An artist and educator born in Italy and based in Scotland has been named Travel Photographer of the Year 2021 with a submission of wild landscapes.
Fortunato Gatto was honoured for a portfolio including abstract images of Scottish islands Eigg and South Uist, and the sweeping vistas of Denali National Park, Alaska, USA. Gatto’s portfolio was selected from around 20,000 images submitted by photographers from 151 countries.
The Italian photographer moved in 2007 from Milan to Scotland in pursuit of unspoilt nature, determined to improve his photographic skills, often at the sharp end of the elements. His individual style, and ability to give wild territories a face and voice, have earned him international recognition.
“Nature is the highest work of art, and that is also my aim in representing it,” he says. “Through metaphors, I look for hidden images, to tell nature’s secrets.”
Here, Gatto tells how he created four images from his Travel Photographer of the Year 2021 portfolio.
Denali National Park, Alaska, USA
Between the colourful tundra and the almost black and white mountains there lay a dense stripe of mist. I tried to portray the landscape in three different stripes. Tundra on the lower part, mist in the centre and the mountains on top. The result was a different and mystical view of the landscape.
Canon 5D Mark III, 70- 200mm lens, f11, 1/6s, ISO 200
Denali National Park, Alaska, USA
I visited Alaska at the end of August and admired the elements that make this tundra unique: low shrubs, sedges, reindeer mosses, liverworts, grasses and the Taiga with its extensive conifer forests. The autumnal colour shades were incredibly rich, but what left me breathless was the sudden and mighty snowstorm that transitioned the scene from autumn into winter.
Canon EOS 5D Mark III, 70-200mm lens, f8, 1/400s, ISO 800
Eigg, Small Isles, Scotland
I was alone in this place for about two weeks. I observed the tidal phenomenon for days until I could see peaks drawn in the sand, with the reflection of the clouds in the middle.
Canon 5D Mark III, 24-70mm lens, f13, 1/4s, ISO 100
South Uist, Outer Hebrides, Scotland
I love to wander on this beach in perfect solitude, where nature inspires me and shows me natural metaphors like this sort of ‘jellyfish’, made by the tide force and weather erosion.
Canon 5D Mark III, 24-70mm lens, f13, 8s, ISO 100
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