A picture entitled “Kayaking in Jökulsárlón” by Anne-Marie Detay was chosen the best travel picture in the annual amateur photography contest hosted by Photo, one of the most prominent photography magazines in France.
Detay, an amateur travel photographer who is passionate about “the untouched natural wonders of Iceland,” took the picture during her three-month visit to the country last summer while kayaking with her husband, Michel Detay, on the glacial lagoon Jökulsárlón in south Iceland.
According to Anne-Marie Detay, it was the best experience of their journey, “slowly paddling our kayak in the magical waters of Jökulsárlón, caressing the crystal-clear icebergs, the touch-close encounter with arctic terns and the surprise of the seals, which seemingly had never seen such a strange vehicle floating in their waters before.”
“It is no surprise that such a moment and such a unique place captured the interest of the demanding jury [of Photo],” Detay said.
There were 50,000 participants in Photo’s 2007 photography competition, which has ten different categories. Though there is only one winner per category, 500 pictures in total are granted publication.
The Detays are currently working on a travel guide to be published by the end of 2008. It is supposed to be a different kind of travel guide, “dedicated to understanding the landscape that tourists come to visit and enhancing the awareness of our planet’s beauty.”
The couple plans to return to Iceland next summer.
Click here to look at an audio slideshow about Jökulsárlón.
