The Wildlife Photographer of the
Year Competition, which is owned and run by the Natural History Museum and BBC
Worldwide, is the largest and most prestigious international competition for
wildlife photographers. The exhibition of the “best” 100 images, selected from
43,000 entries representing 96 countries, is therefore a “must see” for
wildlife photographers everywhere (after spending the winter months at the
Natural History Museum the exhibition goes on tour to other UK cities and other
countries). I visit the exhibition in London every year and marvel at the
quality of the winning entries: 2013 was no exception. Here I will look at one
or two of the photographs that might not be expected to be found in a
competition of this type, as well as those that are; I hope that in so doing I
can touch on some of the areas to be visited by my Critical Essay (Assignment
3) and suggest that wildlife photography is a somewhat broader genre than many
care to imagine.
The competition comprises 15
different “open” categories, together with categories for young photographers
in different age groups. Whilst roughly half the sections encompass animal
portraits other sections of the competition encourage a creative, cross-genre
approach.
For example, the “Wildscapes”
category encourages photographs of wild, natural landscapes which are expected
to convey a sense of scale, drama and wilderness. Here the winning photograph,
by Sergey Gorshkov, features a volcanic eruption and lava flow in Kamchatka,
Russia, whilst other finalists include a seascape, a beachscape and a misty
wild flower meadow. The “Creative Visions” section encourages “conceptual
pictures – original and surprising views of nature, whether figurative or
abstract”. One example is Agorastos Papatsanis’ double exposure: “Magic Mushrooms”
of parasol mushrooms in a forest (commended). The mushrooms were photographed
from ground level and exposed separately from some young spruce trees, which
were used to frame the fungi. Imaginative images such as this and many of the
others on display encourage the viewer to come up with fresh ideas for their
own work.
Kalyan Varma’s Andaman Redwood
seed abstract illustrates the beauty of nature in colour, texture and form, but
what is the significance of Brent Stirton’s image: “Blessed Profits” (see below)?
The key lies in the ivory Buddhist icon that the head abbot of a Thai temple is
wearing. The demand for illegal ivory in south-eastern Asia fuels the slaughter
of thousands of African Elephants each year and some of the ivory heads for the
religious (Catholic, Muslim and Buddhist) market. In fact this is one of six
photographs that tell the story of this particular ivory trade, from the
slaughter of elephants in Africa to the documentation of a huge collection of
ivory artefacts in the Philippines. Stirton’s picture story, which was produced
for “National Geographic” magazine, was the winner of the Wildlife
Photojournalist award, a category in which Daniel Beltrá
(featured in my critical essay) was runner up.
Brent Stirton: "Blessed Profits"
As always, this exhibition
features a huge diversity of wonderful images of nature and wildlife. If the
choice of winner can be controversial (and Greg du Toit’s overall winning image
of nocturnal elephants at a water hole in Botswana certainly caused some debate
about its worthiness when compared with other images on display) there is no
doubt that the technical brilliance, imagination and inventiveness of the
winning entrants are inspirational for both seasoned and budding wildlife
photographers.
Learning Points,
Future Work and References:
The superb images on display here
provide ideas and inspiration for amateur wildlife photographers to develop.
The winning entries in the
“Wildlife Photojournalist” award provide excellent examples of how to tell a
picture story in six images and, as such, are important markers for the
development of my own major project work.
Brent Stirton in National
Geographic: http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2012/10/ivory/stirton-photography#/14-kenyan-red-elephants-tsavo-park-670.jpg
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