DN photojournalist Leonardo Negrão was one of the winners of the “TotalEnergies – Nature Photographer of the Year” competition. Negrão came in second place with a photo taken during the fires in the summer of 2025. The theme of this year’s awards was “The impact of fires on ecosystems”.
The second-place winning image, which was on the cover of DN on August 18, shows a village completely isolated with the surrounding area burned. “A portrait of the day when it looks like the Devil walked there” was the caption of the photo. The report, by Vitor Cordeiro, showed villages isolated by the wave of fires.
To DN, Leonardo Negrão highlighted that “it’s always good for our photographic work to be recognized”. In times of popularization of cell phones for taking photographs, the professional emphasizes that photojournalistic work is not replaceable, because “photojournalism follows the context, with professionals on the site informing people, without filters, without lies, without raw and harsh reports of reality”.
Negrão highlights that a similar image, taken two decades ago by photojournalist Zé Castro Carvalho, also competed. In fact, it was this former DN professional who notified Leonardo Negrão of the award. “It shows that some things remain the same 20 years ago”, he points out. The competition was a promotion by Insitu – XV Vouzela Nature Image Festival.
Leave a Reply