Wildlife / Animals 2nd place winner

Sápmi is the land and the people, the nature and the reindeer, the animals and the light. The midnight sun and the northern lights. The heat from the fire on a sparkling winter’s day and the coolness of a mountain stream after a long day’s hike. Sápmi is the food and the produce. But also human rights and Sámi names. Duodji (handicraft), fishing, and Sámi tourism. The flag and the Sámi colours. The wanderlust and respect for all we see around us. Young and old. And everything in between.

Hanneke Van Camp is a nature photographer based in Belgium, but traveling through Arctic Europe in a small campervan most of the year. Trying to live a life closer to nature, she continues to push the boundaries of her comfort zone. Her soft landscape photos are often captured during sunrise hikes out on the fells, looking out over the environment around her. In this misty world full of suggestion, it’s as if time stands still. Because as vast, rugged or extreme the North may be, this feeling of tranquility always seems to prevail.

Hanneke’s love for and inspiration from nature has always been a big part of her life.
It led her to become a biologist and science communicator, and influences her work as a photographer today.

With her photos Hanneke hopes to inspire people to reconnect to nature, to rediscover its value, and to eventually become ambassadors for its conservation.