Highly commended images from Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2022

1 September 2022
Comments Comments

An underwater wonderland, a disappearing giraffe and a treefrog pool party are just a few of the spectacular images included in the list of highly commended photographs in the prestigious, global, Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition for 2022. 

A collection of 15 highly commended images have been shared ahead of the overall winners' announcement in October.

The photographs include a majestic snow-covered red deer stag, snapped in Richmond Park, southwest London, by seven-year-old Joshua Cox.

The snow stag by Joshua Cox, UK. Joshua Cox frames a red deer stag standing majestically as the snow falls. It had just started to snow when Joshua and his father arrived in Richmond Park. They followed the deer at a safe distance when suddenly the snow intensified and one of the stags stopped. ‘He almost looked as if he was having a snow shower,’ says Joshua. Photograph: Joshua Cox/Wildlife photographer of the year
The snow stag by Joshua Cox, UK. Joshua Cox frames a red deer stag standing majestically as the snow falls. It had just started to snow when Joshua and his father arrived in Richmond Park. They followed the deer at a safe distance when suddenly the snow intensified and one of the stags stopped. ‘He almost looked as if he was having a snow shower,’ says Joshua. Photograph: Joshua Cox/Wildlife photographer of the year

Other finanists include Tiina Törmänen’s otherworldly encounter with fish ‘flying’ through cloud-like algae.

Underwater wonderland, by Tiina Törmänen, Finland. Törmänen was thrilled to meet a school of inquisitive European perch on her annual snorkel in Honkalampi lake. In the previous three years she had found only dead fish. She framed the fish flying through clouds of pink-tinged algae. Although it created a beautiful scene, excessive algal growth, a result of the changing climate and warming waters, can cause problems for aquatic wildlife as it uses up oxygen and blocks out sunlight. Photograph: Tiina Törmänen/Wildlife photographer of the year
Underwater wonderland, by Tiina Törmänen, Finland. Törmänen was thrilled to meet a school of inquisitive European perch on her annual snorkel in Honkalampi lake. In the previous three years she had found only dead fish. She framed the fish flying through clouds of pink-tinged algae. Although it created a beautiful scene, excessive algal growth, a result of the changing climate and warming waters, can cause problems for aquatic wildlife as it uses up oxygen and blocks out sunlight. Photograph: Tiina Törmänen/Wildlife photographer of the year

An exhibition of the top 100 images submitted to the competition, now in its 58th year, opens at the NHM in South Kensington, southwest London, on 14 October before going on a UK and international tour.

Chair of the judging panel, Roz Kidman Cox says,‘What’s stayed with me is not just the extraordinary mix of subjects in this year’s collection –a vast panorama of the natural world –but the emotional strength of so many of the pictures.’

Treefrog pool party by Brandon Güell, Costa Rica/USA. Brandon Güell wades through murky water to document a rare breeding frenzy of frogs. Plagued by mosquitoes, Brandon waded chest-deep into the murky water where a gathering of male gliding treefrogs were calling. At dawn thousands of females arrived at the pool to mate and lay their eggs on overhanging palm fronds. Here, unmated males search for females to mate with. Photograph: Brandon Güell/Wildlife photographer of the year
Treefrog pool party by Brandon Güell, Costa Rica/USA. Brandon Güell wades through murky water to document a rare breeding frenzy of frogs. Plagued by mosquitoes, Brandon waded chest-deep into the murky water where a gathering of male gliding treefrogs were calling. At dawn thousands of females arrived at the pool to mate and lay their eggs on overhanging palm fronds. Here, unmated males search for females to mate with. Photograph: Brandon Güell/Wildlife photographer of the year
Polar frame by Dmitry Kokh, Russia. Photograph: Dmitry Kokh/Wildlife photographer of the year.
Polar frame by Dmitry Kokh, Russia. Photograph: Dmitry Kokh/Wildlife photographer of the year.
Wanted! By Britta Jaschinski, Germany/UK. Britta Jaschinski uses torchlight to highlight the impact of coltan mining. Glowing blue, coltan is a component of phone and laptop batteries. Here Britta surrounds it with mining tools and the remains of animals impacted by the industry, all seized by customs authorities: a gorilla skull, vertebrae and leg bone, and porcupine quills. Photograph: Britta Jaschinski/Wildlife photographer of the year.
Wanted! By Britta Jaschinski, Germany/UK. Britta Jaschinski uses torchlight to highlight the impact of coltan mining. Glowing blue, coltan is a component of phone and laptop batteries. Here Britta surrounds it with mining tools and the remains of animals impacted by the industry, all seized by customs authorities: a gorilla skull, vertebrae and leg bone, and porcupine quills. Photograph: Britta Jaschinski/Wildlife photographer of the year.
The bonobo and the mongoose by Christian Ziegler, Germany. Christian Ziegler records this unusual sight of a young male bonobo gently holding a mongoose pup, deep in the rainforest. Christian was tracking a group of these endangered great apes that are being studied by Barbara Fruth of the Max-Planck Society. He recalls setting out ‘before light’, wading ‘chest-deep through flooded forest’, and frequently walking 20 kilometres (12 miles) a day. ‘The bonobo held and stroked the little mongoose for more than an hour.’ Image: Christian Ziegler, Germany/Wildlife photographer of the year
The bonobo and the mongoose by Christian Ziegler, Germany. Christian Ziegler records this unusual sight of a young male bonobo gently holding a mongoose pup, deep in the rainforest. Christian was tracking a group of these endangered great apes that are being studied by Barbara Fruth of the Max-Planck Society. He recalls setting out ‘before light’, wading ‘chest-deep through flooded forest’, and frequently walking 20 kilometres (12 miles) a day. ‘The bonobo held and stroked the little mongoose for more than an hour.’ Image: Christian Ziegler, Germany/Wildlife photographer of the year
Dipper dispute by Heikki Nikki, Finland. Heikki Nikki witnesses two dippers fighting over prime position. After years of visiting the river, Heikki knew every ‘dipping’ rock favoured by white-throated dippers. Picking one hidden beneath flowing water, he sat quietly on the bank. Suddenly the spot became the subject of a hotly contested argument. Poised for the action, Heikki captured the fleeting moment. Photograph: Heikki Nikki/Wildlife photographer of the year
Dipper dispute by Heikki Nikki, Finland. Heikki Nikki witnesses two dippers fighting over prime position. After years of visiting the river, Heikki knew every ‘dipping’ rock favoured by white-throated dippers. Picking one hidden beneath flowing water, he sat quietly on the bank. Suddenly the spot became the subject of a hotly contested argument. Poised for the action, Heikki captured the fleeting moment. Photograph: Heikki Nikki/Wildlife photographer of the year
The lost floods by Jasper Doest, The Netherlands. Jasper Doest provides a portrait of Lubinda Lubinda, revealing the impact of drought on the Zambezi flood plain. Low water levels mean his new house (right) did not need to be built as high. The Barotse people of the floodplain are subject to more frequent droughts owing to climate change and deforestation. Photograph: Jasper Doest/Wildlife photographer of the year
The lost floods by Jasper Doest, The Netherlands. Jasper Doest provides a portrait of Lubinda Lubinda, revealing the impact of drought on the Zambezi flood plain. Low water levels mean his new house (right) did not need to be built as high. The Barotse people of the floodplain are subject to more frequent droughts owing to climate change and deforestation. Photograph: Jasper Doest/Wildlife photographer of the year
Life and death in fur farming by Jo-Anne McArthur, Canada. American mink kits fighting for space in a small cage on a fur farm in Lindåsen, Sweden. The sign above the cramped cage indicates two kits have died. Photograph: Jo-Anne McArthur/Wildlife photographer of the year
Life and death in fur farming by Jo-Anne McArthur, Canada. American mink kits fighting for space in a small cage on a fur farm in Lindåsen, Sweden. The sign above the cramped cage indicates two kits have died. Photograph: Jo-Anne McArthur/Wildlife photographer of the year
The disappearing giraffe, by Jose Fragozo, Portugal. Fragozo captures the contrast between the natural world and human infrastructure. Here a giraffe is dwarfed by giant pillars of Kenya’s new Standard Gauge railway. Though this stretch of railway running through Nairobi national park is raised on giant columns, allowing animals access beneath, this picture is symbolic of how the space for wildlife continues to be squeezed. Photograph: Jose Fragozo/Wildlife photographer of the year
The disappearing giraffe, by Jose Fragozo, Portugal. Fragozo captures the contrast between the natural world and human infrastructure. Here a giraffe is dwarfed by giant pillars of Kenya’s new Standard Gauge railway. Though this stretch of railway running through Nairobi national park is raised on giant columns, allowing animals access beneath, this picture is symbolic of how the space for wildlife continues to be squeezed. Photograph: Jose Fragozo/Wildlife photographer of the year
Burrow mates, by Morgan Heim, USA. Heim set up camera traps by the active burrows of pygmy rabbits in the Columbia Basin in Washington state to observe their comings and goings. She was delighted by this moment of interaction as one of the rabbits sniffed at a stink beetle that had been sheltering in its burrow. Photograph: Morgan Heim/Wildlife photographer of the year
Burrow mates, by Morgan Heim, USA. Heim set up camera traps by the active burrows of pygmy rabbits in the Columbia Basin in Washington state to observe their comings and goings. She was delighted by this moment of interaction as one of the rabbits sniffed at a stink beetle that had been sheltering in its burrow. Photograph: Morgan Heim/Wildlife photographer of the year
The right look, by Richard Robinson, New Zealand While the whale calf investigated him, Robinson’s main challenge was to swim far enough away to photograph it. The encounter in Port Ross lasted 30 minutes. New Zealand’s population of southern right whales, known as tohorā in Māori, were hunted to near extinction by European whalers in the 1800s and then by Soviet whalers in the 1900s. Now protected, the population has bounced back from a small group. including just 13 breeding females, to more than 2,000 individuals Photograph: Richard Robinson/Wildlife photographer of the year
The right look, by Richard Robinson, New Zealand While the whale calf investigated him, Robinson’s main challenge was to swim far enough away to photograph it. The encounter in Port Ross lasted 30 minutes. New Zealand’s population of southern right whales, known as tohorā in Māori, were hunted to near extinction by European whalers in the 1800s and then by Soviet whalers in the 1900s. Now protected, the population has bounced back from a small group. including just 13 breeding females, to more than 2,000 individuals Photograph: Richard Robinson/Wildlife photographer of the year
The octopus case by Samuel Sloss, Italy/USA. Samuel Sloss is spotted by a coconut octopus, which peeks out from its clam-shell shelter. Samuel was muck diving when he noticed this octopus. He lowered the power of his strobe lamp so as not to distress it. The octopus shut the lid of the shell when Samuel approached, but then slowly opened it, revealing colours and coils. Photograph: Samuel Sloss/Wildlife photographer of the year.
The octopus case by Samuel Sloss, Italy/USA. Samuel Sloss is spotted by a coconut octopus, which peeks out from its clam-shell shelter. Samuel was muck diving when he noticed this octopus. He lowered the power of his strobe lamp so as not to distress it. The octopus shut the lid of the shell when Samuel approached, but then slowly opened it, revealing colours and coils. Photograph: Samuel Sloss/Wildlife photographer of the year.
Just one day’s catch, by Srikanth Mannepuri, India. Mannepuri was shocked to see so many recently caught marlin and sailfish in a single place, in Kakinada, Andhra Pradesh. To demonstrate the scale of the fish market, he used a drone to get a bird’s-eye view. Globally, 85% of fish stocks are overexploited by humans. Photograph: ©Srikanth Mannepuri/Wildlife photographer of the year
Just one day’s catch, by Srikanth Mannepuri, India. Mannepuri was shocked to see so many recently caught marlin and sailfish in a single place, in Kakinada, Andhra Pradesh. To demonstrate the scale of the fish market, he used a drone to get a bird’s-eye view. Globally, 85% of fish stocks are overexploited by humans. Photograph: ©Srikanth Mannepuri/Wildlife photographer of the year
Sloth dilemma, by Suzi Eszterhas, US. An encounter between a sloth and a dog in Puerto Viejo de Talamanca, Costa Rica. The brown-throated sloth was trying to reach a clump of trees when it met a big dog and froze. But the dog, having taken part in a training programme on sloth safety, simply sniffed at it. Sloths live in trees and rarely descend to the floor. With increasing habitat loss and the fragmentation of the forest, they are forced on perilous journeys across urbanised areas to find food, suitable habitats and mates. Photograph: Suzi Eszterhas/Wildlife photographer of the year
Sloth dilemma, by Suzi Eszterhas, US. An encounter between a sloth and a dog in Puerto Viejo de Talamanca, Costa Rica. The brown-throated sloth was trying to reach a clump of trees when it met a big dog and froze. But the dog, having taken part in a training programme on sloth safety, simply sniffed at it. Sloths live in trees and rarely descend to the floor. With increasing habitat loss and the fragmentation of the forest, they are forced on perilous journeys across urbanised areas to find food, suitable habitats and mates. Photograph: Suzi Eszterhas/Wildlife photographer of the year

The winning images will be announced on 11 October at an awards ceremony in London. 

comments powered by Disqus