The jury of Nature TTL Photographer of the Year has declared Thomas Vijayan the winner of the 2021 competition. Vijayan, a photographer from Canada, shot the spectacular picture called The World is Going Upside Down. His picture beat 8,000 entries from around the world to win the top prize of £1,500. Vijayan’s photograph captures an orangutan clinging on to a tree, however since the tree was half immersed into water, the reflection of the sky, and the forest canopy created an optical illusion. So, the title of the image aptly describes the picture.
The picture was taken by Vijayan in Borneo, an island in Southeast Asia’s Malay Archipelago. Speaking to BBC, Vijayan said that the photograph means a lot to him considering how the orangutan population is facing a decline. He told BBC how trees over 1,000 years old are also being cut down for palm oil plantations, especially in Southeast Asia.
Vijayan reiterated the importance of old trees and said that as humans we have a lot of alternative choices to replace the oil, but the orangutans do not have any options other than losing their natural habitat.
Speaking to BBC, Will Nicholls, founder of Nature TTL, said Vijayan’s entry for their annual contest is really unique, and immediately stood out to the panel of judges. Nicholls said that the unique perspective and composition of the picture meant that the viewer was immediately trying to figure out what exactly they were looking at.
The thought-provoking picture by Vijayan also won him the award in the Animal Behaviour category. After spending a few days in Borneo, Vijayan conceived the idea of creating the frame. To get the shot, he selected a tree that was in the water so that he could get a good reflection. Vijayan described how the water formed a mirror, making the image appear as if it was upside-down. To capture the shot, he had climbed up on the tree and waited for hours. He knew that it was a regular path for the orangutans, so he patiently waited and it surely paid off.
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