Exhibition Visit: Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2014 (Natural History Museum, London; visited 29 November 2014)

The Wildlife Photographer of the Year (WPOTY) Competition is one of the biggest photographic competitions in the world, this year attracting over 41,000 entries from photographers in 96 different countries. The universal nature of the competition attracts the top professionals, although occasionally talented amateurs can win the big prizes. There are nearly 20 entry categories, ranging from the obvious “mammals” and “birds” to sections such as “natural design” and “the world in our hands”. There are three age group categories for young wildlife photographers, who produce some amazing entries although one always wonders how much influence their parents had on the conception and processing of their images: certainly some of the cameras that they use are well beyond the means of most young people! As always, the exhibition was held at the Natural History Museum, with the 100 winning entries on display. These included the three winners in a new time lapse photography award, each sequence of still images being played on a 45 to 60 second loop.

This exhibition continues to be very popular. When we visited, late on a Saturday afternoon, it was extremely difficult to get close enough to the printed images to see fine detail, because the room was so crowded. Despite entry being allowed using timed tickets there were hordes of people milling around in the room. Although ignored by the photographic art community (see my essay: Assignment 3) there is no doubt that the wildlife photography genre is hugely popular with the general public, large numbers of whom would have paid good money to access this exhibition. The youthfulness of the audience also hints at a bright future for the genre.

So what of the exhibits? Well, there was as usual a decent representation of big cats and primates, as well as some predictably stunning avian photographs, such as Jan van der Greef’s amazing portrait of an Ecuadorian sword-billed hummingbird, apparently about to stab a collared inca hummingbird (Image 1). He used a battery of flashlights and other equipment to capture this extraordinary result. The photograph emphasises one aspect of the wildlife photographer’s psyche, which is also common to sports photographers: to try to go one step further than everybody else, to capture the very best photograph, no matter how long it takes or at what cost.

Image 1 (Jan Van Der Greef)

Is there any evidence for concept-driven photography in the exhibition? Well, Bence Mate’s attempt to produce a nocturnal photograph of herons at a lake, with “The Plough” (part of the Ursa Major constellation) visible both in the sky and as a reflection in the lake, was produced only after spending 74 nights in a hide (whether he was carrying out other photographic projects as well during this extensive period is not made clear: one certainly hopes so)! His reward was to win the “Birds” category. Brent Stirton again won the Wildlife Photojournalist Award for his six image portfolio, which highlights some of the ways in which humans regard and utilize lions, with particular emphasis on “canned lion” hunting. Stirton’s stories never shirk on the gory details, but they are invariably beautifully composed: this is photo-journalism of the highest quality, but I would not necessarily call it concept driven; nor would I call it art.

My favourite photographs at the WPOTY exhibition invariably include abstracts and there were some very fine examples on display here. Herfried Marek’s print of three pond skaters in a forest pond (Image 2) is a beautiful example, as is Juan Jesus Gonzalez Ahumada’s elegant black and white composition of a spider on the skeleton of a prickly pear leaf (Image 3). However, my favourite abstract, by the same photographer, was of the warm light of a controlled fire seen through the cracks of an old agave leaf (Image 4). Now, why didn’t I think of producing that kind of image?

Image 2 (Herfried Marek)

Image 3 (Juan Ahumada)

Image 4 (Juan Ahumada)

The time lapse sequences proved very popular, with the three winning entries being displayed on screens at one end of the exhibition room. Of course it is not (yet!) possible to transfer these sequences to the printed page, so a visit to the exhibition is essential to appreciate their dynamism. I wonder how long it will be before video makes an appearance in the competition categories. Finally, in an exhibition which emphasizes the beauty of the natural world, Herfried Marek’s image of a birch tree, in the aftermath of an autumn snowstorm (Image 5), is a fitting emblem of the exhibition’s aims.

Image 5 (Herfried Marek)

Once again this competition provides awe-inspiring natural history photography of the very highest order. Whilst this type of photography has only limited relevance to my OCA course it is nevertheless inspirational, appealing to the soul rather than to the mind. In contrast to most of the exhibitions that I have visited and commented on in my logbook there is no underlying theme connecting the images; in most cases each photograph stands on its own as a “one off”, intended to have an emotional impact on the viewer.

The exhibition not only emphasizes the beauty of the natural world but also its fragility. My hope is that it will inspire some visitors to become the future guardians of this planet’s environment and inspire others to publicize the wonder of our natural surroundings through their photographic output.