Arts & Entertainment

Unreal California Image Wins Nat Geo Photo Contest Grand Prize

From thousands of submissions, a surreal image of waste in the California desert, won the 2018 National Geographic Photo Contest​.

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LOS ANGELES, CA — It’s neither a glimpse of nature’s majesty nor an image of breathtaking beauty. The grand prize winner of the 2018 National Geographic Photo Contest is a surreal scene in the Mojave Desert, a jarring juxtaposition of the barren desert landscape against an accidental monument to greed and pollution.

The aerial photo, titled “Unreal,” was captured by Jassen Todorov. It features a massive boneyard of thousands of Volkswagen and Audi cars recalled in 2015 after the manufacturer was caught designing cars to cheat emissions tests. There in Apple Valley, the new car graveyard borders one for old airplanes in a riot of color surrounded by dusty, brown desert.

Todorov, a concert violinist, shot the photo while piloting a 1976 Piper Warrior.

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“These cars are just sitting out there and collecting dust,” he told National Geographic. “By capturing scenes like this one, I hope we will all become more conscious of and more caring toward our beautiful planet.”

In much of his photography, Todorov captures nature’s quirks and beauty, often from thousands of feet above.

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“When I fly long distances, I listen to a lot of music. I’m able to combine music, flying, and photography,” he told the magazine. “Music has a lot to do with structure and composition, colors and patterns, moods and characters—when I am looking at a photo, I am thinking about the same things.”

The other winners this year include a wildlife shot of endangered rhinoceroses sneaking a late night drink at a South African watering hole, the dystopian wreckage of a Syrian city destroyed by war, an ethereal Japanese snowfall, and a striking portrait shot in a Kenyan shantytown.

The winners include:

A NEW LOOK
PHOTO AND CAPTION BY ALISON LANGEVAD: Late at night, two southern white rhinoceroses emerged from the shadows to drink at a watering hole in Zimanga Game Reserve. They were back to back, observing their surroundings before lowering their heads. I underestimated the emotional impact the incredible beasts would have on me. They had been dehorned to deter poachers. I was full of emotion—and horror—that poaching had such a devastating effect. It must have been a hard decision to dehorn them, and I am grateful for the reserve’s efforts.
THUNDERBIRD IN THE DUST
PHOTO AND CAPTION BY NICHOLAS MOIR: A rusting Ford Thunderbird is blanketed by red dust from a supercell thunderstorm in Ralls, Texas. The dry, plowed fields of the Texas Panhandle made easy prey for the storm, which had winds over 90 miles an hour ripping up the topsoil and depositing it farther south. I was forecasting and positioning a team of videographers and photographers on a storm chase in Tornado Alley—this was our last day of a very successful chase, having witnessed 16 tornadoes over 10 days.
LOVE OF LIFE
PHOTO AND CAPTION BY AVISHEK DAS: A Hindu devotee kisses his newborn baby during the Charak Puja festival in West Bengal, India. Traditional practice calls for the devotee to be pierced with a hook and sometimes swung from a rope. This painful sacrifice is enacted to save their children from anxiety. While covering the festival, I was able to view the religious practice from the perspective of Hindu devotees. I tried to capture the moment of love between a father and his child—and show a father’s concern for his little son.
ROAD TO RUIN
PHOTO AND CAPTION BY CHRISTIAN WERNER: While on assignment for Der Spiegel, we made a road trip through Syria to document the current situation in major cities. When I first entered the Khalidiya district in Homs, I was shocked. To make this image, I asked a Syrian soldier in charge of the area if I could climb onto a ruin. The soldier agreed, allowing me to climb at my own risk. I climbed up the ruins of a former house—which was full of improvised explosive devices—and took the picture.
DEEP SNOW
PHOTO AND CAPTION BY JONAS BEYER: A few miles from Qaanaaq (Thule), Greenland, I was hiking in search of musk oxen when I saw a group of them. This ox was running hillside in deep snow, which exploded underneath it. I was lucky enough to be at the right spot to see them frolicking, and I watched them closely for about an hour. I love photographing musk oxen against the wintry landscape: They’re very tough Arctic survivors. This photo shows their beauty and power—and the snow they deal with for about eight months of the year.
ROADSIDE MOTEL
PHOTO AND CAPTION BY TODD KENNEDY: On a family holiday driving from Sydney to Uluru, we stopped at a roadside motel in the small rural township of Nyngan, on the edge of Australia’s outback. The area is in the wheat belt, and it was unusually hot for that time of year—over a hundred degrees Fahrenheit and very dusty. Our daughter, Genie, is seen here enjoying a refreshing bath in a rubber ducky perched on the sink.
SNOWFLAKES
PHOTO AND CAPTION BY RUCCA Y ITO:Japan’s Blue Pond in Biei-cho, Hokkaido, has become very famous for attracting tourists from around the world. It is surrounded by beautiful mountains and trees. This pond, frozen during winter, was artificially made to prevent river contamination from the nearby active volcano, Mount Tokachi. The accumulated pond water contains high levels of minerals, such as those containing aluminum. The alluring view of the blue pond can take one’s breath away.
COTTON CANDY, FOG WAVES
PHOTO AND CAPTION BY DAVID ODISHO: Waves of fog sweep through Marin County on a summer day, blanketing of Mount Tamalpais.
FLYING AT THE CROSSING
PHOTO AND CAPTION BY PIM VOLKERS: It was early morning when I saw the wildebeests crossing Tanzania’s Mara River. The layering of dust, shade, and sun over the chaos of wildebeests kicking up water gives this picture a sense of mystique and allure. It’s almost like an old painting—I’m still compelled to search the detail of the image to absorb the unreal scene.

SUNDAY BEST AT WEEKEND STUDIO
PHOTO AND CAPTION BY MIA COLLIS: This photo of David Muyochokera was taken on his last day working as a photographer at Weekend Studio in Kibera, a large shantytown in Nairobi, Kenya. David had worked there for 37 years, but Weekend Studio was about to close permanently. David explained that with cameras now on phones, demand for his work had dwindled. I was troubled by the studio’s imminent closure, so I eventually took over the rent. A portrait of David now hangs at Weekend Studio in his memory.

Main Photo: UNREAL, PHOTO AND CAPTION BY JASSEN TODOROV: Thousands of Volkswagen and Audi cars sit idle in the middle of California’s Mojave Desert. Models manufactured from 2009 to 2015 were designed to cheat emissions tests mandated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Following the scandal, Volkswagen recalled millions of cars. By capturing scenes like this one, I hope we will all become more conscious of and more caring toward our beautiful planet.

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