The winners of the prestigious Veolia Environnement Wildlife Photographer of the Year Competition 2009 have been unveiled. Americans Thomas Haney from Austin, Texas, Rob Palmer from Colorado and Kevin Schafer from Seattle are among the winners of the 46th annual competition, which attracted a record 43,135 entries from 94 countries. Thomas Haney won the One Earth Award with his moving image, ‘The Lone Fir’ (see above). Rob Palmer won the Behaviour: Birds category with his action shot, ‘Opportunist Snatch’, depicting a bald eagle catching a blackbird. Kevin Schafer was also announced a winner with his playful image, ‘Boto Water Polo’, which shone through in the Behaviour: Mammals category. The image shows a pair of wild Amazon river dolphins, or botos, playing with a floating macucu seed in a tributary of the Rio Negro in Amazonian Brazil.

Press Release

Three American photographers revealed as winners in the world’s most prestigious wildlife photography competition

22 October 2009, LONDON /PRNewswire/ — The winners of the Veolia Environnement Wildlife Photographer of the Year Competition 2009 were unveiled last night (21 October) at a glittering award ceremony held at London’s Natural History Museum.

Thomas Haney from Austin, Texas, Rob Palmer from Colorado and Kevin Schafer from Seattle are among the winners of the 46th annual competition, which attracted a record 43,135 entries from 94 countries and is widely considered the most prestigious of its type.

Thomas Haney won the One Earth Award with his moving image, the lone fir. The photographs in this category can be graphic or symbolic but must be thought-provoking and memorable and encourage respect or concern for the natural world and our dependence on it.

It was late afternoon when Thomas came upon this scene outside Forks, Washington, while documenting old-growth logging in the Pacific northwest. Loggers had left a single Douglas fir standing in a clearcut area, perhaps to help reseed the area for future logging. This area has been logged before, so this tree is likely to have been planted as part of a mono-age crop – vastly different from the multilayered forests that once blanketed the region. Clearcutting has long been a focal point of the environmental movement, and while it seems to be falling out of favour in North America, it’s still a preferred method around the world.

Thomas said, ‘As I walked towards it on the muddy road, criss-crossed with the tracks of logging trucks, I saw the refection in the puddle. It was a powerful image, reminding me of the towering forest that once stood here.’

Competition judge, Jim Brandenburg said, ‘The image shows the poignant juxtaposition of one remaining tree in a logged out forest. The muddy logging road with the reflection of the tree creates a dramatic effect.’

Rob Palmer won the Behaviour: Birds category with his action shot, opportunist snatch. In January 2009, something strange happened at a cattle feedlot in Colorado. Rob noticed a group of bald eagles sittings in a large tree nearby. Usually, bald eagles hunt near water and eat fish, but they are also opportunists. These ones had gathered to feed on starlings and red-winged blackbirds and would launch themselves out of the trees and chase the small birds up into the sky. In this case, the eagle (a juvenile) was successful, but often the small birds would out-fly their attackers. Strangely, some of the birds would suddenly fly up in an erratic way, making themselves easy targets for their prey. Rob suspects that the cattle feed may have been treated with an avicide (bird poison) that affected the birds’ nervous systems. After two weeks, the odd behaviour of the small birds stopped and within days, the bald eagles left.

Photographer and competition judge, Jan-Peter Lahall said about the image, ‘It happens thousands of times a day, but it’s hard to see and very difficult to get a picture of. What more can you say? It’s a great shot.’

Kevin Schafer was also announced a winner with his playful image, boto water polo, which shone through in the Behaviour: Mammals category. The image shows a pair of wild Amazon river dolphins, or botos, playing with a floating macucu seed in a tributary of the Rio Negro in Amazonian Brazil. In the tannin-rich water of silt and rotting vegetation they appear almost orange, though their actual colour ranges from grey to pink.

Competition judge and editor of Wildlife Photographer of the Year Portfolio 19, Rosamund Kidman Cox said, ‘This is a picture you can visit again and again, not just because of the beautiful shapes and Rembrandt-like colour and lighting, but also because of the expressions of the onlooker behind the exuberant player in front.’

River sparring and social river Amazons, both photographs by Kevin Schafer of Amazon river dolphins, have also been highly and specially commended in this year’s competition.

This year’s overall winners, Veolia Environnement Wildlife Photographer of the Year and Veolia Environnement Young Wildlife Photographer of the Year, are Spanish photographer José Luis Rodríguez and Scottish teenager Fergus Gill.

The best of this year’s entries, including all winners, runners-up and commended photographs across the competition’s 17 categories will be showcased in a visually stunning exhibition that opens at the Natural History Museum tomorrow (23 October). Last year’s exhibition attracted more than 161,000 visitors. More than a million others are expected to have seen the 2008 images at international and regional venues when the tour concludes.

The competition is owned by London’s Natural History Museum and BBC Wildlife Magazine and is regarded as the international leader in the artistic representation of the natural world. The 2009 competition and exhibition at the Natural History Museum are sponsored by Veolia Environnement. They are a world leader in environmental services, working with businesses, communities and governments to minimise our daily impact on the environment we have a communal responsibility to protect.

Chair of the judging panel, Mark Carwardine said, ‘While there is no magic formula for winning and no hard and fast rules to explain why one photograph wins and another doesn’t, all winning shots have one thing in common – originality. The judges are looking for something that stops them in their tracks.The competition plays an increasingly crucial role in raising the profile of wildlife photography and generating awareness of conservation. Nothing speaks louder than an evocative photograph that stirs the imagination, tugs at the heart strings and engages the mind.’

Photographers can enter next year’s competition online from January to March 2010. For further details about the competition and its various categories, or to enter online, visit www.nhm.ac.uk/wildphoto
Exhibition information for visitors:

Venue: Natural History Museum
Dates: 23 October, 2009 – 11 April, 2010
Opening times: Every day, 10.00–17.50 (closed 24–26 December)
Visitor enquiries: 020 7942 5000
Admission: Adult, Gift Aid admission £9*
  Concession, Gift Aid admission £4.50*
  Family, Gift Aid admission £24* (up to two adults and three children)
  Free for Members, Patrons and children aged three and under
Nearest tube: South Kensington
Website: www.nhm.ac.uk/wildphoto

* If you are a UK taxpayer and pay the Gift Aid admission ticket price, the Natural History Museum can reclaim the tax on the whole ticket price you pay. For every £100 worth of tickets sold, we can claim an extra £28 from Government. This means you can further support the work of the Museum. The standard admission charges are adult £8, concession £4 and family £21. The right of entry is the same for visitors with or without the voluntary donation.

Visitors can buy tickets at the Museum or online. Latest details of UK regional and international tour venues are available on the website.

Photo credit: Thomas Haney, The Lone Fir
Veolia Environnement Wildlife Photographer of the Year is owned by the Natural History Museum and BBC Wildlife Magazine

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