Wrapped in dense morning fog and charged with stillness, Maidan by Italian photographer Andrea Bettancini has won First Place in AAP Magazine #53: Travels. Captured in Kolkata, India, the image depicts a mounted Indian Army soldier sitting on a horse in front of a bare tree, surrounded by an arid landscape: a winning combination of emotional restraint, cinematic atmosphere, and silence.
This expressive photograph stood out among thousands of submissions from around the world, securing Bettancini the top place in a competition that celebrates travel photography, documentary storytelling, and visual narratives that explore identity, place, and belonging.
