Honorable Mention / 2024 / Nature / Wildlife

• Photographer
  Max Dobens, Spain
• Studio
  Max Dobens Photography
• Website
  https://www.maxdobens.com
• Instagram
  https://www.instagram.com/maxdobens/

The Iberian lynx is an endangered species and only about 2000 are left on the entire planet. While on a photo trip in Spain, this one emerged from the bushes licking his chops, presumably he caught and ate a rabbit but I couldn't be sure. He headed straight towards the watering hole - a mere 5 meters in front of me - for an "after dinner drink" of water. Later, when I closely examined my images and noticed blood on his paws, I realized that a rabbit had been caught and eaten for dinner that night. All of this plus it was during the Golden Hour makes this one of my very best images ever.

I create images because it makes me happy

I also create images to show that although the world sometimes appears to be a dumpster fire, the formidable beauty of nature is alive and well

I'm an unconventional self-taught artist with an innate curiosity that drives me to create images that are not in plain sight and from a perspective that departs from the ordinary

I curate photons that excite your neurons

After 32 years in New York, Max picked up all his toys and relocated to Valencia, España where his principal activity is as a Nature and Wildlife photographer here and around Europe.

Awards Awards since 2022

MSU Global Focus Contest - First Place Winner - "Expect the Unexpected" - East Lansing, MI - 2022

"Smile World" International Photography Awards Finalist - ¨Reflection on Motherhood¨
"Smile World" International Photography Awards Finalist - ¨Expect the Unexpected¨ - Hong Kong - 2022

14th Annual Taste Photography Awards Winner - "El Galeón Andalucía"

14th Annual Taste Photography Awards Finalist - "Expect the Unexpected" - San Francisco, CA - 2023

Monovisions Black and White Photography Magazine Awards Honorable Mention, Landscape Series - "improvise" - Los Angeles, CA - 2023

Prix de la Photographie, Honorable Mention / Architecture / Cityscape​ - "The Bean" - Paris, France - 2023

APOY 2023 Street Top 10 - "the Golden Lady of Santander" - Kent, UK - 2023

Black and White Photo Awards Winner - "Reflections on the Stairwell" - León, España - 2023

Kaleidoscope Travel Photo Award - "The Chicago Bean"
Kumanovo, North Macedonia - 2023

Budapest International Foto Awards, Honorable Mention - "Sunrise with the Bees" - Budapest, Hungary - 2023

The Nature Photography Contest - Finalist - "Salmon Regret" - León, España - 2023

The Momentum Photo Contest - Salon E-Diploma - "Dama de Oro de Santander" - Skopje, North Macedonia - 2024

Back to Nature Art Competition of the The Blue Koi Gallery - Honorable Mention - "Bear Sushi” - Kansas City, MO - 2024