Laudation of the jury

The photo „Light belongs to heaven“ of Sergio Tapiro Velasco displays the tremendous force of nature in one single photo. A lot of people, who haven’t seen a volcanic eruption can share this stunning moment and literally sense the volcanic outburst. One can almost divine the rumble and the blast of the explosion. The phenomenon of a volcanic lightning emphasizes the power of the outburst and is not necessarily known by ones who are not used to volcanic activities.

The capture of a split second like this with compositional perfection requires a high technical skill plus patience and ambition. The photographer himself reports that he took more than 350 000 photos of this volcano in over 15 years. A great compliment for this unique photo and his preceding perseverance!

Ulla Lohmann