Creatures great and small: Winners of Wildlife Photographer of the Year were all about detail and photographic firsts. Photo / Karine Aigner; Richard Robinson; Brent Stirton; WPY
Creatures great and small: Winners of Wildlife Photographer of the Year were all about detail and photographic firsts. Photo / Karine Aigner; Richard Robinson; Brent Stirton; WPY
From insect orgies to the unfortunate morsels being hunted by baleen whales, the Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2022 was about creatures great and small.
The winners of one of the world's most prestigious photography nature photography competitions have been revealed, and their lenses were focused on tiny details.
Karine Aigner was crowned Wildlife Photographer of the Year for her insect's-eye view of a ball of Texan cactus bees. The close up of the buzzing ball is actually a swarm of males, intent on mating with a single female at the centre.
Grand prize winner: Ball of cactus bees. Photo / Karine Aigner (USA); Wildlife Photographer of the Year
The burrowing bees are threatened by habitat loss. Pesticides and agriculture have disrupted the wild insect populations, living in the ground surrounding cacti groves.
In its 58th year, Karine is the fifth woman to win the coveted Wildlife Photographer of the Year award.
"The sense of movement and intensity is shown at bee-level magnification and transforms what are little cactus bees into big competitors for a single female," said judge and jury chair, Rosamund Kidman Cox.
Karine, a professional wildlife photographer and contributor to National Geographic told the publication it was "something people don't often see".
Southern Right Whales. Photo / Richard Robinson (New Zealand); Wildlife Photographer of the Year
Kiwi photographer Richard Robinson was one of the other 19 category winners for his "photographic first" of New Zealand Southern Right Whales copulating.
The image was winner of the Oceans, The Bigger Picture, category.
"The true value is the symbolic promise of new life for this New Zealand population, hunted to virtual extinction and now slowly increasing," said Kidman Cox.
Decimated by whalers in the 1800s, the image offers new hope of tohorā population recovery.
"It's amazing to be in London to accept the award in person and see my photos hanging amongst the best in the world," said Robinson. He said he couldn't wait for Kiwis to get a chance to see them when the touring exhibition arrives at the Waikato Museum | Te Whare Taonga o Waikato, later this year.
Something else that is rarely seen is what's on a whale's plate.
Young Wildlife photographer of the Year 2022 was awarded to 16-year-old Katanyou Wuttichaitanakorn from Thailand, for a once in a lifetime shot.
Young Wildlife Photographer of the Year. Photo / Katanyou Wuttichaitanakorn (Thailand); Wildlife Photographer of the Year
He captured of a tiny schooling fish, leaping off the tongue of a 40-tonne Bryde's whale.
"Out of the jaws of a Bryde's whale comes this dazzling creation," said Kidman Cox, who praised the "pin-sharp detail of the tiny anchovies is set against an abstraction of colour with the weave of brown baleen hair."
Wuttichaitanakorn has been a keen naturalist since the age of 12.
Yucatan rat snake. Photo / Fernando Constantino Martínez Belmar (Mexico); Wildlife Photographer of the Year
The two grand title winners were selected from 19 category winners and a field of 38,575 entries across 93 countries.
Judges said the tiny details shown by photographers draw attention to imperceptible threats to the natural world.
"Wildlife photographers offer us unforgettable glimpses into the lives of wild species, sharing unseen details," Dr Doug Gurr, director of the hosting Natural History Museum in London.
Fine lenses and skilled photographers were essential to"front-line reporting on the climate and biodiversity crises," he said.
After an exhibition in the London Natural History Museum, opening on Friday, a gallery of the winners will be touring the world, arriving in New Zealand by the end of the year.
Entries are now open for next year's competition, with Young Wildlife Photographers under 17 invited to submit photos free of charge. For more details and how to enter visit: nhm.ac.uk/wpy/competition
The Photographer of the Year winners arrive at Waikato Musuem from 9 December 2022 through 23 April 2023. For details visit waikatomuseum.co.nz
