Unusual View Of English Coastline Wins Landscape Photographer Of The Year

Matthew Cattell - Starling Vortex, Brighton, East Sussex, England

A dramatic and unusual view of Brighton has won the top prize in this year's search for the UK’s 'Landscape Photographer of the Year'.

Berkshire-based photographer, Matthew Cattell becomes the tenth person to win the overall title and the £10,000 prize. His picture of Brighton was chosen, by the judges, from the thousands of entries celebrating the richly diverse landscape of the UK. 

On hearing the news, Matthew said: "When Charlie called, we initially reminisced about how I was inspired by his presentation ‘Behind the Photograph’ at my local camera club. My heart started to race as Charlie went on to explain that my photograph had been chosen as the winner of the Landscape Photographer of the Year award. I was in utter disbelief and completely speechless and, even now, it still feels like a dream. To be held in such high regard amongst so many other talented photographers is truly humbling."

Charlie Waite, founder of the Awards spoke about the winning image: "The sense of movement is palpable in Matthew’s photograph and you really feel what it would have been like to stand beside him. The starlings seem to be swirling around the iconic remains of Brighton’s West Pier in a manner reminiscent of the tornado in the Wizard of Oz. A judicious choice of shutter speed suits both birds and water. An intriguing image."

Hannah Faith Jackson - Mirror Bar, Glasgow, Scotland

The Young Landscape Photographer of the Year title has been awarded to Hannah Faith Jackson, who spotted the potential in Glasgow’s city reflections and the  GREAT Britain #OMGB 'Home of Amazing Moments' Award has been given to Mark Gilligan for his photo of a rainbow arcing over Wast Water in the Lake District National Park.

Mark Gilligan - Finding Gold, Wast Water, Cumbria, England

Francis Taylor - Sunshine breaks through, Ribblehead Viaduct, North Yorkshire, England

The Network Rail 'Lines in the Landscape' Award was won by Francis Taylor for his tranquil view of the Ribblehead Viaduct and Rachael Talibart’s 'Maelstrom', showing storm waves at Newhaven, won The Sunday Times Magazine Award. Damian Ward wins the Adobe Prize for his photograph of Caister-on-Sea in Norfolk.

Rachael Talibart - Maelstrom, Storm Imogen, Newhaven, East Sussex, England

Damian Ward - Caister-on-Sea, Norfolk, England

The exhibition of winning entries will, again, be held on the Balcony at London Waterloo from Monday 21 November until 5 February 2017. Admission is free. All of the winning and commended photographs from the competition can also be found in the Awards book 'Landscape Photographer of the Year: Collection 10' by AA Publishing, which is available now. Last year, a view of Dorset took the top title which you can learn more about here: Landscape Photographer Of The Year Competition 2015

2016 Results (with image location):

• Overall winner – Matthew Cattell – Brighton, East Sussex, England
• The GREAT Britain #OMGB Award – Mark Gilligan – Lake District, England
• Network Rail ‘Lines in the Landscape’ Award – Francis Taylor – Yorkshire Dales, England
• The Sunday Times Magazine Award – Rachael Talibart – East Sussex, England
• The Adobe Prize – Damian Ward – Norfolk, England
• Winner – Classic view – Dougie Cunningham – Sutherland, Scotland
• Runner-up – Classic view – Scott Robertson – Glencoe, Scotland
• Winner – Living the view – Martin Birks – Peak District, Derbyshire, England
• Runner-up – Living the view – Chaitanya Deshpande – Richmond, London, England
• Winner – Urban view – Lesley Smith – Glasgow, Scotland
• Runner-up – Urban view – Iain Tall – London, England
• Winner – Your view – Tony Higginson – Lancashire, England
• Runner-up – Your view – Daniel Pecena – Glencoe, Scotland

Youth class (17 and under):

• Overall winner – Hannah Faith Jackson (15) – Glasgow, Scotland
• Winner – Classic view – James Bailey – Suffolk, England
• Winner – Living the view – Rowan Ashworth – Isle of Harris, Scotland
• Winner – Urban view – Henry Memmot – Glasgow, Scotland
• Winner – Your view – Henry Memmott – Lanarkshire, Scotland