Snap a winner during major exhibition

PHOTOGRAPHERS in Coventry and Warwickshire are being invited to get out their cameras and capture the natural world after the launch of a major exhibition at the Herbert Art Gallery & Museum.

One hundred spectacular images from the Natural History Museum’s Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibition have just gone on show at the Herbert Art Gallery & Museum and will be available to view until June 2.

The exhibition at the Herbert is part of an international tour of the acclaimed competition and is one of the few locations in the UK to show the incredible images for free.

On the back of the opening, a social media competition has been launched to find the region’s top wildlife photographer by capturing images of the natural world either in a rural or urban setting.

Photographers can submit their images via platforms such as Twitter, Facebook and Instagram using the hashtags #HerbertsWildSide and #WPY54. The competition will run until May 29 and there will be prizes for the best photographs in both an adult and under-17s section.

The winner will be announced in the final week of the exhibition, with prizes from the Natural History Museum store up for grabs.

Ruark Jon-Stevens, Marketing and Communications Manager of the Herbert Art Gallery & Museum, said: “We are delighted to have the Wildlife Photographer of the Year images here in Coventry and to be able to showcase them in the city for free.

“There are amazing pictures in the exhibition that capture nature in so many different ways and now we want the people of Coventry and Warwickshire to get out into the wild and photograph the natural world, from urban environments to rural locations and all habitats in-between.”

The Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibition celebrates biodiversity, promotes conservation and champions ethical photography with winning photographs chosen from more than 45,000 submissions by expert judges based on creativity, originality and technical excellence.

Rosie Addenbrooke, Exhibitions and Events Manager of the Herbert Art Gallery & Museum, has curated the exhibition at the Herbert with Marianne White.

Rosie said: “There is something for everyone in this exhibition. It’s amazing to think that it’s the same space where we’ve had Play! and then ARTIST ROOMS: Anselm Kiefer in the past few months - this brings something completely different. The images show nature from all over the world and it is a stunning showcase of some truly world class photography.”

Marianne added: “You can see nature at its most beautiful and its most brutal in this exhibition.

“We’ve gone through and chosen some of our favourites and I have no doubt that the public will have their own too.

“You really get a sense of the story behind the photographs in the exhibition and it is one we believe everyone can enjoy.”