Dane wins prize in world-famous photo exhibition
For the first time in 11 years, a Dane wins one of the prizes in the competition Wildlife Photographer of the Year.
At a large-scale online TV show last night, the winners of this year's Wildlife Photographer of the Year were found. One of the winners is animal photographer and zoologist Mogens Trolle, employed at the National History Museum of Denmark. He won the category 'Animal Portraits' with his evocative portrait of a proboscis monkey.
"Every single photo in the competition tells a story about a photographer who loves nature and dreams of retaining just a brief moment of its eternal variability. It is therefore a great honor to be among those who get a photo at the exhibition, and I look forward to the audience being able to experience the many exciting, beautiful and dramatic images here at the museum", says Mogens Trolle.
Mogens Trolle's winning picture can be experienced when the museum becomes the Danish host of the international exhibition, which opens on 4 December in Copenhagen.
"I am incredibly proud that it is one of our talented employees who wins one of the very prestigious awards this year, where the National History Museum of Denmark shows the exhibition for the first time. Over the years, Wildlife Photographer of the Year has been seen by millions "I hope that the many beautiful photos will be a source of inspiration for anyone who wants to be better at protecting and preserving the diversity of nature," says Professor and Museum Director Peter C. Kjærgaard.
The exhibition is produced by the Natural History Museum in London, and the competition has been called 'the nature photographers' answer to the Oscars', which brings together the most talented amateurs and professionals from all over the world. The exhibition consists of 99 images, which an international jury has selected from almost 50,000 submitted photos. Among them, the winners of the various categories have now been found. See all winning photos here.
The main winner of Wildlife Photographer of the Year was Sergey Gorshkov from Russia. It was Her Royal Highness Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, who presented the prestigious award on Tuesday 13 October 2020 at the Natural History Museum in London.
One of the recurring highlights of the competition is the selection of the best young nature photographers. Here it was Liina Heikkinen from Finland who won the award as Young Wildlife Photographer of the Year.
For the first time ever, the award ceremonies took place exclusively virtually, and it could, among other things, be followed live from the ceremony on the Statens Naturhistoriske Museum's Facebook page.
The entire price show can be seen or revisited at www.wpy.dk.
Facts about Wildlife Photographer of the Year
The exhibition: Wildlife Photographer of the Year opens to the public at the Statens Naturhistoriske Museum, Øster Voldgade 5-7 in Copenhagen, Friday 4 December 2020 and runs until 9 May 2021.
The competition: Wildlife Photographer of the Year was originally launched in 1965 by BBC Wildlife Magazine. It had three categories and consisted of about 600 submitted images. In 1984, the competition as it is known today was created and is now organized by the Natural History Museum in London. From the beginning, the competition became the leading event of its kind for nature photographers and grew strongly over the years. Today, the competition consists of 13 prizes, and the jury reviews nearly 50,000 photos submitted by nature photographers from more than 86 different countries.
The international jury:
Rosamund Kidman Cox (UK), Chairman of the Jury
Michael AW (Singapore), underwater photographer and author
Shekar Dattatri (India), filmmaker and naturalist
Tim Littlewood (UK), Director of Science, Natural History Museum, London
Susan McElhinney (USA) Senior Photo Editor, National Wildlife Federation
Jaime Rojo (Spain / Mexico), photographer and naturalist
People's Choice Award: In addition to the 99 exhibits selected by the jury, the Natural History Museum in London nominates another 25 images for a global public vote. Here, everyone can vote for their favorite for the People's Choice Award from Tuesday, December 1, 2020, and the winner will be revealed on Tuesday, February 9, 2021. More information to follow.
The book: Wildlife Photographer of the Year Portfolio 30 contains all photos from this year's competition and can be purchased in the museum shop from 4 December 2020. It is edited by Rosamund Kidman Cox and published by the Natural History Museum in London.