Over 100 images are on display for the 2011 Veolia Environnement Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition.
Wildlife lovers will relish the incredible collection of images currently on display at the Natural History Museum for the 2011 Veolia Environnement Wildlife Photographer of the Year.
Professional and amateur photographers have travelled the world over to gather these fascinating animal images, which have been selected by a panel of judges as prize-winners across the competition’s 17 categories.
There are over 100 images, each capturing the magnificence and diversity of our mammals, birds and marine life in their natural habitats.
The competition has been running since 1965 and is an international showcase for the very best nature photography.
Categories include animal portraits, underwater world, urban wildlife and nature in black and white.
Amongst the many satisfying images, a solitary robin frolics in the winter snow, a tiny chimpanzee sleeps peacefully in its mother’s arms, a reticent fox stares directly into the camera’s lens and a herd of musk oxen charge perilously towards the photographer.
Some of the images are unavoidably cute; the young snub nose monkey photographed trying to keep warm on a branch high in the China Mountains has been voted the top image of the competition by visitors.
Others are thought provoking and even shocking. The winning photograph of the competition is entitled ‘Still Life in Oil’, by Spanish photographer Daniel Beltra and was described by one competition judge as ‘art out of disaster’.
It shows a huddle of brown pelicans, coated in crude oil at a bird rescue facility in Louisiana. Rescued in the wake of BP’s Deepwater Horizon oil spill of 2010, they await an uncertain future.
Mr Beltra said: “My aim is to challenge people to reconsider their relationship with nature.”
Visitors to the exhibition had mixed feelings about the winning image.
Lydia from Buckinghamshire thought it was well composed and inspiring but she said it was not her idea of a winner for a wildlife competition.
Kieran from Ireland said: “The image is disgustingly horrific but has to be appreciated as a work of art.”
As well as the overall winner, there is an award for the Young Wildlife Photographer of the Year. The 2011 award went to Mateusz Piesiak from Poland, who entered the 11 to 14-year-old category.
His image, entitled ‘Pester Power’, shows two American Oystercatcher birds foraging on Long Island Beach in New York and was deemed by judges as impressive for someone so young.
The 2011 Veolia Environnement Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibition is open daily until the 11th March at the Natural History Museum in South Kensington.
The 2012 competition is open for entries until 23rd February to both amateurs and professionals. For more information about the exhibition and competition, visit http://www.nhm.ac.uk/visit-us/whats-on/temporary-exhibitions/wpy/index.jsp
Veolia Environnement Wildlife Photographer of the Year is owned by the Natural History Museum and BBC Wildlife Magazine.
