Want to get in touch with nature in 2025? Well, here’s where to start as the Young Wildlife Photographer of the Year comes to Tring
Highlights from the world’s most prestigious nature photography exhibition has opened at the Natural History Museum at Tring. Young Wildlife Photographer of the Year features 15 of the winning images that showcase the wonder and richness of biodiversity on our planet. In many cases, the images shine a light on the numerous challenges wildlife across the globe faces today.
Claire Walsh, Interpretation and Exhibitions Manager at the Natural History Museum at Tring, says: “Wildlife Photographer of the Year is in its 60th year. At Tring we are showcasing the outstanding talent of today’s generation of young photographers who provide fresh perspectives that speak to their hope for the future.”
The selection displayed on light boxes includes all photos awarded in the Young Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2024 competition, which includes the categories: 10 Years and Under, 11-14 Years, 15-17 Years and new for this year, The Young Impact Award winner.
To celebrate the 60th anniversary of Wildlife Photographer of the Year, and in line with the Museum’s vision of a future where both people and planet thrive, the competition introduced the Impact Award for both the Adult and Young competitions. This award recognises a conservation success; a story of hope and/or positive change. A video sharing behind-the-scenes footage of the young photographer winner of this category will be on display.
This year’s two Grand Title winners, also with short films telling their inspiring backstories, will also be on display at Tring. The winning images were selected from 59,228 entries from 117 countries and territories by an independent panel of experts. In an intensive process, each entry was judged anonymously on its originality, narrative, technical excellence, and ethical practice.
Here, Absolutely takes a closer look at four winning photographs, with the backstory behind each image.
Winning Photographs at the Natural History Museum Tring
Free as a Bird by Alberto Román Gómez, Spain
Winner, 10 Years and Under
Alberto Román Gómez contrasts a delicate stonechat bird with a hefty chain. Watching from the window of his father’s car at the edge of the Sierra de Grazalema Natural Park, Alberto found this young bird tricky to photograph as it was quickly flying back and forth, gathering insects. To Alberto, the stonechat displayed a sense of ownership, as if it were a young guardian overseeing its territory.
This young bird has not yet developed its adult call, which sounds like two stones tapped together. Stonechats tend to prefer open habitats and typically perch on fences.
An Evening Meal by Parham Pourahmad, USA
Winner, 11-14 Years
Parham Pourahmad watches as the last rays of the setting sun illuminate a young Cooper’s hawk eating a squirrel.
Over a single summer, Parham visited Ed R Levin County Park most weekends to take photographs. He wanted to showcase the variety of wildlife living within a busy metropolitan city, and to illustrate that ‘nature will always be wild and unpredictable’.
The Cooper’s hawk is a common species across southern Canada, the USA, and central Mexico, where it inhabits mature and open woodlands. These adaptable birds also live in urban spaces, where there are tall trees to nest in, and bird feeders that attract smaller birds, which they can prey on.
Life Under Dead Wood by Alexis Tinker-Tsavalas, Germany
Winner, 15-17 Years
Alexis Tinker-Tsavalas rolls a log over to see the fruiting bodies of slime mould and a tiny springtail.
Alexis worked fast to take this photograph, as springtails can jump many times their body length in a split second. He used a technique called focus stacking, where 36 images, each with a different area in focus, are combined.
Springtails are barely two millimetres long (less than a tenth of an inch). They are found alongside slime moulds and leaf litter all over the world. They feed on microorganisms such as bacteria and fungi, improving soil by helping organic matter to decompose.
The Swarm of Life by Shane Gross, Canada
Winner, Wetlands: The Bigger Picture and Grant Title Winner
Shane Gross looks under the surface layer of lily pads as a mass of western toad tadpoles swim past.
Shane snorkelled in the lake for several hours, through carpets of lily pads. This prevented any disturbance of the fine layers of silt and algae covering the lake bottom, which would have reduced visibility.
Western toad tadpoles swim up from the safer depths of the lake, dodging predators and trying to reach the shallows, where they can feed. The tadpoles start becoming toads between four and 12 weeks after hatching. An estimated 99% will not survive to adulthood.
Plan your visit to the Young Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibition, running until 27 April 2025 at the Natural History Museum at Tring.
