| Wildlife Photographer of the Year | |
|---|---|
| Awarded for | Wildlife photography |
| Presented by | The Natural History Museum and BBC Wildlife Magazine |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| First awarded | 1964 |
| Currently held by | Daniel Beltrá |
| Official website | http://www.nhm.ac.uk/visit-us/whats-on/temporary-exhibitions/wpy/ |
Wildlife Photographer of the Year is an annual international wildlife photography competition owned by the Natural History Museum and BBC Wildlife. Its sponsored name is currently Veolia Environnement Wildlife Photographer of the Year. It was known as BG Wildlife Photographer of the Year from 1990 to 2003, and briefly as Shell Wildlife Photographer of the Year, Kodak Wildlife Photographer of the Year and Prudential Wildlife Photographer of the Year. The first competition was held in 1964, with three categories and around 600 entries.[1] In 2008 the competition received over 32,000 entries from 3100 photographers in 82 countries.[1] There is an exhibition of the winning and commended images each year at the Natural History Museum, which later tours around the world. It is often cited as being one of the most prestigious photography competitions in the world.[2][3]
A book of winning entries and runners-up has been published each year since 1992[4], with two books being published in 1994 (the first three volumes were published the year after the corresponding competitions were held). Early volumes have become quite collectable.
Contents |
Photographers can enter their images into a range of categories, whose criteria are mostly based on the subject matter of the images. There are also 3 categories for under 18's, and 3 special awards. The number and name of categories changes nearly every year. In each category a winning, runner-up and several highly commended images are usually chosen, although sometimes the judges will not choose a winner or runner up in a particular category if they deem the standard of entries not to be high enough. The categories in the 2011 competition were as follows:
| Year | Title | Name | Image Title | Country of Nationality |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Veolia Environnement Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2011 | Daniel Beltrá[5] | Still life in oil | Spain |
| 2010 | Veolia Environnement Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2010 | Bence Máté[6] | A marvel of ants | Hungary |
| 2009 | Veolia Environnement Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2009 | José Luis Rodríguez (disqualified)[7] | The storybook wolf | Spain |
| 2008 | Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2008 | Steve Winter[8] | Snowstorm leopard | USA |
| 2007 | Shell Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2007 | Ben Osborne[9] | Elephant creation | UK |
| 2006 | Shell Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2006 | Göran Ehlmé[10] | Beast of the sediment | Sweden |
| 2005 | Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2005 | Manuel Presti[11] | Sky chase | Italy |
| 2004 | Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2004 | Doug Perrine | Bronze whalers charging a baitball | USA |
| 2003 | BG Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2003 | Gerhard Schulz | Gorilla and boy | Germany |
| 2002 | BG Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2002 | Angie Scott | African elephant family watching a grey heron | Kenya |
| 2001 | BG Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2001 | Tobias Bernhard | Grey reef shark | Germany |
| 2000 | BG Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2000 | Manoj Shah | Orang-utan and baby | UK |
| 1999 | BG Wildlife Photographer of the Year 1999 | Jamie Thom | Leopard with rising moon | South Africa |
| 1998 | BG Wildlife Photographer of the Year 1998 | Manfred Danegger | Boxing hares | Germany |
| 1997 | BG Wildlife Photographer of the Year 1997 | Tapani Räsänen | Common tern fishing | Finland |
| 1996 | BG Wildlife Photographer of the Year 1996 | Jason Venus | Badger running | UK |
| 1995 | BG Wildlife Photographer of the Year 1995 | Cherry Alexander | Blue iceberg, Antarctica | UK |
| 1994 | BG Wildlife Photographer of the Year 1994 | Thomas D Mangelsen | Polar bear and arctic fox | USA |
| 1993 | BG Wildlife Photographer of the Year 1993 | Martyn Colbeck | Bull elephant dusting | UK |
| 1992 | BG Wildlife Photographer of the Year 1992 | André Bärtschi[12] | Red and green macaws | Liechtenstein |
| 1991 | BG Wildlife Photographer of the Year 1991 | Frans Lanting[13] | Portfolio of 10 Images | Netherlands |
| 1990 | BG Wildlife Photographer of the Year 1990 | Wendy Shattil[14] | Red fox cub | USA |
| 1989 | Wildlife Photographer of the Year 1989 | Jouni Ruuskanen[15] | Red-throated diver | Finland |
| 1988 | Kodak Wildlife Photographer of the Year 1988 | Jim Brandenburg[16] | Gemsbok in the Namib desert, Namibia | USA |
| 1987 | Prudential Wildlife Photographer of the Year 1987 | Jonathan Scott[17] | Wild dog immobilising wildebeest | UK |
| 1986 | Prudential Wildlife Photographer of the Year 1986 | Rajesh Bedi[18] | Himalayan black bear | India |
| 1985 | Wildlife Photographer of the Year 1985 | Charles Summers[19] | Young cheetah coming to grips with its first springbok | USA |
| 1984 | Wildlife Photographer of the Year 1984 | Richard Kemp and Julia Kemp[20] | Diving goosander | UK |
The overall 2009 competition winner, José Luis Rodriguez, was stripped of his award and his £10,000 prize following allegations that his picture of a wolf leaping a gate had been staged, using a captive animal to do so. He was also prohibited from entering the competition for life. It was, however, too late to remove the image from the accompanying book[21].