EVENT

Nature’s Best Photography: Windland Smith Rice International Awards

SNAPPING THE perfect picture is no easy task, particularly for nature photographers. These persistent artists must climb, crawl, camouflage and battle savage environmental conditions to capture life at its most telling.

Each year the annual Nature’s Best Photography Windland Smith Rice International Awards rewards the most compelling examples of nature photography.

In 2016, the 21st year of the esteemed awards, more than 20,000 entries worldwide were submitted and judged on

technical quality, originality and artistic merit. Now the winning entries, along with a selection of “highly honoured” images from other Nature’s Best Photography competitions, are on display at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History in Washington DC. The free exhibition runs until September.

More than 80 photographs are included in the exhibition. The images range from stark close-ups, detailing every fluff, wrinkle and sheen, to portraits and immersive, panoramic landscapes. They are divided into various categories, focusing on themes such as Africa, the polar regions, oceans and birdlife.

Taking out the title of the Grand Prize Winner in 2016 was Swiss photographer Daisy Gilardini, who captured a family of polar bears playing in the snow in Canada.

Gilardini is a full-time photographer and has travelled to the snow more than 60 times since 1997. For this shot, Gilardini lay flat on the frozen ground, fearing frostbite but staying resolute until she caught the perfect moment.

The annual prizes and exhibition, first launched in 1996, aim to deepen people’s connection to the planet through photography.

Says Gilardini: “Science is the brain, while photography is the heart.”

Images from the current and past Windland Smith Rice International Awards can be found at naturalhistory.si.edu