Wildlife Photographers of 2015 Include SA Teen and His Dad

The gorgeous exhibition of the Natural History Museum’s 51st Wildlife Photographers of the Year (WPY) has reached Cape Town, and includes the works of several South Africans among the winners. Its opening was attended by HRH Prince Harry during his visit to the country.

The WPY says it champions ethical photography, where images are chosen for their artistic composition, technical innovation and truthful interpretation of the natural world. The categories included mammals, amphibians and reptiles, invertebrates, plants, under water, land, from the sky, urban, details.

Prince Harry attended the opening of the exhibition at the Chavonnes Battery in the V&A Waterfront this week, where he met a young South African, Juan van den Heever of Cape Town, who was a finalist in the 15-17 Year Olds awards for his photograph, “Battle of the bee-eaters”.

Juan’s father – Wim van den Heever – was also a finalist from South Africa, in the mammals section for his photograph “The final leap” of a leopard taking down a springbok in Etosha National Park in Namibia. Van den Heever said he got the shot after trailing the leopard for three days.

He also said that: “On a personal note it was a huge honour to have my son Juan van den Heever who has put so much time into his photography reap the rewards for his efforts.”

South African Tristan Dicks was also a finalist in the mammals section for his photograph “The scales of fortune”, taken at Lion Sands Game Reserve. The elusive ground pangolin is the holy grail of safaris, according to the Natural Museum of History (NMH), so Tristan was thrilled to encounter one while out one evening.

“I was fascinated by how it walked on its hind legs – much like some dinosaurs,” he says.

The winning photograph of this year’s competition, “A tale of two foxes”, was taken by Dan Gutowski of Canada, in Wapusk National Park, Cape Churchill, Manitoba.

NMH says, “From a distance, Don could see that the red fox was chasing something across the snow. As he got closer, he realised the prey, now dead, was an Arctic fox. For three hours in temperatures of -30 degrees Centigrade Don stayed at the scene, until the red fox, finally sated, picked up the eviscerated carcass and dragged it away to store for later.”

For his photograph “Natural frame”, finalist in the Black and White category South African Morkel Erasmus’s “moment came when a mother elephant framed the shot with its legs, just as its calf walked into view framing a giraffe”. The photograph was taken at Etosha National Park.

A finalist in the Under Water category was National Geographic photographer and director of conservation for the Save our Seas Foundation Thomas Peschak (Germany/South Africa) for his “Just Jellyfish”, taken on Duiker Island in the Western Cape.

“Flight of the Scarlet Ibis” won in the 15-17 age category, and was taken by Jonathan Jagot in the Ilha do Lençois estuary, Brazil.

The exhibition at the V&A Waterfront lasts until April 2016. Entries for the 2016 competition open on 4 January.

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View more from Wim van den Heever here: www.tuskphoto.com