Bronze in Nature/Astrophotography / 2026 / Nature / Astrophotography

• Prize
  Bronze in Nature/Astrophotography
• Photographer
  Yoshikazu Hiratsuka, Japan
• Date of Photograph
  17.Jun.2025

This driftwood was knocked down by the tsunami, and has been slowly worn by time and tide ever since. It has been 15 years since that disaster. Over the long years, more than half of it has been buried beneath the sand. Yet the tip of the fallen tree still points toward the cosmos. Beyond it, the Milky Way stretched across the sky, blazing with countless stars. A tree felled by a tsunami, and stars that have shone for billions of years. Though the weight of time they carry is worlds apart, both are here, right now. Even in a weathered, fallen tree, beauty still remains.