Tony North; First place, Breathing Spaces; Overall Winner; Blue Tajinaste, La Palma, Canary Islands, Spain. “Echium thyrsiflorum is endemic to the mountains of La Palma island – from high up, there was a magnificent view of both the caldera below, and the stars above. The Unesco La Palma biosphere reserve encompasses the entire island, with the Caldera de Taburiente containing mountains with a highest peak of 2,426 metres – the Roque de los Muchachos”. (Photo by Tony North/IGPOTY)

Pierre Thivillon (R), director of the zoological park of Saint-Martin-La-Plaine and his wife Eliane look at Digit, an 18-year-old female gorilla, on August 19, 2016, in Saint-Martin-La-Plaine between Lyon and Saint-Etienne, southeastern France. The zoological park of Saint-Martin-La-Plaine is a shelter for beasts seized by the justice. (Photo by Philippe Desmazes/AFP Photo)

People take part in fake festival called “La Boum” organized by an anonymous group of people on Facebook for an April 1 joke at the Bois de la Cambre, in Brussels, Belgium, 01 April 2021. An anonymous group created a Facebook event called “La Boum”, touting an alleged festival to take place with famous DJs as headliners. Thousands of people on social media had shown interest to take part in the gathering, while police have advised that no authorization has been given for a music event. (Photo by Stephanie Lecocq/EPA/EFE)

Fans of Gimnasia de La Plata choke on tear gas during a local tournament match between Gimnasia de La Plata and Boca Juniors in La Plata, Argentina, Thursday, October 6, 2022. The match was suspended after tear gas thrown by the police outside the stadium wafted inside affecting the players as well as fans who fled to the field to avoid its effects. (Photo by Gustavo Garello/AP Photo)

A reveller is tossed into the air as they celebrate the Holi spring festival in Kathmandu on March 12, 2017. The “Holi” festival of colours is a riotous celebration of the coming of spring and falls on the day after the full moon in early March every year. (Photo by Prakash Mathema/AFP Photo)

Indian girls apply colored powder on each other as they wear protective masks as a precautionary measure against coronavirus, during Holi festival celebrations in Bhopal, India, 26 March 2021. Holi marks the beginning of the spring season. Holi will be celebrated as the Hindu spring festival of colors across the country on 29 March. (Photo by Sanjeev Gupta/EPA/EFE)

A villager attends a spring ploughing ceremony in Jiaru Village, Gurong Town, Lhasa, southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region, March 16, 2020. Traditional spring ploughing ceremonies took place in Tibet's major cultivation areas on Monday to pray for a year with good harvests. (Photo by Zhan Yan/Xinhua News Agency)

A model presents creations from the 2023 Spring/Summer collection by Japanese designer Lim Asafuji for the label “pays des fees” during the Tokyo Fashion Week in Tokyo, Japan, 01 September 2022. The presentation of the 2023 Spring/Summer collections runs from 29 August to 03 September. (Photo by Franck Robichon/EPA/EFE)