The XIV edition of the international contest “Fotografare il Parco” has just ended. It was organized by Stelvio, Gran Paradiso, Abruzzo, Lazio e Molise and de la Vanoise National Parks, with the patronage of Alparc, Federparchi and the participation of the media partner “La Rivista della Natura”.
 
Lello Piazza, the president of the jury, said: “In Italy, information deals only a little with Nature. This makes this competition, now in its XIV edition, even more valuable. This is because it shows to the public the beauty of the landscapes, the behaviour of animals and the colourful vegetation of three National Parks located in our country: Abruzzo, Lazio e Molise, Gran Paradiso and Stelvio, to which the cross-border Parc national de la Vanoise has to be added”.
 
From more than 3,300 images submitted, the jury’s choice awarded the first, second and third prizes to a number of exceptional shots: the tenderness of two young stoats playing with a flower (Overall winner - Valter Pallaoro), the New Wave of macro photography that transforms a young woman into a work of geometric abstraction (Second place - Giuseppe Bonali) and finally the landscape wilderness in the shot of Valle del Gallo in Stelvio National Park (Third place - Luca Ronchi).
 
Other prize-winners include the nocturnal encounter between a fox and a badger, first in the category “The Park Wildlife”, the difficult shot representing the giant peacock moth – a nocturnal butterfly – first in the category “The Park Microcosmos and Natural Details” and the rare encounter with a saxifrage during its maximum blossoming, third in the category “The Park Plant World”.
 
The value of the competition and its international importance were underlined by Patrick Folliet, juror of the Parc national de la Vanoise. “The mountains – he said – are extraordinary for their beauty and the uniqueness of their landscapes. They are great ecosystems where nature or animals know no borders or watersheds. All the alpine organisms at the highest altitudes share difficult living conditions and the need to find solutions to the challenges they face. Furthermore, the mountain National Parks, whether on one side or the other of the Alps as on the Apennines, share their commitment to preserve this beauty and richness, and their task of making the value of this heritage known to as many people as possible. For this reason, we think that a photo contest on the National Parks should be “international”: it is the inevitable consequence of the ecological continuity and beauty, as well as the passion for this unparallel heritage, shared by all those people working in the Parks”.
 
“Fotografare il Parco” confirmed the growth in the quality level of the competing images. The technical, compositional and narrative skills of the photographers are growing from year to year, combined with a deep knowledge of the subjects taken.
 
The origin of the participants also confirms that the contest is known within the panorama of photographic contests. The prize-winners include photographers from all over Italy and beyond: from Bolzano to Messina to France.

Overall best photos
 Overall winner             Giocando si cresce - Valter Pallaoro
2^nd place                      Damigella - Giuseppe Bonali
3^rd place                       Valle del Gallo, Stelvio National Park - Luca Ronchi
 
Category A - The park landscape
Abruzzo, Lazio and Molise National Park:        Lights and clouds, Lago Vivo - Marco Antonini
Gran Paradiso National Park:                           Luce dirompente, Bois de Clin - Daniele Passoni
Stelvio National Park:                                       La finestra, Ghiacciaio dei Forni - Chiara Marveggio
Parc national de la Vanoise:                             Potamogeton , Lac Perrin Supérieur - Valter Joannas
 
Category B – The park wildlife
1          Fighter - Lorenzo Shoubridge
2          Colazione in primavera - Gianluca Damiani
3          Gli occhi della natura - Fabio Massimo Turri
 
Category C – The park microcosmos and natural details
1          Night fligter - Lorenzo Shoubridge
2          Il genio scaltro della bellezza - Massimo Arcaro
3          Il direttore d’orchestra - Simone Giachello
 
Category D – The park plant world
1          White umbrella - Marco Antonini
2          Dente di cane - Matteo Riccardo Di Nicola
3          Saxifraga florulenta Moretti - Vittorio Ricci
 
Special prize
            Another world, Colle del Nivolet, Gran Paradiso National Park - Fabrizio Micalizzi
 
Recommended Photos
            Sporofiti - Giuseppe Bonali
            Iced moon, Valsavarenche, Gran Paradiso National Park - Fabrizio Gottardi
            Il dono di plastica - Roberto Melotti
            Intrappolati - Giuseppe Bonali
           Isola del Forcellone, Monte La Meta, Abruzzo Lazio and Molise National Park - Daniele De Rubeis

In the coming weeks, and depending on the evolution of the health emergency, the procedure and the location for the award ceremony, scheduled to take place before the end of the summer, will be arranged
 

Bormio, Torino, Pescasseroli, Chambéry, 22 February 2021
 
Thanks a lot to Francesca Berardi for the translation.