Nature nominee

This photograph was taken on a clear, silent morning along the shores of Lago Nero, in the Maira Valley, Italian Alps. The air was cold and almost motionless, and only a few rays of sunlight managed to rise above the mountain ridge.

Slowly, the light began to descend along the slope, illuminating the larches one by one. For a few brief minutes, the forest turned into a mosaic of gold, perfectly mirrored in the still water below.

Nothing dramatic happened — only light moving across the landscape. Yet in that quiet progression, the scene transformed completely. This image is about patience and presence: about remaining still long enough to witness how light shapes the world, softly and without noise.

Loris Astesano is an Italian landscape photographer based in the Maira Valley, in the western Italian Alps. His work is deeply rooted in the place he calls home, and much of his photography is dedicated to interpreting and narrating this remote alpine valley through his own eyes and lens.

Living and working in the mountains, he develops a long-term relationship with the landscape, returning to the same locations across seasons and years. Rather than chasing distant destinations, he focuses on revealing the character of the Maira Valley — its shifting light, its silences, its fleeting atmospheres.

Through patience and careful observation, his images seek to translate a personal experience of place into a universal visual language. His work is not only about documenting landscapes, but about expressing a lived connection to them.