OUGD502 - Studio Brief 1 - Wildlife Photographer of the Year

Wildlife Photographer of the Year 

Whilst visiting Bristol the Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibition was showing at the M Shed. This showed all the winners and runners up of the competition this years categories. I have an interest in nature photography so the work on display was of particular interest to me and I found really inspiring.

Things of interest at the exhibition:
- It was interesting to see the variety of animals and behaviours captured in the exhibition. 
- In the Wildlife Photojournalist Award: Single Image Category, Sewage Surfer by Justin Hofman which pictures a seahorse hanging onto a cotton wool bud in the sea had a strong impact. Initially I was drawn to it because of the seahorse however when you realise that its holding onto the cotton wool bud the picture turns from an endearing image to something with more meaning. Its interesting how such a simple image can represent such a huge issue as that of pollution in the sea and the effect that this has on wildlife.
- In the Black and White Category a Whorl of Sharks by Santosh Shanmuga has real atmosphere. The use of black and white photography here makes the sharks look like they are floating in darkness which creates and amazing sense of depth int he image.
- Some of the images int he exhibition showed animal behaviour that I had ever seen before. Big Sucker, Little Sucker by Alex Sher in the Underwater category pictured an amazing close up perspective of a whale shark feeding which allowed you to see into the sharks mouth almost like it was going to engulf the photographer.
- In some of the pictures in the exhibition it wasn't initially clear what the image was of. A Magnificence of Monarchs by Jaime Rojo in the Animals in their Environments category showed thousands of butterflies on trees. However because there were so many of them they looked like part of the tree rather than butterflies. In the Plants and Fungi category the Tapestry of Life by Dorin Bofan the landscape looks like the roots of a tree. It is only when you look closer that you see the little details that define it as a landscape photograph.