Slovenian photographer Andreja Ravnak has been declared the overall winner of the Travel Photographer of the Year 2023, having impressed the jury with her images of hop growing in the Savinja Valley and the rolling fields in Italy and the Czech Republic.

Declaring the winners, the competition founder Chris Coe praised the "subtle elegance" that comes through in both of Ravnak's winning portfolios.

"One takes us into simple landscapes, with delicate colours and a textural beauty, the other into the hop fields, out of season and undressed, ready for the next planting," he said.

"Neither are obvious subjects, neither photographed at an optimal time of year, and yet they are both engaging and rather beautiful," he added about Ravnak's portfolios.

An architect who also works in a number of other creative fields, Ravnak told the STA she started working in photography as an art form about 15 years ago.

At that time, she joined a local photography club where she developed as a photographer "with like-minded enthusiasts". She would then start sending her pictures to competitions at home and abroad.

Ravnak holds the title of Master of Photography in Slovenia and has won a number of international photography awards, including winning the Emirates Photo Competition and Exposure Awards 2022.

She often collaborates as a jury member in local and international projects. She is also the photo editor for the Slovenian edition of the magazine Digital Camera.

"A sworn lover of nature, she is happiest in places where nature has created the most difficult conditions for survival - in deserts and mountains. She is inspired by the aesthetic of landscapes with bare geology," Ravnak is described on the website of the competition.

The Travel Photographer of the Year (TPOTY) 2023 competition featured amateur and professional photographers from more than 150 countries, who submitted more than 20,000 images.

Ravnak's and category winners' images are on show online at www.tpoty.com and will go on display in physical form at The Photography & Video Show in Birmingham, UK, from 16 to 19 March. They will also be showcased at Xposure festival in the UAE.

As the overall winner of the Travel Photographer of the Year, Ravnak has become a member of the UK's Royal Photographic Society.

Ravnak follows in the footsteps of Slovenian photographer Matjaž Krivic, who took the title in the 2022 competition.