Nature nominee

Lunaria rediviva is the Latin name for the perennial plant that can be found in woods of Europe. When the flowers fall off in late summer, translucent, elliptical, flat seeds pods appear. Their appearance is reminiscent of the Moon (lat. lunaria). Although at this stage the plant is completely dry and looks dead, a new life will sprout from the seeds. Redivivus means 'reviving from a dry state, brought back to life, living again'.
In my photography nature has always been my favorite motive, an endless source of inspiration. In natural and delicate world around us I find many metaphors for life and transience of our human existence. For this series I was inspired by Lunaria rediviva - its fragility but also its strength to revive every year.

Maja Strgar Kurecic is a fine art photographer and an Associate Professor of photography at the Faculty of Graphic Arts, University of Zagreb, Croatia. She has been involved in photography for over 25 years. At the beginning of her career, Maja engaged mostly in advertising and reportage photography. The last few years she devoted to projects that fall within the field of abstract photography. She earned international recognition for her recent projects Other Worlds, Escape Landscapes and Floating Garden that won many international awards. She exhibited photographs on over 50 group and 20 independent exhibitions, held in country and abroad.

Recent awards:
2020. San Francisco Bay International Photography Awards - Silver Award; All About Photo Awards 2020 - Finalist;
MIFA 2020 - Silver in Fine Art Category; 15th Julia Margaret Cameron Award - Winner in the Nature Category; 6th FAPA - Fine Art Photography Awards - 3rd prize winner in Nature Category
2019. TIFA 2019 - Gold Winner in Nature Category; MIFA 2019 - Bronze in Architecture; Chromatic Awards - 2nd place - Silver medal in Abstract Category; ND Photography Awards - 1st place and Gold Star Award in Abstract Category; Minimalist Photography Awards - Abstract Photographer of the Year