Maltese-born conservation and environmental photographer Joe Zammit-Lucia was presented with an Honour of Distinction having won third place in the Professional Nature Photography category at the second Annual Photography Masters Cup exclusive awards ceremony. Over 15,000 entries from 69 countries competed for the prestigious award. An audience of 11,050 photographers, collectors and other interested parties logged on from 89 countries to join the award ceremony and view stunning work from the world’s finest photographers. The winning images were selected by a who’s who jury of the most celebrated professionals in art and photography. Mr Zammit-Lucia’s image Defiance, an exceptional image entered in the Nature category received a high percentage of votes to win third place overall.

“The Masters Cup celebrates photographers who operate at the highest levels of their craft,” said the awards creative director, Basil O’Brien, “Joe’s entry certainly represents colour photography at its finest and we’re pleased to present him with the Honour of Distinction.”

Defiance is part of Joe Zammit-Lucia’s Fauves portfolio of images – high impact of endangered species. The image is included in a new book First Steps – Conserving Our Environment. As with all his photographic work, profits from the book will be donated to environmental organisations.