As difficult as it might appear to take a standard, annual, competition based exhibition and make it captivating each and every time, the Veolia Environment Wildlife Photographer of the Year nails it year in year out. The 2011 exhibition is no exception, following on from a very impressive 2010. As well as a moving, perfectly composed winning entry, there is a huge range of jaw dropping photography to make the exhibition great once again.
The winning wildlife photographer for 2011 was Daniel Beltra for the final shot in his submission into the photojournalist category of the competition, The Price of Oil. Emotive, horrific and surreally entrancing, the photograph is of a group of rescued brown pelicans at a temporary bird sanctuary in Fort Jackson, Louisiana following the BP oil spill disaster. The pelicans are huddled together at the back of a pen, covered from head to toe in the oil slick, awaiting treatment at the sanctuary.
There are lots of other types of photographs on display too. Our highlights include the very cute face of a young golden snub nosed monkey huddled on a branch in China’s Qinling mountains by Cyril Ruoso, runner up in the 2011 Gerald Durrell Award for Endangered Wildlife, which is remeniscent of the 10 Years and Under winner from the 2010 Wildlife Photographer of the Year, Haijun Pei’s Golden Monkey. We also loved the slightly risky Polar Power, a shot of a polar bear swimming at close range with three quarters of the camera submerged showing the polar bear’s body treading water by Joe Bunni, winner of the Behaviours: Mammals Award.
The Veolia Environment Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibition 2011 opened on the weekend of the 21st October 2011 and was on display at the Natural History Museum until 11th March 2011. Following this it started its world tour, including a stop off in Cardiff’s National Museum of Wales, as well as stints in Bristol and Oxford.
As ever, The Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibition in2011 is stunning, visually poetic, meaningful and distinct in the extreme. While it’s inevitably drawn to a close already, you can find out more about the latest exhibition and competition at our Natural History Museum new page.
The Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2011 exhibition review: 5/5
