The big buzz by Karine Aigner, USA Winner, Behaviour: Invertebrates. Photo / Wildlife Photographer of the Year
The Wildlife Photographer of the Year awards, one of the most prestigious global photographic competitions, were announced this week with the usual outstanding images of nature in its constant struggle for survival captured by people at the top of their game.
American photographer Karine Aigner is the overall winner, only the fifth woman in the competition's 58-year history to achieve the accolade. Her image of cactus bees trying to mate with the sole female in the frame is taken close-up at ground level, captured in just one one-thousandth of a second.
"Wings whirring, incoming males home in on the ball of buzzing bees that is rolling straight into the picture," Roz Kidman Cox, chairwoman of the judges said. "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."
Using a macro lens, Aigner captured the flurry of activity as a buzzing ball of cactus bees spun over the hot sand in South Texas. After a few minutes, the pair at its centre – a male clinging to the only female in the scrum – flew away to mate.
The 38,575 entries from 93 countries were judged anonymously by an international panel of experts on their originality, narrative, technical excellence and ethical practice.
Photographs were entered into 19 categories and New Zealand's Richard Robinson, a former New Zealand Herald staff photographer, won the Oceans: The Bigger Picture category and was highly commended in Animal Portraits.
Following the unofficial theme of "procreation" Robinson's winning image is a never-before-seen moment as tohorā, or Southern Right whales, prepare to mate in the Auckland Islands, shot under a New Zealand Department of Conservation permit.
"For me, this image is about hope," said Robinson. "Last century these whales were hunted to near extinction, but now this recovering population is into its thousands, all descended from only 13 females."
Hindered by poor visibility, Robinson used a polecam to photograph the whales gradually moving towards his boat. Pushing his camera to its limits in the dark water, he was relieved to find the image pin-sharp and the moment of copulation crystallised in time.
"To glimpse, let alone photograph, in one single composition, the finale of the courtship of these balletic giants is a photographic first. But the true value is the symbolic promise of new life for this New Zealand population, hunted to virtual extinction and now slowly increasing," Kidman Cox said.
When ready to mate, the female southern right whale rolls on to her back, requiring the male to reach its penis across the female's body.
Dr Doug Gurr, Director of the Natural History Museum said, "Wildlife photographers offer us unforgettable glimpses into the lives of wild species, sharing unseen details, fascinating behaviours and front-line reporting on the climate and biodiversity crises. These images demonstrate their awe of and appreciation for the natural world and the urgent need to take action to protect it."
Followers of the awards could interpret the winning entries as following a theme this year with several images taken during the act of procreation: but, then, there are the familiar themes of survival with food for one meaning an untimely end for another.
Other images tell stories of adaptation and the constant battle against human encroachment whether physical or via adverse effects on the wider environment.
But at the centre of these award-winning pictures is a message of hope. Hope that species will continue to flourish through reproduction; hope that despite the threat from human activity or environmental change, they will successfully adapt or find new homes in which to thrive: hope that, despite the damage humans inflict on the Earth, a connection between us and all other living things can be maintained and encouraged.
The Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibition will be at the Auckland War Memorial Museum next year.
