Photography News | Issue 39 | absolutephoto.com
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Interview
Competition special
WildlifePhotographer of the Year
This award has been developed by a fantastic institution with a great sense of values around wildlife
Chair Lewis Blackwell gives us the low-down on one of the world’s most recognised wildlife photography competitions, which received almost 50,000 entries this year
it is great to see so many participating, and to know that it is incredibly international and accessible to all, it is not really about the quantity, of course. It is about quality. The competition stands out, I think, in having a real depth of talent represented in so many categories, and diverse in origin – we have outstanding professional photographers entering and also immensely gifted and committednon-professionals. I amloath to call anybody ‘amateur’ because a photographer who is, say, a doctor but has 40 years or so commitment to wildlife photography is an expert in that too. I think the credibility of the competition comes from the quality of the entrants but that quality comes from more than 50 years of carefully building the award, carried out by the Natural History Museum. This award has been developed by a fantastic institution with a great sense of values
around wildlife and that shows through in the resulting competition.
Interview by Jemma Dodd
What is your role within the competition? As Chair, it is my job to enable the judges to makegooddecisions. I find that Ido that best by not expressing my own opinions but by trying to ensure all the jury members get to express theirs. I help with information and I help with creating a climate, I hope, that is friendly and hard working, full of respect for the work and each other. It’s obviously the case that all the judges are highly talented individuals but I need to get them to do something which is often very individual – assessing an image – in a way that is collegiate. We all need to stand behind the choices.
What’s your favourite category to judge? That is a ‘what is my favourite child?’ kind of question! Every category has reasons for me to love it! With my Chair’s hat on, I feel inclined to encourage entries of more bugs and plants and underwater subjects – in these areas there are certainly species and geographies that are more under-represented. I love that we are now seeing more entries of urban wildlife subjects because there are a lot of exciting stories and subjects there, with important issues to raise. What is it about this year’s winning image that really grabbed your attention? Three factors come to mind as to why it is a winner. Firstly it has simple impact as a ‘great
Winners’ words
“Winning Wildlife Photographer of the Year is something I’ve dreamed about for at least 20 years – ever since I started submitting pictures to the competition. It’s an amazing honour and I’m very excited. My winning photograph has a conservation message to it; I wanted to photograph the orangutan in its habitat, showing how important the rainforest habitat is for orangutans.” Tim Laman
How many entries were there this year? Just under 50,000 images came in… but while
timlaman.com
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