of the Ventisquero River.
Although he is the grand prize winner, Rossanigo prefers not to call himself a photographer. “I don’t like to say I’m a photographer, but rather a nature and wildlife lover,” he says. “I consider photography a means to communicate and raise awareness about certain species and environmental issues, and to show beauties and rarities that not everyone knows about.” Born and based in Rafaela, province of Santa Fe, he collaborates with projects and groups that study and fight to conserve threatened species, such as the maned wolf and the crowned eagle.
OTHER WINNERS
Alongside Rossanigo, the winners of the other Patagonian categories are, in Landscapes, “Monte Chaltén” by Felipe Zanotti; in Outdoor Adventure, “Toward the heart of the mountain” by Daniel Claveria; and in Travel and Culture, “Another day at the office” by Timothy Dhalleine.
The Readers’ Choice Award, chosen by public vote among the finalists, went to Timothy Dhalleine, whose photograph “The flight of the great condor” received 14,370 votes. The image captures an Andean condor gliding over a Patagonian lake and was taken on a family outing. “I was with my family watching condors with my 3-year-old daughter. I hope that when people see the photo, they feel the sense of wonder she experienced,” says Dhalleine. “These animals, which appear on Chile’s national emblem, are powerful but fragile and are endangered, especially in northern South America, where they have disappeared in some places. It is crucial to remember the importance of protecting them.”
The winner of the Readers’ Choice Award will receive an amazing trip that includes sailing across three Andean lakes between Puerto Varas and Bariloche with Cruce Andino and stays at Hotel Bellavista and Hotel Tres Reyes.
The Last Wild Places Award went to Chilean Diego Navarro, a veterinarian and bird photographer based in Chiloé, for “the dance of the herons.” The image, taken at dawn in the Chepu River wetland, portrays two great white herons that seem to dance amid the mist and dead trees of the sunken forest. “Suddenly we saw these two big herons, literally dancing… two white herons standing out amid all that fog; it looked like a painting,” Navarro recalls.
The Last Wild Places Award includes a one-week van rental to explore southern Chile, a visit to the Termas de Pichicolo hot springs, a Wild Lama gift card, and books from Rewilding Chile.
The category winners took home a wide range of prizes: Patagonia (Chile) store gift cards, Tribu camping gear gift cards, Klean Kanteen bottles, books from Libro Verde, 4 Lobos trekking poles, AndesHandbook maps, a Cassis Café gift card, passes to Termas del Sol, and issues of Patagon Journal magazine.
Below are the other winning photographs:
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1st Place, Landscapes Category: “Monte Chaltén” by Felipe Zanotti (Location: El Chaltén, Argentina).jpeg)
1st Place, Culture Category: “Another Day at the Office” by Timothy Dhalleine (Location: Estancia Cerro Guido, Magallanes, Chile).jpeg)
1st Place, Outdoor Adventure Category: “Toward the Heart of the Mountain Range” by Daniel Clavería (Location: Trail to Mirador Cuernos, Torres del Paine National Park, Chile)
, Last Wild Places Award “The Dance of the Herons” by Diego Navarro (Location: Río Puntra, Chiloé Island, Chile)
Readers' Choice Award and 2nd Place, Wildlife Category: “The Flight of the Great Condor” by Timothy Dhalleine (Location: Laguna Sofía, Magallanes, Chile)
2nd Place, Landscapes Category: “Where Light Is Born” by Sebastian Bellia (Location: El Chaltén, Santa Cruz, Argentina)
2nd Place, Culture Category: “Charrasca” Cárdenas” by Eduardo Hernández Astudillo (Location: Cerro Castillo, Magallanes, Chile)
2nd Place, Outdoor Adventure Category: “Ice Monument” by Araceli Rodríguez (Location: El Chaltén, Argentina)
2nd Place, Last Wild Places Category: “The Silence of the Innocents” by Dario Podesta (Location: Chubut, Argentina)Below is a gallery featuring the 5 honorable mentions from the contest:
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