The 2023 Wildlife Photographer of the Year Reveals the Most Magnificent Animal Behavior




Nature
Photography

#animals
#contests

January 30, 2024

Grace Ebert

two Nubian ibex with long curled horns prepare for a fight on the side of a cliff

Amit Eshel, “Life on the edge,” Israel. All images © the artists, courtesy of the Natural History Museum, shared with permission

From the cliffs of the Zin Desert to the shallow waters of South Africa’s Kosi Bay, the 2023 Wildlife Photographer of the Year contest traverses the globe documenting the most striking moments of life on Earth. Laurent Ballesta, whose luminous underwater images we’ve featured previously, won the competition for the second time. Titled “The golden horseshoe,” the photo peers in on a tri-spine horseshoe crab crawling over the mud with a trio of small golden trevallies trailing behind with the hope that the crab will rustle up some food as it moves.

In its 59th year, the contest garnered nearly 50,000 entries from 95 countries. The winning photos— which include an electrifying shot of fireflies from Sriram Murali and Fernando Constantino Martínez Belmar’s devastating documentation of deforestation in Mexico—are on view through June 30 at the Natural History Museum in London.

a backlit mushroom that's releasing wisps of spores into the air

Agorastos Papatsanis, “Last breath of autumn,” Greece

A tri-spine horseshoe crab moves slowly over the mud. Its golden protective carapace hides 12 appendages. Above the horseshoe crab, a trio of juvenile golden trevallies are poised to dart down for edible morsels ploughed up by its passage.

Laurent Ballesta, “The ancient mariner,” France

green light illuminates a lush green landscape

Sriram Murali, “Lights fantastic,” India

a black and white photo of a gannet pair against streaked sandstone cliffs

Rachel Bigsby, “The art of courtship,” U.K.

two hippos huddle together on the ocean floor

Mike Korostelev, “Hippo nursery,” Russia

four birds wait in a row in a forest with another perched on a tree root as a boa constrictor slithers by in the background

Hadrien Lalagüe, “Silence for the snake show,” France

a line a downed trees miles long cuts through an otherwise lush green forest

Fernando Constantino Martínez Belmar, “The tourism bulldozer,” Mexico

three whales swim up to a seal stranded on an ice floe

Bertie Gregory, “Whales making waves,” U.K.

#animals
#contests

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