'The Crown' by Bulgarian Photographer Radoslav Sviretsov Wins Frst Place in International Competition

Bulgarian photographer and architect Radoslav Sviretsov has won first place in the “Aurorae” category of the Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2026 international competition, organised by the Royal Observatory Greenwich in London, he said.

Sviretsov's winning photograph is titled The Crown and was taken near a small church in Iceland in January 2026 during a powerful geomagnetic storm. The photograph was taken shortly before midnight, away from city lights. During the shoot, the index measuring the intensity of geomagnetic activity reached a value of seven, the photographer noted.

“In moments like this, all I feel is gratitude – that I simply happened to be in the right place at the right time,” Radoslav Sviretsov said.

“The sky was glowing, while the landscape beneath it was illuminated by the power of the Northern Lights. At certain moments, the aurora was so intense that it even illuminated the ground beneath us, turning everything white – as if the night had briefly disappeared,” the photographer said.

This is Svirtsov’s second time having his work featured among the award-winning photographs in the competition. In 2024, one of his photographs was shortlisted for Astronomy Photographer of the Year. The winning photograph is part of the Astronomy Photographer of the Year exhibition at the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich, London. This year's exhibition features 100 of the competition's winning photographs. It opens today, 18 September, and will remain in London until mid-2027, he said.

In 2026, Sviretsov also won first place in the international final of EISA Maestro in the single-photograph category with an aerial photograph taken in Vietnam. His photographs have also been published and featured by international media outlets and photography publications, including The Times, Forbes, The Guardian, PetaPixel and Bored Panda.

In 2024, Sviretsov received the Sofia Municipality Award for achievements in photography, while in 2025 he was among those recognised in Ten Outstanding Young Persons of Bulgaria. His photographs have also received recognition in international competitions, including the World Food Photography Awards and 35AWARDS.

Radoslav Sviretsov is an architect, photographer and traveller. Born in Burgas, he graduated in architecture from the University of Architecture, Civil Engineering and Geodesy in Sofia. Since 2025, he has lived in Iceland, where he works on photography projects focusing on natural processes and the country's landscapes, including volcanic eruptions, glaciers and the Northern Lights.

Source: BTA