Glamour girls on parade in India

Media Release
For Immediate Release: 3 September 2010

Glamour girls on parade in India win Lonely Planet’s photo mosaic competition

Lonely Planet, the world’s leading travel content provider, has announced the winner of its online photo mosaic competition, created to celebrate the publication of its 100 millionth guidebook.

Indian national Sreesailam Pasupula, 33, of Mumbai was declared the winner with his arresting photograph of glamorous girls parading on a performance stage at Pushkar ka Mela, the world’s largest camel fair in Rajasthan, India. First prize is a round the world trip for two.

A gallery of 50 finalists and the grand prize winner is live at http://www.lonelyplanet.com/gallery

Since the competition opened on 29 January 2010, over 130,000 images have been uploaded to lonelyplanet.com by travellers from almost every country around the globe, including - North Korea, Iraq, Afghanistan and Antarctica. Over a million people have viewed the online exhibition http://www.lonelyplanet.com/win/ designed to take visitors on a sweeping virtual tour of the globe.
Two hundred finalists will all receive a Nokia handset valued at AU$800, £450GBP, $740US.

Lonely Planet’s co-founder and competition judge, Tony Wheeler, said Sreesailam’s image captured the adventurous free spirit of Lonely Planet.

“Our winner combined two elements of India which many Lonely Planet travellers will have experienced – dramatic Rajasthan wall murals and colorfully dressed Rajasthani women. Sreesailam’s photo brings the two together, one reflecting the other and with the leader in the group striding forcefully forward, like a match to the mirror,” Tony said.

Award-winning photographer and competition judge Richard I’Anson said selecting a single winning photograph from such a strong field of images was never going to be easy.

“Consequently, the winner took the honours narrowly and was only decided after robust analysis and discussion of many excellent images. Sreesailam’s photograph won the day by capturing a fleeting moment that will feel so familiar to travellers in countries around the world, transcending the specific location, in a simple yet graphic composition that perfectly embodies the day to day adventure of the travel experience through seemingly ordinary encounters,” Richard said.

The 15th edition of the guide to Australia is officially the 100 millionth book to be published in Lonely Planet’s 37 year history.

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