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Landscapes of The Palouse

Stephen Rauch

United States of America

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As koi glide beneath the water’s surface, their movements create swirling reflections and ripples, blending color, light, and motion into an ever-changing abstract canvas—fluid, serene, and endlessly captivating.

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Honorable Mention

Koi Pond

The ROM dance is a powerful ritual where men in banana-leaf costumes and fiber masks move to tam tams and shakers, embodying dark spirits with painted faces that inspire awe and fear.

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Nominee

ROM Dance, Ambrym Island, Vanuatu, Melanesia

Three frames from a storm in the Pacific—where the sky, sea, and wind speak in a language all their own.

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“Into the Storm”, Pacific Ocean

Iridescent tiles that shimmer in different colors depending on the angle of the sunlight. I took this photograph while wading in the water in a pool in Tahiti, where gentle ripples created an abstract interplay of light and color on the tiles beneath the surface.

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Swimming Pool

The landscapes of the Palouse in Washington is known for its rich agricultural heritage, offers an extraordinary panorama of undulating terrain, where the earth’s natural contours create a patchwork quilt of colors that change with the seasons.