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PHOTOGRAPHY & FILM: First look at the new Wildlife Photographer of The Year exhibition
29 August 2024
By Sarah Hagen
By Sarah Hagen
© Jose Manuel Grandío, Wildlife Photographer of the Year
A ‘dancing’ stoat, a moonlight hunter and a David Bowie spider are just a few of the amazing images from the Natural History Museum's, Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition, now in its sixtieth year.
The upcoming Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibition will showcase 100 photographs from around the world from 11 October 2024 in London. To mark the sixtieth anniversary, the Museum’s flagship exhibition will feature a timeline of key moments in the competition’s history.
The sixtieth competition attracted a record-breaking 59,228 entries from photographers of all ages and experience levels from 117 countries and territories. Entries were judged anonymously on their creativity, originality, and technical excellence by an international panel of industry experts. The winners of each category, and the prestigious Grand Title and Young Grand Title awards, will be announced on 8 October 2024 at a ceremony hosted by wildlife TV presenters and conservationists Chris Packham and Megan McCubbin.
This year, the Natural History Museum introduced a new award in both the young and adult competitions, the Impact Award, to recognise a conservation success, a story of hope and/or positive change. The special prize forms part of the Natural History Museum’s vision of a future where both people and planet thrive.
Among the newly-released Highly Commended images is the first ever awarded smartphone image showing the successful completion of a mule deer doe’s circle of life by Randy Robbins.
William Fortescue witnessed the complex relationship of mating lions, Tommy Trenchard records the distressing moment a shark was hauled aboard a Spanish longliner in the Southern Atlantic Ocean, and in the 10 Years and Under category, an atmospheric image of a peafowl in Keoladeo National Park in Bharatpur, India, by Shreyovi Mehta.
Chair of the judging panel, Kathy Moran says: “In this selection you see species diversity, a range of behavior and conservation issues. These images represent the evolution of the competition through the years, from pure natural history to photography that fully embraces representation of the natural world - the beauty and the challenges. It is a powerful selection with which to kickstart a milestone anniversary.”
Dr Doug Gurr, Director of the Museum says: “As we celebrate sixty years of Wildlife Photographer of the Year, we also celebrate the generations of visitors who have been inspired by the beauty and majesty of its images, and the millions of connections made with nature. Over the decades, Wildlife Photographer of the Year has pushed the boundaries of wildlife photography as the competition evolved alongside technological advancements. But still today, the competition remains true to one of its founding objectives: ‘to enhance the prestige of wildlife photography in the hope that ultimately the awards would benefit animals by creating greater public interest in them and in that all-important topic – conservation’.”
The sixtieth edition of Wildlife Photographer of the Year opens at the Museum in South Kensington on Friday 11 October until Sunday 29 June 2025. The exhibition will also embark on a UK and international tour to inspire millions to appreciate and conserve the natural world
The upcoming Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibition will showcase 100 photographs from around the world from 11 October 2024 in London. To mark the sixtieth anniversary, the Museum’s flagship exhibition will feature a timeline of key moments in the competition’s history.
The sixtieth competition attracted a record-breaking 59,228 entries from photographers of all ages and experience levels from 117 countries and territories. Entries were judged anonymously on their creativity, originality, and technical excellence by an international panel of industry experts. The winners of each category, and the prestigious Grand Title and Young Grand Title awards, will be announced on 8 October 2024 at a ceremony hosted by wildlife TV presenters and conservationists Chris Packham and Megan McCubbin.
This year, the Natural History Museum introduced a new award in both the young and adult competitions, the Impact Award, to recognise a conservation success, a story of hope and/or positive change. The special prize forms part of the Natural History Museum’s vision of a future where both people and planet thrive.
Among the newly-released Highly Commended images is the first ever awarded smartphone image showing the successful completion of a mule deer doe’s circle of life by Randy Robbins.
William Fortescue witnessed the complex relationship of mating lions, Tommy Trenchard records the distressing moment a shark was hauled aboard a Spanish longliner in the Southern Atlantic Ocean, and in the 10 Years and Under category, an atmospheric image of a peafowl in Keoladeo National Park in Bharatpur, India, by Shreyovi Mehta.
Chair of the judging panel, Kathy Moran says: “In this selection you see species diversity, a range of behavior and conservation issues. These images represent the evolution of the competition through the years, from pure natural history to photography that fully embraces representation of the natural world - the beauty and the challenges. It is a powerful selection with which to kickstart a milestone anniversary.”
Dr Doug Gurr, Director of the Museum says: “As we celebrate sixty years of Wildlife Photographer of the Year, we also celebrate the generations of visitors who have been inspired by the beauty and majesty of its images, and the millions of connections made with nature. Over the decades, Wildlife Photographer of the Year has pushed the boundaries of wildlife photography as the competition evolved alongside technological advancements. But still today, the competition remains true to one of its founding objectives: ‘to enhance the prestige of wildlife photography in the hope that ultimately the awards would benefit animals by creating greater public interest in them and in that all-important topic – conservation’.”
The sixtieth edition of Wildlife Photographer of the Year opens at the Museum in South Kensington on Friday 11 October until Sunday 29 June 2025. The exhibition will also embark on a UK and international tour to inspire millions to appreciate and conserve the natural world
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