'bushfire'
carry by title bush fire (Forest fire) and in it robert irwin masterfully uses symmetry to show us the contrast between the purest and most well-preserved nature and the destruction left by smoke and fire near the Steve Irwin Nature Reserve in Cape York, Queensland. This work has earned the Australian photographer the Wildlife Photographer of The Year People's Choice Award.
Every year, thousands of photographers submit their work to the Wildlife Photographer of the Year, a contest organized by the Natural History Museum in London to celebrate the diversity of life, inspire and inform, and create advocates for the planet. Bushfire has been chosen by the public with their votes (55,486 have been cast) among the 25 previously selected by the institution.
'The last goodbye'
Irwin tells that as soon as he saw the smoke on the horizon, he launched his drone towards the place where the fire seemed to come from. With little battery, he acted as fast as he could and with hardly any margin of error: a 50:50 shot that served to frame nature on one side and the destruction that threatened the city on the other. an enclave that is home to more than 30 different ecosystems and many species in danger of extinction.
“I am very excited to win the Wildlife Photographer of The Year People’s Choice Award. For me, nature photography is telling a story to change the situation of the environment and our planet. I think it is particularly special that this image is awarded, not only because of the great personal honor that this represents, but also as a reminder of our impact on the natural world and our responsibility to care for it." explains the photographer in statements collected in a press release.
In addition to Irwin's, four other images have particularly caught the attention of many voters, earning the title of 'Highly Commended'. Thus, the work of Amy Vitale titled The last goodbye (The last goodbye) shows the beautiful bond created between a rhino, Sudan, and a ranger, Joseph Wachira, and the emotional farewell to him. And it is that Sudan, a northern white rhino, died of complications related to his advanced age, in the Ol Pejeta Conservancy (Kenya), surrounded by those who had cared for him the most.
'Hare ball'
Andrew Parkinson, on the other hand, achieves har ball (The ball hare) to portray winter in a striking way without the need for great artifice, just with a hare protecting itself from the cold. To get this image, the photographer spent five weeks around Tomatin, near the Scottish Highlands. He patiently waited for any movement, no matter how small, with impossible gusts of wind and the cold becoming more and more unbearable. Finally, this female hare moved and worked the magic.
Drey dreaming (Dreaming in a squirrel nest), of Neil Anderson , is moved by the way he manages to portray the nest: with an adorable squirrel resting peacefully in the arms of Morpheus. He didn't have to go far for it, since Neil himself placed a box in one of the pines in his garden, also in the Scottish Highlands, in case a squirrel could use it as a shelter in the winter. He did not go to one, but to two; although it is difficult to appreciate them both with the naked eye.
'Drey dreaming'
Finally, the fun note comes from the hand of William Esteves and the frightened face of a Labrador when contemplating, from the safety of the passenger seat of a car, a moose face to face. Title close-encounter (Close encounter) could not be more accurate to define something that was nothing more than that: a stroke of curiosity on the part of this moose that after a few minutes continued with his life in the Grand Teton National Park (Wyoming, United States).
These images can be seen in the exhibition Wildlife Photographer of the Year that, once it reopens its doors when the health situation allows it, he will be in the Natural History Museum, London until August 1, 2021.
'Close-encounter'