This month's shadowy winner was taken in Luxor by Matt Northam as the boat he was on pulled away from the banks of the Nile. It's the kind of shot which has an effortlessly exotic quality that, when you look back through your snaps a few months later, takes you straight back there and gets you planning your next holiday.

Or, as our judge Ranjit Dhaliwal, the Guardian's assistant picture editor, says:

"This is a wonderfully evocative travel image, it oozes atmosphere. The use of an architectural feature to frame the subject shows that the photographer has a good eye for composition."

Congratulations to Matt who bags himself a blown-up canvas print of his winning image, courtesy of Point 101. Take a look around our gallery of this month's best entries and, if you fancy seeing your own work on your wall and on the web, get sending us in your all-time best travel photographs.

Entering the photo of the month competition

You don't have to be an expert to enter the competition - all travel photos are accepted as long as they're at least 435 pixels wide (for landscape shots) or 455 pixels high (for portrait format). A shortlist of the Been there team's favourite entries will be published as a gallery each month on the Travel site.

To be in with a chance of winning next month's prize, take a look at our guidelines, then forward your snaps to been.there.photos@guardian.co.uk.


Photo of the month hall of fame: see previous winners